Week 4: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-3) @ Pittsburgh Steelers (2-1)

[Kramer5150]

I was/am utterly speechless...I cannot believe (well yea I can) that the Steelers blew this one,but as been mentioned,this is on par with this team.

There is absolutely no consistency week to week....after last weeks win in Carolina,the Steelers were really in position to stay in the hunt as far as the North goes,and while 2-2 doesn't mean their completely done,but at this point,I see another 8-8 season.

The way the season started against Cleveland,I thought for sure they would at least take the North this year,they looked amazing.....in the first half.But how in the hell do you give up a 27-3 halftime lead,only to barely escape with a 30-27 win....it's embarrassing.

As much as I hate to say it...it's time for LeBeau to go....teams have already figured out his blitz schemes (have for a while now) and throw in the cushions the wr's get,and it's no wonder the Steelers can't keep a lead.

As far as Tomlin goes,his situation reminds me of the Dungy/Gruden coaching change. Sure Gruden won a Super Bowl,but as in Tomlins situation he inherited a team that was already built...exact same thing here...Tomlin inherited a Cowher built team,and as has been stated,how have things worked out since that team that Cowher built in pretty much gone.

[godway]

Teams have had LeBeau figured out for years. It just didn't matter in the past, because he had Joey Porter, James Farrior, Casey Hampton, James Harrison, LaMarr Woodley, Troy Polamalu, Ike Taylor, Aaron Smith. And more importantly, they had depth. Chris Hoke could come in and play like a beast when they needed to, so could Brett Keisel. Clark Haggans could do it for the LB'ers. So could Larry Foote. We had so many options in our front seven, now we have none. The starters are barely backup quality people outside of Timmons and Heyward.

And on top of that, LeBeau's system is not ideal for the situation we're in right now. As put, "Cowher's guys" are all done. This defense is rebuilding. Dick LeBeau's scheme is not a good fit for a young defense considering young guys aren't even supposed to see the field for two years in it.

Like I said before, if we want to bash Tomlin and start suggesting that he should be shown the door, don't you think it's only fair to give him a few years under HIS defense? That's why he was brought in. Because he put together some of the best run-stopping defenses in NFL history during his tenure as defensive coaches in TB and Minny.

And when you say things like the drafting has sucked. You look at a lot of the guys that have been drafted under Mike Tomlin, and they fit a lot better in Mike Tomlin's defensive scheme than they do in Dick LeBeau's. It's like he was drafting for his own defense, but LeBeau never left so we just kept running his 3-4.

LeBeau has been to more SB's than most people can dream of, while putting out some of the greatest defenses in NFL history. Of the last 30 years, there isn't a Defensive Coordinator that can touch him, in my opinion. But he's pushing 80, the NFL has changed significantly to a pass heavy league where his 'bend but don't break' zones aren't going to stop anyone. And we can't afford to continue drafting guys in the first round who aren't going to be effective in this defense for 2-3 years.

[SteelersFreak]

Quote: Originally Posted by godway

You can say his teams aren't prepared, yet for every Tampa game there's a Carolina game. Where we go in with the media and fans crapping on us, and beat the hell out of that team. I wouldn't say the drafting has been bad. They've drafted quite a bit of good offensive talent. They just can't seem to draft defense anymore. And that's an issue with the front office as a whole, not just Mike Tomlin. There's just one thing everyone can agree on under Mike Tomlin. This team is inconsistent.

I wish people would stop referencing the Panthers game. The Panthers were about as beaten up as a team could possibly be coming into week 3.

And they STILL didn't start that game well.

[godway]

It was a very impressive win. They didn't just beat Carolina, they crushed them. And that was one of the most hyped teams in the NFL. It wasn't until after that game, that all of a sudden "Carolina isn't that good, Carolina is banged up, etc" started being mentioned. All week heading into that game all that was talked about was how good Carolina is.

I'm not saying that makes the Steelers good. But give credit where credit is due. Tomlin HAS gotten this group to rise to the occasion before. It's just strange that he can never seem to get them to rise to the occasion against teams like TB. They ALWAYS struggle in games against bad teams. And make no mistake, TB is a really bad team. Much worse than the Steelers.

[wwharton]

Quote: Originally Posted by godway

It was a very impressive win. They didn't just beat Carolina, they crushed them. And that was one of the most hyped teams in the NFL. It wasn't until after that game, that all of a sudden "Carolina isn't that good, Carolina is banged up, etc" started being mentioned. All week heading into that game all that was talked about was how good Carolina is. I'm not saying that makes the Steelers good. But give credit where credit is due. Tomlin HAS gotten this group to rise to the occasion before. It's just strange that he can never seem to get them to rise to the occasion against teams like TB. They ALWAYS struggle in games against bad teams. And make no mistake, TB is a really bad team. Much worse than the Steelers.

I'm not sure what stations you were watching that were praising the Panthers like that. They came into the season predicted to finish last in the division and everyone was SHOCKED that they started off 2-0.

Then they sat down Hardy, and started losing every running back on the roster. By the end of the Steelers game they only had an undrafted guy healthy... and that's not even mentioning Cam's inury issues that started long before the season started and has kept him from running much all year.

[godway]

The Cleveland Browns torched us in the second half of their game with a bunch of guys who should be riding the bench on most NFL teams.