View topic - We've really got a pretty smart head coach.

[Coke Oven Profile]

Here's a quote from Tomlin's press conference.

Do you think the onside kick gave confidence to your defense when they had to defend a short field?
I was just trying to win a football game. First and foremost, I wanted the ball, we hadn’t stopped them in the second half and they hadn’t stopped us, both teams were driving the football. I wanted to maintain possession of it, we weren’t able to do that. I figured if they’re working on a short field and they were to happened to score, we’d have appropriate time to drive down the field, which is kind of how the game unfolded.

[steeleyfreak Profile]

Not the best decision, but at least he's honest about it.

[indysteel Profile]

No, I'm pretty sure Momlin revised the story to fit the outcome.

Calling an onside kick, in the frick'n NFL, at that point, with a small lead, was one of the WORST calls.

He simply had a dumb ass attack.

I'd have alot more respect for him if he would just say he simply "felt like gambling. I decided to say the hell with it and see what happens."

That, I can respect.

Using numbnut's logic, every team in the NFL should have been -- and will now going forward -- revert to this tactic. Ughh...I don't think so. Why? BECAUSE IT IS A STUPID ASS CALL IN THAT SITUATION!

[stillgoingstrong Profile]

with a defense that has blown how many 4th quarter leads this year? 5? 6? How is that not the right call to make? Every team is different, if team A gives up 4th quarter leads like we do why wouldn't they make a different call than team B that can stop teams on 3rd down consistently (like GB) ??? That call ended up giving us plenty of time to march down the field and win the game. Had they not given them good field position maybe they only leave us with 30 secs, instead of 2 minutes. Keep throwing your logic around and see how quickly you look like the numbnut, numbnut.

[indysteel Profile]

I tell you what --- how many times do you see this per year total? That's what I thought jagoff.

A gutsy call...OK. A gamble. Yep. Was it the right call???!! No.

Maybe he'll get to try it again this weekend.

Hell, since Momlin seems to all of the sudden seemed to unearth a potent strategy, just let the other fucking team score on 1st down everytime. No sense actually trying to stop the other team....let 'em score so we can get the ball back!!

Geez..

[mckeesrockstheburg Profile]

I LIKED the damn call. Look at the tape. Only 1 Packer near the ball when IDIOT IKE grabbed it BEFORE the 40 -yd line. I Forget who the Steeler was to the left of Ike BUT, all he had to do was take out the Packer and let IDIOT IKE WAIT for 1 more second on the hop to cross SAFELY over the 40 yd line. No other Packer close enough to make the play.

PROBLEM: IT'S THE $%&^% COACHING. Where is the discipline to tell these guys, REMIND these guys, the DAMN BALL HAS TO CROSS THE 40-YD LINE? It's the second big stripe up the field, guys, REMEMBER? REMEMBER how we practiced it? Take out anyone near the ball, only let Ike or "X" go for the ball, the rest of you knuckleheads go for the other team. Count the BIG stripes,.. 1...2..= 10-yds!
How do you NOT remind them of this in the heat of battle, "Hey guys it must go 10 yds.!"

I thought it was a great call. Caught Pack off-guard and if we had some smarts and COACHING, we would have pulled it off easily. Hell, only 1 Packer was anywhere near it and he should have been taken out.

[stillgoingstrong Profile]

in this game, at that time, it was the right call. why? because it gave us a chance to win the game with our offense, instead of our defense...which hasn't been getting it done up to this point. would the right call be to kickoff "deep" and ignore the fact that several teams have driven the length of the field several times and won the game in the final minutes? sure, why not add to the list of games lost on the final drive by our defense? at least tomlin would of made the "right" call and you could find something else to bitch about. i give momlin credit for having the balls to say fuck it and do something, anything, to give the team a better chance to win. has he done this all year? no, and he's gotten his fair share of criticism for it. now he does something, and here you are again criticizing it. you run around here like you know exactly what calls should be made, while your watching the game on your plasma tv and posting insults on a stiller message board. why the rooney's rejected your resume after cowher quit is beyond me...

[Jeemie Profile]

Using numbnut's logic, every team in the NFL should have been -- and will now going forward -- revert to this tactic. Ughh...I don't think so. Why? BECAUSE IT IS A STUPID ASS CALL IN THAT SITUATION!

Any NFL team with a defense as horrendous as ours, who plays a "bend, then break" style of defense, ought to seriously consider it.

[Jeemie Profile]

I tell you what --- how many times do you see this per year total? That's what I thought jagoff.

Who cares "how many times we see it a year"?

It is a well-known fact that NFL coaches are ultra-conservative, and this causes them to pass up decisions that would lead to more optimal outcomes for their teams in favor of "doing it by the book".

[mckeesrockstheburg Profile]

It is a well-known fact that NFL coaches are ultra-conservative, and this causes them to pass up decisions that would lead to more optimal outcomes for their teams in favor of "doing it by the book".

true enough, BUT, our OC calls for bombs on 3rd & 5 and "up-the-middle" runs on 2nd & 9's.

THAT said, I loved the passes to MeMo and Mendy (called back though) for scores. Where were plays like this all year? Oakland, KC, Cinci? Great play designs. I was shocked to see how these unfolded.

Loved the on-side kick. Tomlin KNEW we weren't gonna stop 'em. Might as well toss the deck and see what MIGHT work. I'll say it again - look at my earlier post - ST coaching screwed that up. Packers completely fooled and all we needed to do was take out 1 Packer and let Idiot Ike "wait" for the hop to clear the 40. Simple, easy, and our DB muffs it. Will we learn from it? I DOUBT IT.

[Jeemie Profile]

It is a well-known fact that NFL coaches are ultra-conservative, and this causes them to pass up decisions that would lead to more optimal outcomes for their teams in favor of "doing it by the book".

true enough, BUT, our OC calls for bombs on 3rd & 5 and "up-the-middle" runs on 2nd & 9's.

THAT said, I loved the passes to MeMo and Mendy (called back though) for scores. Where were plays like this all year? Oakland, KC, Cinci? Great play designs. I was shocked to see how these unfolded.

Loved the on-side kick. Tomlin KNEW we weren't gonna stop 'em. Might as well toss the deck and see what MIGHT work. I'll say it again - look at my earlier post - ST coaching screwed that up. Packers completely fooled and all we needed to do was take out 1 Packer and let Idiot Ike "wait" for the hop to clear the 40. Simple, easy, and our DB muffs it. Will we learn from it? I DOUBT IT.

I was as pissed at Ike as anybody (and by extension, I guess, the ST coaches), but in retrospect, it may not have been the best kick either.

The guys are expecting to catch the kick in stride...the ball needs to get to the 40 before the players do (think Deion Figures in Super Bowl XXX- he was able to catch the ball so much in stride that he ran for 10 more yards- even though that wasn't allowed, of course).

Hard for a guy to wait when the kick sorta dies like that.

But still...easy for Ike to see he wasn't at the 40 yet- and Carey Davis even hopped to the 40 as a sort of signal to Ike that he wasn't there yet.

[fillstorer Profile]

Smart Decision:

Brian Burke of Advanced NFL Stats sent us an e-mail on the Steelers’ unorthodox decision to try an onside kick in their victory over the Packers. He gave us permission to re-run his blog post, and here it is:

Up by 2 points with 3:58 left against the Packers, Steelers Coach Mike Tomlin called for an onside kick. Was it a good decision?

When onside kicks are expected, they are successful only about 20% of the time. But unexpected onside kicks are successful a surprising 60% of the time. I think we can say this particular kick was certainly unexpected. And surprise onside kicks can be most beneficial when a team is ahead late in the game. Possession is critical.

In this case, had the Steelers recovered the kick, they would have had a first down at about their 40, which is good for about a 0.76 win probability (WP). An unsuccessful onside kick gives the ball to the Packers at the Steelers’ 40, worth 0.58 WP for the Packers (which is 0.42 WP for the Steelers.) With a 60% success rate, the overall WP for the onside kick would be:

0.60 * 0.76 + (1-0.60) * 0.42 = 0.64 WP

A conventional kickoff gives the Packers a 1st and 10 at their own 30 or so (28 is the average, 33 is the median). This gives the Packers a 0.46 WP, which is 0.54 WP for the Steelers.

The onside kick is the better decision by 0.64 to 0.54 WP. These estimates are only league baselines, but they suggest it was probably a good call. What’s most interesting to me is that a failed onside kick is hardly certain death — a 0.42 WP. There was plenty of time for anything to happen — a stop, a turnover, a score. And sure enough the Steelers gave up a touchdown but came back with one of their own.

Also, a successful onside recovery doesn’t seal the game. The Steelers would still need at least two first downs to clinch the win. Essentially, the Steelers traded 30 yards of field position for the chance to keep the ball out of the Packers’ hands.

[flyinbryan Profile]

I agree wholeheartedly with what Bryan Burke said except the last part about trading 30 yards of field postion. The way Reed was chipping his kickoffs and with our stellar special teams coverage, the Packers were starting around their own 40 all day meaning we only traded 20 yards. Also, consider what normally happens on an onsides kick. Without a penalty for illegal touch, the ball usually gets recovered near midfield so that's only 10 yards traded. In essense, the decision to onsides kick was first and foremost, to get the ball back in the hands of our offense and, if it failed, concede 10-20 yards of field postion. Ike, however, messed up both of those scenarios.

[Still CA Still Profile]

The onside kick was a brilliant call given the flow of the game and the circumstances at the time. I applaud Tomlin for having the balls to figure it out right. What people are forgetting is that had our defense even held the Pack to a field goal; we would have plenty of time to match w/ a field goal of our own. Like us against Oakland, they scored too soon.

[steelandblood Profile]

The onside kick was a brilliant call given the flow of the game and the circumstances at the time. I applaud Tomlin for having the balls to figure it out right. What people are forgetting is that had our defense even held the Pack to a field goal; we would have plenty of time to match w/ a field goal of our own. Like us against Oakland, they scored too soon.

It was a good call, and I think a necessary one, in hindsight. Plus I think it was a definite vote of "no confidence" in his defense, which needed to be done. We're at the point our team can't trust the D to win games, and much of it involves scheme in my view, since these implosions almost always happen in the fourth quarter. Either that or Aaron Rodgers should go spit in Bart Starr's face, since his performance against our "mighty defense" must have happened because he's so great. Oh, and let's not forget to get Bruce Gradkowski to wipe his ass with Kenny Stabler's, Jim Plunkett's, and Daryl LaMonica's jerseys since only his radiant brilliance could have gashed our D like that in the fourth quarter of the Oakland game.

If we had an O coordiniator worth a shit, LeBeau's junk calls, and some of the subpar defensive play this year by the likes of Farrior, Woodley, etc. wouldn't matter as much.

[mckeesrockstheburg Profile]

If we had an O coordiniator worth a shit,

Hey, hey, SnB, easy big fella. The price of manure is up on the commodities markets. Let's be careful about giving him TOOOOOOO much credit!

[PGHeaven Profile]

No, I'm pretty sure Momlin revised the story to fit the outcome.

Calling an onside kick, in the frick'n NFL, at that point, with a small lead, was one of the WORST calls.

He simply had a dumb ass attack.

I'd have alot more respect for him if he would just say he simply "felt like gambling. I decided to say the hell with it and see what happens."

That, I can respect.

Using numbnut's logic, every team in the NFL should have been -- and will now going forward -- revert to this tactic. Ughh...I don't think so. Why? BECAUSE IT IS A STUPID ASS CALL IN THAT SITUATION!

Ill tell you waht a dumbass attack is. (thats too fuckin funny) A dumbass attack is when Zorn calls a swinging gate. Then after a Coughlin TO, calls it again!

[PGHeaven Profile]

Momlin made Yahoo

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=a ... &type=lgns

Surprisingly good article that hits on some key points about our defense. Mainly that the subs are no better, if not worse, than the secondary starters. Namely Joe Burnett, whose play is perhaps the worst, THE FUCKING WORST, of ALL STEELERS

The more I think of Burnett the angrier I get. They ostracize and crucify (rightly) Sweed but this turd Burnett gets a pass

Let me highlight

1) drops lollipop INT that would have salted away the win that would have us IN THE PLAYOFFS
2) POST GAME INTERVIEW HE DOES NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY
3) Incorrectly blitzes last play of Oakland game leaving Mundy to cover 2/3 people
4) multitude of shitty coverage plays in which he gives up big gainers
5) blows coverage by getting turned around on Rodgers TD that gives packers 34-30 lead

FUCK BURNETT!! GET HIM THE FUCK OUT OF HERE! BUST!!!!

[Jeemie Profile]

Ill tell you waht a dumbass attack is. (thats too fuckin funny) A dumbass attack is when Zorn calls a swinging gate. Then after a Coughlin TO, calls it again!

Zorn's getting a $3 million ticket out of Snyder's Madhouse.

That call was a big "Fuck You" to Darling Dan.

It was genius!

It'd be like me winning the $104 million in Powerball tonight and then taking a shit on my boss' desk.

[PGHeaven Profile]

Ill tell you waht a dumbass attack is. (thats too fuckin funny) A dumbass attack is when Zorn calls a swinging gate. Then after a Coughlin TO, calls it again!

Zorn's getting a $3 million ticket out of Snyder's Madhouse.

That call was a big "Fuck You" to Darling Dan.

It was genius!

It'd be like me winning the $104 million in Powerball tonight and then taking a shit on my boss' desk.

You know what? I really do think you may be right! When confronted with illogic - the answer is not found within the confines of what a coach who cares anymore would do!

However, in future interviews that would be one hell of a ghost for Zorn to explain away