Stop blaming the coaches!!!

Every time the Steelers lose you read the same tired comments, "Tomlin Sucks" "coaches didn't prepare them""Haley sucks" etc. Very tiresome. The garbage we watched yesterday was NOT all on the coaches. Do they deserve to shoulder some of the blame?, YES! But how about the blame be put where it squarely deserves ....ON THE PLAYERS!!
Yesterday I watched this team and players lose the 1 on 1 battles. Look listless. Ben was awful, Wheaton and Bryant did nothing to pull coverage away from Brown. The D Line was continually blown off the ball, the LB's seemingly played without passion and couldn't mount a pass rush. As for the play calling, Ben has the latitude to change play calls, so we don't know how much the erratic offense is on him or the coaches game plan. The rats played 2 high safety early and often to take away the deep ball, the under neath was there and the run was there. BEN DIDN'T TAKE ADVANTAGE ON THE UNDERNEATH and was forcing it to AB. After the first drive the OL didn't win the 1 on 1 battles in the run game.
Defensively, it doesn't matter who is playing in the secondary if you don't get a pass rush. But these guys have a real problem tackling. Mitchell is constantly looking for a big hit and yesterday he could have had an easy pic on a pass breakup by Cockrell had he been looking for the ball instead of trying to hurt someone.
Some folks will say, "the coaches didn't motivate" "did'nt get them fired up" Well that only works so much with men. These guys are making more in a season or a game than most of us will make in a career, they are grown men, they shouldn't need that "ra ra" high school stuff to get them fired up to win a game that could clinch them a playoff birth.
No, this loss is on THE PLAYERS!!

great post, like you say the coaches deserve some of the blame. But saying this is on the coaches is like being a little kid who doesn't want to admit his hero got beat. Our players just got beat.

We were outplayed and outcoached in every facet of the game. The whole team, outside of Deangelo Williams, deserves the blame, not just any one player or coach.

DeAngelo Williams was the only player who didn't fail yesterday.

Roethlisberger was off the mark with his two INTs. WRs dropped passes and didn't fight for the ball when coverage was tight. Offensive linemen got beat in pass protection, and also got beat on that fateful 4th-and-short play to open the game. The third-down conversion rate was awful. The offensive game plan was too run-heavy early and too pass-heavy late.

The defensive front seven got blown off the ball on several plays. The secondary seldom challenged any passes. The defense missed tackles all over the field, failed to force a turnover, allowed too many yards per play, and too often failed to get off the field on third down. The lack of big plays by the defense put the offense in a bad situation with too many long fields.

This was a team failure, and the only player who gets no blame is DeAngelo Williams.

Agree with everything above, this loss falls squarely on the team's shoulders.

Ben and the WR corp just dominated (in the 2nd half at least) the best secondary in football and the overall best defense in football. Perhaps Ben and the receivers' hubris got the best of them and they looked at the Ravens defense as pitiful compared to what they just faced, and the Ravens bested them big time.

Sure, the defense held them to 20 points, but they did absolutely nothing to positively help the offense in terms of field position, turnovers, points, or time of possession.

The coaches weren't playing QB and forcing the ball into tight coverage.

I can only imagine gone if the game had gone to OT and Tomlin had did what Belicheat had done yesterday.... he would have been crucified on here.

DesertSteel wrote:

The coaches weren't playing QB and forcing the ball into tight coverage.

I can only imagine gone if the game had gone to OT and Tomlin had did what Belicheat had done yesterday.... he would have been crucified on here.

I actually don't consider either of Roethlisberger's INTs to be bad decisions yesterday. He's forced throws in other games this season, but the INTs yesterday were simply poor throws that missed the mark. On the first INT, Roethlisberger did have Antonio Brown open down the deep middle, but the pass was underthrown and the LB was able to grab it. Just a few inches higher and it's likely a completion. On the second INT, it was supposed to be a back-shoulder throw, but Roethlisberger threw it too far inside. Sometimes the ball just gets away from the QB. It's the football equivalent of a wild pitch.

Whether bad decisions or bad throws or both... he sucked yesterday and got outplayed by a journeyman who signed 12 days ago. That said, Ben would probably throw for 600 yards against our secondary.... unless the game was meaningful.

Ben is getting into a very bad habit of stinking against sub par teams! I use to blame the coaches, but these throws that are way off the mark is on Ben. He missed on Heath who was wide open, not to mention a few ill-advised passes. Don't what it is with him, but as a leader of this team, you gotta elevaluate your team to win the games their supposed to win. No excuse to lose to the practice squad team.

IowaSteeler927 wrote:

We were outplayed and outcoached in every facet of the game. The whole team, outside of Deangelo Williams, deserves the blame, not just any one player or coach.

Agreed.

The notion of blaming Tomlin or blaming Haley for his playcalling is something I never agree with like the OP says. There are in game coaching situations that I think were less than adequate yesterday, like Haley calling a run on 4th and 1 or Butler not doing more to get Mallett off the mark, or LB's not accounting for the RB as an outlet and allowing big receptions.

Yes, the coaches and guys like Ben, AB, Heyward, Allen, Gay, etc that played in Ravens games in the past should have been more up for the game. The DC should have been thinking about taking away Mallett's first read and making him move in the pocket, as mobility isn't his strength.

But, grown men that can rise to the challenge of the Broncos last week, should not wilt in the face of a division rival that are without their leaders on offense and defense.

I'm just disappointed with the entire team and it angers me to think they can't beat the Ravens even once in a season where they're the worst I can ever remember them.

It's more than just yesterday's game. The Seahawks game,etc.

Now the team faces another division rival with a bad record. I think this loss put things into perspective and back into reality for this team.

This team just isn't consistent and that's the problem. During this season we haven't had a winning streak longer than 3 games. It's like they rest on their laurels after having a few good games. To me that just screams lack of preparation and that's mostly on the coaches there.

Maybe the team couldn't get up for the Ravens game after being on such a high during the Bengals and Bronco weeks (specially the huge comeback last week). Maybe they had little left for the Ravens game, in terms of focus and intensity. Maybe there was little this coaching staff could do to get them prepared. Maybe everyone was a little burnt out, who knows? I do believe its still the coaches responsibility to get the team prepared week after week even though that might be difficult sometimes.

That's why the Nolls and Belicheks are considered such geniuses.

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

But, grown men that can rise to the challenge of the Broncos last week, should not wilt in the face of a division rival that are without their leaders on offense and defense.

Completely agree, and I hope the stench of that loss lingers with them and eats at them, and forces them to be better because that was one of the most pathetic losses I've seen in my time as a Steelers fan. There is no reason we shouldn't have won that game. Being in control of our own playoff destiny, you cannot go in and lose to an opponent that has literally been ravaged by injuries. They should be embarrassed, and ashamed of their performance last Sunday.

Speaking of Steelers coaches, this played on the Jumbotron at the end of the game telling people not to run onto the field:

JonM229 wrote:

Speaking of Steelers coaches, this played on the Jumbotron at the end of the game telling people not to run onto the field:

They should've run it more! Ravens were giving us the run.

EbonySteel86 wrote:

They should've run it more! Ravens were giving us the run.

Run it or throw underneath - Heath was open all day and Ravens were dropping safeties 20 to 25 yards while rotating coverage towards Brown

The deep throw on third and 15 on the last drive to Martavis "Hands of Stone" Bryant rather than try to get something that would make 4th down a manageable distance was typical of Haley and/or Ben forcing all day what was not there

Martavis Bryant is like Randy Moss if he had spaghetti for hands.

Atlanta Dan wrote:

EbonySteel86 wrote:

They should've run it more! Ravens were giving us the run.

Run it or throw underneath - Heath was open all day and Ravens were dropping safeties 20 to 25 yards while rotating coverage towards Brown

The deep throw on third and 15 on the last drive to Martavis "Hands of Stone" Bryant rather than try to get something that would make 4th down a manageable distance was typical of Haley and/or Ben forcing all day what was not there

Yeah, that play (pleasantly) baffled me. You're already in four down territory. Take what the defense gives you for a manageable 4th down.

KeepHarrisonTilHes92 wrote:

Martavis Bryant is like Randy Moss if he had spaghetti for hands.

Sounds like Ben has about had it with Bryant's drops

Martavis Bryant's up-and-down year continued against the Ravens when he caught one pass for 6 yards. He also didn't come up with a key catch on a third down during the final drive of the game.

“He needs to make that play and I am not telling you guys or the fans anything that we haven't told him, the coaches haven't told him,” Ben Roethlisberger said during his weekly segment on KDKA-FM.

“I even grabbed him after the game and told him that if he wants to be great, you have to make that play. He knows that. He felt horrible about it because he felt he should've made that play. That's that growth we need from him.”

http://triblive.com/sports/steelers/9709687-74/tomlin-ravens-steelers#ixzz3vl6rdRtC

Atlanta Dan wrote:

KeepHarrisonTilHes92 wrote:

Martavis Bryant is like Randy Moss if he had spaghetti for hands.

Sounds like Ben has about had it with Bryant's drops

Martavis Bryant's up-and-down year continued against the Ravens when he caught one pass for 6 yards. He also didn't come up with a key catch on a third down during the final drive of the game.

“He needs to make that play and I am not telling you guys or the fans anything that we haven't told him, the coaches haven't told him,” Ben Roethlisberger said during his weekly segment on KDKA-FM.

“I even grabbed him after the game and told him that if he wants to be great, you have to make that play. He knows that. He felt horrible about it because he felt he should've made that play. That's that growth we need from him.”

http://triblive.com/sports/steelers/9709687-74/tomlin-ravens-steelers#ixzz3vl6rdRtC

Yeah, he needs his QB to hassle him over that. He's a grown-ass man that's being paid to make those catches. I swear, he's made only one contested catch all season. There he was coming in during the offseason looking buff and everyone talking about how strong he is, and yet guys half his size out-fight him for the ball week-in and week-out. Must be all that dope he smoked, making him a pacifist.

EbonySteel86 wrote:

They should've run it more! Ravens were giving us the run.

I thought the same, though I think the coaching staff is against running d-will 30x a game because of his age. If that's the case though we either need to get our backups more reps or sign another guy who can be a 1-2 punch (though a little late for that).

I woulda saw this game being way more run-heavy if we had Le'Veon Bell

Atlanta Dan wrote:

EbonySteel86 wrote:

They should've run it more! Ravens were giving us the run.

Run it or throw underneath - Heath was open all day and Ravens were dropping safeties 20 to 25 yards while rotating coverage towards Brown

They should have run it much more than they did in the second half. The Ravens were taking away the deep threat. Everything else was open.

Atlanta Dan wrote:

The deep throw on third and 15 on the last drive to Martavis "Hands of Stone" Bryant rather than try to get something that would make 4th down a manageable distance was typical of Haley and/or Ben forcing all day what was not there

Even on that 4th down play, Wheaton was there. For some reason Ben didn't throw it on a rope between the CB and Safety. He put air under the ball and allowed the CB and Safety to break up the pass. Had he thrown it in there with some authority, Wheaton would have had an easy catch. Ben played a very poor game ... hence they should have run the ball more.

Fire Arians wrote:

EbonySteel86 wrote:

They should've run it more! Ravens were giving us the run.

I thought the same, though I think the coaching staff is against running d-will 30x a game because of his age.

Not at all ... Tomlin doesn't live in his fears and will run the wheels off any RB. They didn't run Williams more because they tried to win doing what they have always done this year ... throw the ball deep.