Time management & WRs

[chipped ham]

You can continue to cry about Ben all day if you'd like. I've already pointed out in another thread that Ben should have played better. However, players make mistakes. Players sometimes don't execute. Tomlin indeed can't control most of the bad things that happen on the field. What he can do, and should do, is put his team in the best position to succeed. Allowing that precious time to run off the clock didn't accomplish that, and these types of errors have been a recurring theme. Game after game, and year after year.

And you're mistaken. The Steelers continued to throw to the middle of the field, even after using that last timeout which Tomlin was so intent on protecting.

While Tomlin has worn me thin, like many others, this one is on Ben. Players do make mistakes in games, you're right about that. But he was awful in the second half of that game. heaving it 30-40 yards down the field on 3rd and 5 or shorter, holding onto the ball waaaaay to long and those interceptions were horrendous. Especially when you consider he could've just ran and gained 5 yards on the 2nd one and thought he was throwing to Shaquille O'Neal on the 3rd one. His decision making would have made you believe he smacked his head off of a car windshield or something. If Ben plays better, we aren't having this discussion. And yes, Tomlin is a jackass.

 

[topseed]

While Tomlin has worn me thin, like many others, this one is on Ben. Players do make mistakes in games, you're right about that. But he was awful in the second half of that game. heaving it 30-40 yards down the field on 3rd and 5 or shorter, holding onto the ball waaaaay to long and those interceptions were horrendous. Especially when you consider he could've just ran and gained 5 yards on the 2nd one and thought he was throwing to Shaquille O'Neal on the 3rd one. His decision making would have made you believe he smacked his head off of a car windshield or something. If Ben plays better, we aren't having this discussion. And yes, Tomlin is a jackass.

I understand that Ben played poorly. Just like I understood that Scobee's poor execution was the main factor in the loss to the Ravens.

Here's the thing, though: Concerned fans continue to have these discussions about Tomlin, because it's the close contests where the head coach's in-game choices become magnified. Despite his player's failures, both of those games were still winnable; however, the Steelers lost. These are the times when Tomlin needs to earn his $6,000,000 salary, and make the right decisions. But he hasn't. And over the course of his career, he very rarely has. It's not like the other major sports. You only have 16 games. There's little margin for error; the wrong move in one game can often cost you the entire season.

Properly managed, the Steelers could well be 6-2 and a half game behind the Bengals for the division lead. Instead, they're probably looking at another 8-8 year. One more season without a playoff win. But Mikey will still have never lost more than he's won -- yay! He'll have the built-in excuse of losing Bell, time will march on, Ben will be another year closer to the end, and nothing will change.

 

[thumbring]

What bugs me is Tomlin is so defensive about his mistakes and never learns from them. He's very stubborn. It would be fine if he made mistakes and then never made them again. But he keeps doing them over and over and defiantly defends them.

 

[chipped ham]

I understand that Ben played poorly. Just like I understood that Scobee's poor execution was the main factor in the loss to the Ravens.

Here's the thing, though: Concerned fans continue to have these discussions about Tomlin, because it's the close contests where the head coach's in-game choices become magnified. Despite his player's failures, both of those games were still winnable; however, the Steelers lost. These are the times when Tomlin needs to earn his $6,000,000 salary, and make the right decisions. But he hasn't. And over the course of his career, he very rarely has. It's not like the other major sports. You only have 16 games. There's little margin for error; the wrong move in one game can often cost you the entire season.

Properly managed, the Steelers could well be 6-2 and a half game behind the Bengals for the division lead. Instead, they're probably looking at another 8-8 year. One more season without a playoff win. But Mikey will still have never lost more than he's won -- yay! He'll have the built-in excuse of losing Bell, time will march on, Ben will be another year closer to the end, and nothing will change.

Your points are all spot on and I am in full agreement with you. Too many times does Tomlin come off as he's just happy to be the head coach of the best professional franchise in sports. However, it's not enough, and the same problems continue to plague him. Especially clock management. The same problems that persisted in 2007 are still showing today. It's just that, in this particular case(last Sunday's game), none of this is an issue if our quarterback plays even marginally better. We're not talking about what's more valuable, time or timeouts, because we're never in that position. Odds are we have that discussion some other day. Someone posted in another post about how Ben is absolved of all blame, and there is truth to that. They made a big deal in the offseason about not being good enough in the red zone and wanting to score 30+ points a game. Unfortunately, it's business as usual with the steelers offense and sputtering out all game long. Honestly, when they got the ball back after the bungles took the lead with 3:00 minutes left of whatever it was, I didn't feel confident at all that he was gonna drive us down the field and score. I mean not only could he not do it all game long, with a lead mind you, but when was the last time he took us down the field on a real game winning drive? And I found it absolutely hilarious that they were using the middle of the field and dinking and dunking with just seconds on the clock instead of doing AT ALL during the game. Coaching has held this team back, no question. But if we are to salvage this season and make a serious run, Ben has got to be in top form.

 

[Vader]

I wish they would run a true hurry up offense. I've never seen a team so addicted to waiting. They run to the line then do nothing. Hell I've seen normal offenses snap the ball faster. The Steelers run a slow no-huddle but they don't run a hurry up offense. Which means they waste a ton of time.

 

[topseed]

Your points are all spot on and I am in full agreement with you. Too many times does Tomlin come off as he's just happy to be the head coach of the best professional franchise in sports. However, it's not enough, and the same problems continue to plague him. Especially clock management. The same problems that persisted in 2007 are still showing today. It's just that, in this particular case(last Sunday's game), none of this is an issue if our quarterback plays even marginally better. We're not talking about what's more valuable, time or timeouts, because we're never in that position. Odds are we have that discussion some other day. Someone posted in another post about how Ben is absolved of all blame, and there is truth to that. They made a big deal in the offseason about not being good enough in the red zone and wanting to score 30+ points a game. Unfortunately, it's business as usual with the steelers offense and sputtering out all game long. Honestly, when they got the ball back after the bungles took the lead with 3:00 minutes left of whatever it was, I didn't feel confident at all that he was gonna drive us down the field and score. I mean not only could he not do it all game long, with a lead mind you, but when was the last time he took us down the field on a real game winning drive? And I found it absolutely hilarious that they were using the middle of the field and dinking and dunking with just seconds on the clock instead of doing AT ALL during the game. Coaching has held this team back, no question. But if we are to salvage this season and make a serious run, Ben has got to be in top form.

Yes, Ben used to be money late in games, but that magic touch has gone away for the most part the last few years. At one time, I had great confidence that he would deliver with the game on the line. Not so much anymore.