View topic - Stillers-Chargers Postgame Analysis and Grades

[StillMill Profile]

Stillers-Chargers Postgame Analysis and Grades has been posted by Still Mill at Stillers.com.

[jdpdts Profile]

Enjoy the Steelers los while you can Mill. The Steelers will be back and winning before you know it. Until then you can have your day in the sun. By the way, do you have a favorite team? And how did you pick it?

[pinpon Profile]

Well the chickens have come home to roost, unfortunately. Mill has been saying it and now after that performance no one can really deny it. Tomlin is just horrid. I can't remember, when is his contract up? Hopefully he will think that SB win is worth 5 million a year and price himself out of the market and be out the door. He has been exposed as a HC!

[Magdeep Profile]

As always Mill is right on the money. It all starts with the coaches and Momlin has been a disappointment. Playing a wrectched team at home with the division title on the line, the coaching staff FAILED to prepare the team. One of the biggest embarrassments of this or any other season.

[zapunto Profile]

A rather unique game in that every problem this team faces *long-term* got exposed.

• A horrific lack of backup talent on offensive line. I never thought there'd be a day I'd rue for a healthy Willie Colon. Pouncey is terrible at both center and left guard and so's Legursky. There has to be a street free agent better than Beacham. I can only pray that Gilbert, Adams and DeCastro are the future, but I have my doubts, especially with Freddie Kugler coaching these clowns.
  
• Zero physicality at the LB corps. Timmons earned his money today, but overall this group are not thumpers. Once Harrison fully ages, we're screwed. Four years ago, we (correctly) kicked Larry Foote to the curb, and now he's supposed to be our best blitzer? Jason Worilds is the future of our vaunted 3-4?
  
• The unholy horror that is our secondary without Ike Taylor. See Colon, Willie above. Taylor was sorely missed today. Curtis Brown got abused heavily, and Victorian was no better. I'll take any 6-foot corner with leaping ability, please.
  
• No "high-point" wide receivers on the team. Well, technically, there's one -- Plaxico -- but he's old. Mike Wallace has been doing his best Darrius Heyward-Bey impersonation all year (pretty good on straight line routes, mediocre at anything else, including hands). He's also not a high-point guy, and neither is Antonio Brown. Every once in a while, it's nice to have a guy who can do what Danario Alexander did to us yesterday and make game-changing plays.
  
• Coaching, coaching, coaching. I'll spare Todd Haley today -- his players did him no favors, but Dick LeBeau. Jeez. Who was Keenan Lewis covering all those times Danario Alexander was playing jump ball on the short side of the field? I get it, Keenan always covered the wide side of the field. But that played into the hands of the Chargers. Rivers only had to make easy throws with his rapidly deteriorating arm strength and mechanics. Seriously. I still like LeBeau's schemes, but the athletes are just not there to run it right now. Seeing that Keith Butler turned down a better job to be LeBeau's #2, rest assured, this is the defense we'll be running here for a long, long time...and...
  
• Colbert. Our street free agents and backups suck monkey nuts. It's a bad sign when your best scouting find this year (Will Johnson) came purely by accident.

[Still Peon Profile]

The very reason we founded this site was to analyze the performance and effort, not go ga-ga with joy and glad tidings merely because the team may have eked by some shitbag opponent.

Now, if only someone could take any of the criticism seriously, be it however scathing.

[NOVASteel79 Profile]

A rather unique game in that every problem this team faces *long-term* got exposed.

• A horrific lack of backup talent on offensive line. I never thought there'd be a day I'd rue for a healthy Willie Colon. Pouncey is terrible at both center and left guard and so's Legursky. There has to be a street free agent better than Beacham. I can only pray that Gilbert, Adams and DeCastro are the future, but I have my doubts, especially with Freddie Kugler coaching these clowns.
  
• Zero physicality at the LB corps. Timmons earned his money today, but overall this group are not thumpers. Once Harrison fully ages, we're screwed. Four years ago, we (correctly) kicked Larry Foote to the curb, and now he's supposed to be our best blitzer? Jason Worilds is the future of our vaunted 3-4?
  
• The unholy horror that is our secondary without Ike Taylor. See Colon, Willie above. Taylor was sorely missed today. Curtis Brown got abused heavily, and Victorian was no better. I'll take any 6-foot corner with leaping ability, please.
  
• No "high-point" wide receivers on the team. Well, technically, there's one -- Plaxico -- but he's old. Mike Wallace has been doing his best Darrius Heyward-Bey impersonation all year (pretty good on straight line routes, mediocre at anything else, including hands). He's also not a high-point guy, and neither is Antonio Brown. Every once in a while, it's nice to have a guy who can do what Danario Alexander did to us yesterday and make game-changing plays.
  
• Coaching, coaching, coaching. I'll spare Todd Haley today -- his players did him no favors, but Dick LeBeau. Jeez. Who was Keenan Lewis covering all those times Danario Alexander was playing jump ball on the short side of the field? I get it, Keenan always covered the wide side of the field. But that played into the hands of the Chargers. Rivers only had to make easy throws with his rapidly deteriorating arm strength and mechanics. Seriously. I still like LeBeau's schemes, but the athletes are just not there to run it right now. Seeing that Keith Butler turned down a better job to be LeBeau's #2, rest assured, this is the defense we'll be running here for a long, long time...and...
  
• Colbert. Our street free agents and backups suck monkey nuts. It's a bad sign when your best scouting find this year (Will Johnson) came purely by accident.

I'm glad someone mentioned Colbert. I think he deserves alot more criticism than he receives. Our drafts have not been very good recently, two awful first round picks too (Hood and Heyward). Those picks are so horrible because a. they're not playing well, and b. drafting 3-4 DE's, who's job is basically to tie up blockers, makes no sense whatsoever. Combine that with their refusal over the years to draft corners in the first two rounds (even in the pass happy NFL now), and you are starting to see the result w/ the core players from the past 5 or so years starting to age. Just not enough young impact players right now. Got to step it up w/ the drafts.

[Pump-N-Iron Profile]

We used to have "Joggin' Jason," and now we've got a "Limpin' Lamar" ... pathetic

[ddemao Profile]

The whole game game can be summed up in one play - Antonio Brown's treating the ball on the fumble in end zone like a "hissing porcupine". Shows me a team without desire to win. If it affects Brown, who I see as one of the Stillers' most hustling players, then it affects the whole team. Responsibility - Mike Tomlin.

[ballhair Profile]

Mill is 100 percent right. Tomlin is a fraud and as much as I hate to it Big Ben is over rated. Too inconsistent. I think the "fat wallet" reference describe alot of the players. Woodley is a lazy fat sack of shit. The whole team played like a bunch of pussies.

[CTSteelerfromKA Profile]

While we all thought Ariens needed to go because of poor play calling, now we say the same about Haley. Bruce leaves to become the OC in Indy and becomes the HC by default. And with a rookie QB, he has brought the Colts to prominence. They have lost only one game under him? What does this prove? Well I'll tell you, Under "Needs To Go" Tomlin, no asst coach is any good. A loser breeds losers...he only won that SB because the majority of the players still were under Cowher's influence. For the most part, MT players suck.

[AltoonaBoy68 Profile]

What we have here is a team in search of an identity. Is it an 11-2 team with unexpected losses to the Raiders, Titans, Browns, and Chargers or is it a 3-10 team with unexpected wins over the Giants, Redskins, Bengals, and Ravens?

This season - actually the previous several seasons - are eerily similar to the 80's era of Steeler football. Beginning the 1981 season, the dynasty that was the Pittsburgh Steelers seemed to be ready to three-peat. The problem was that there were a lot of hungry teams out there that didn't buy the hype.

They could see what the front office, Chuck Noll, and the Rooneys did not: Slowly but surely, the core of the 70's team was eroding and the FO had no clue when it came to drafting the players for the future. What followed was an endless stream of mediocre top draft picks - any of you old timers recognize any of these names?

1980 - Mark Malone, Bob Kohrs, John Goodman
1981 - Keith Gary, Anthony Washington, Rick Donnalley
1982 - Walter Abercrombie, John Meyer, Mike Merriweather
1983 - Gabriel Rivera, Wayne Capers, Todd Seabaugh
1984 - Louis Lipps, Duane Gunn, Chris Kolodziejski
1985 - Darryl Sims, Mark Behning, Liffort Hobley
1986 - John Rienstra, Gerald Williams, Bubby Brister
1987 - Rod Woodson, Delton Hall, Charles Lockett
1988 - Aaron Jones, Dermontti Dawson, Chuck Lanza
1989 - Tim Worley, Tom Ricketts, Carnell Lake
1990 - Eric Green, Kenny Davidson, Neil O'Donnell
1991 - Huey Richardson, Jeff Graham, Ernie Mills

Out of that list, I see about five good draft picks - Louis Lipps, Rod Woodson, Dermotti Dawson, Carnell Lake, Eric Green; a few useable picks - Keith Gary, Mike Merriweather, Neil O'Donnell, and Ernie Mills; with the rest a forgettable stream of mediocrity. At this point I think the best we can hope for is a better draft pick. If we do eke out the last seed and the standings stay pretty much where they are now there's a good chance we'll be heading back to Denver and be without the services of Ryan Clark.

[zapunto Profile]

I'm glad someone mentioned Colbert. I think he deserves alot more criticism than he receives. Our drafts have not been very good recently, two awful first round picks too (Hood and Heyward). Those picks are so horrible because a. they're not playing well, and b. drafting 3-4 DE's, who's job is basically to tie up blockers, makes no sense whatsoever. Combine that with their refusal over the years to draft corners in the first two rounds (even in the pass happy NFL now), and you are starting to see the result w/ the core players from the past 5 or so years starting to age. Just not enough young impact players right now. Got to step it up w/ the drafts.

Grr..what is with this obsession with drafting 3-4 DE's with high draft picks? Not saying ignore the position altogether, but it's not terribly hard to find big muthafuckers whose job it is to "HEY HOLD THESE TWO LINEMEN AND GOATFUCK THEM UNTIL THE BACKERS BEHIND YOU CLEAN UP AND MAKE THE TACKLE" much later in the draft. Keisel was a 7th rounder. Aaron Smith, 4th rounder. Even really good ones like Darnell Dockett weren't drafted until the middle rounds. We manage to have two first rounders that kinda stink.

-c-

[NOVASteel79 Profile]

I'm glad someone mentioned Colbert. I think he deserves alot more criticism than he receives. Our drafts have not been very good recently, two awful first round picks too (Hood and Heyward). Those picks are so horrible because a. they're not playing well, and b. drafting 3-4 DE's, who's job is basically to tie up blockers, makes no sense whatsoever. Combine that with their refusal over the years to draft corners in the first two rounds (even in the pass happy NFL now), and you are starting to see the result w/ the core players from the past 5 or so years starting to age. Just not enough young impact players right now. Got to step it up w/ the drafts.

Grr..what is with this obsession with drafting 3-4 DE's with high draft picks? Not saying ignore the position altogether, but it's not terribly hard to find big muthafuckers whose job it is to "HEY HOLD THESE TWO LINEMEN AND GOATFUCK THEM UNTIL THE BACKERS BEHIND YOU CLEAN UP AND MAKE THE TACKLE" much later in the draft. Keisel was a 7th rounder. Aaron Smith, 4th rounder. Even really good ones like Darnell Dockett weren't drafted until the middle rounds. We manage to have two first rounders that kinda stink.

-c-

Right on man! I've been bitching about those picks ever since they made them. At least Heyward hasn't gotten enough playing time yet to really say how good he is yet. We've definitely seen enough to know that Ziggy just ain't very good. All the other teams runs that go for good yards seem to come on heand Woodley's/Worilds' side.

[LenSherwood Profile]

Altoona... Your point is dead on. Yes I am an old geezer so I do remember that lost decade and you got it exactly right in that there were only five or so decent players drafted in that decade. I have not been impressed with the Steeler player acquisition in the Tomlin era. No great player out of the draft nor has there been a good free agent acquisition either. I think Cowher was a better coach in assessing talent. I believe it is going to be a very difficult future once all of Cowher's players are gone. This decade could become very shitty...

[bztips11 Profile]

(My first post!)

While I agree that the drafts haven't been stellar lately, let's not go overboard. The Tomlin-era drafts are clearly much better than the dreck of the 1980s:

2007: Timmons, Woodley, Spaeth
2008: Mendenhall, Sweed, Bruce Davis
2009: Hood, Kraig Urbik, Wallace
2010: Pouncey, Worilds, Sanders
2011: Heyward, Gilbert, Brown
2012: DeCastro, Adams, Spence

Only 3 outright busts from the top 15 picks. The real problem is at the very top of the draft; at least 2 (maybe 3 or 4) of the last 6 #1 picks are questionable, which is simply not a good enough hit rate.

[LenSherwood Profile]

No I disagree. You had two hall of famers in Woodson and Dawson and Carnell Lake is better than any player you list for Tomlin. In fact that Tomlin line up... well there isn't any future hall of famer there, unless DeCastro turns out to be one. The rest aren't going to many pro bowls.

[Steelers76 Profile]

Great review, as usual. Re: Anyone saying you or anyone else on this site is "too hard" and "expect perfection", etc., really need to get over themselves, or just get the fuck out of here. You want cream-puff, rah rah, yinzer bullshit "coverage"? I suggest you go watch "The Nightly Sports Call" with Jory Rand, or listen/read articles by Gene Collier or the aforementioned Ron Cook. Glorified Steelers P.R. men who should never call themselves journalists.

Steelers are 7-6, and lost to not just 1, 2, 3, but FOUR bottom feeders in The NFL, something which a legit contender would never do. Go ahead; Show me another legit playoff contender that has lost to 4 low life squads. You can't because they don't exist outside of this team. If you think that earns this year's bunch a free pass from criticisim, you really need your fucking head checked. Pronto.

[bztips11 Profile]

No I disagree. You had two hall of famers in Woodson and Dawson and Carnell Lake is better than any player you list for Tomlin. In fact that Tomlin line up... well there isn't any future hall of famer there, unless DeCastro turns out to be one. The rest aren't going to many pro bowls.

2 HOFers in 12 years -- big deal. It's very early, but Pouncey is certainly on track as a potential HOF candidate if he keeps making Pro Bowls, so that's one (potential) in 6 years. As I said, the top picks haven't been good enough, but not signficantly worse than the 1990s. And it's at the other end where the crapola of the 90s reveals itself -- look at that list, lieterally half those picks were outright busts, compared to about 20% in the Tomlin era. Overall, the Tomlin picks are avg to mediocre, but the 90s are pathetic.

[LenSherwood Profile]

The Steelers in Tomlin's era drafted late, no question about that which makes it harder to be able to get locks in drafts, but that list you point out is not great and is filled with mediocrity, just like the 80s. Compare Dawson to Pouncey by the way. No comparison. Dawson could do things that Pouncy can only dream of--the Steelers pulled Dawson. Pouncy is headed to a solid career not a hall of fame career. Your best bet on that list might be DeCastro if he lives up to his potential. I think Woodley is probably on the downside of his career--he did have good moments despite Still Mills constant barrage of hate. But not Hall of Fame. But back to the point...the last six drafts are laying the way for troubled times ahead. That is the point that the guy who posted about th 80s drafts is trying to make.