Teams Pittsburgh Steelers - The Steel Curtain

[Exe Gesis]

Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio reports a group of the Steelers' limited partners want coach Mike Tomlin fired.

Tomlin has never had a losing season in 11 years with the Steelers while winning at least 10 games eight times, but that record has not prevented his name from popping up in rumors the last couple years. To be fair to the rabble-rousers, the Steelers have not been to the Super Bowl since 2010 and have made the Championship Game just once over that run, arguably an underachievement given the talent on the roster. Still, it remains unlikely Tomlin is shown the door, but perhaps the discontent will lead to changes to his staff. For what it is worth, Tomlin did not throw his support behind OC Todd Haley when given the chance during his season-ending press conference.


Source: Pro Football Talk

 

[Exe Gesis]

Sounds like some division is going on....

On his radio show, Ben Roethlisberger hinted he wants Todd Haley to remain the offensive coordinator in 2018.

"The least amount of change the better," Roethlisberger said. "We don’t want to have big changes because we’re right there. We’re on the cusp." Ben went on to say the issues between he and Haley were "perceived as a bigger deal" than they were. Haley is not under contract for 2018, but these comments from Roethlisberger at least give him a shot to return.


Source: Aditi Kinkhabwala on Twitter

 

[Woodson]

This season has been his most UnTomlin like. I have long known Coach T to be respecting the opposition but this year it’s gone belly-up. How many fingers do yinz have?? Bothered to count the slow starts?? Hello!! The Bears game debacle was a classic example of poor leadership. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been in Coach T’s corner for all the journey but this year he has let himself go and has allowed the players to go over the top. Social media is rampant with sideshows that are nothing but distractions. The 13-3 record is really a 9-7 record at best. I know for one that at least four ‘Lucky wins’ at the death were not convincing. To only play two quarters of football is laughable to think that you can carry that arrogant attitude into the play-offs. I’m glad guys like DeCastro can still respect the opposition. Feeling totally distraught about this loss. Attitudes NEED to change moreso than getting rid of Tomlin because it’s been a half-baked season for serious commitment to win.

One wish I have, is that DC gets replaced. Butler is a good LB coach but the DC work isn't for him. Failed on the big stage again!!

It’s a kick in the guts result that I’m trying to get over. I think the Saints Loss is more infuriating (as a genuine fan of the game) / bitter pill to swallow than mine.

 

[AmericanCrow]

 

[Woodson]

Sounds like some division is going on....

On his radio show, Ben Roethlisberger hinted he wants Todd Haley to remain the offensive coordinator in 2018.

"The least amount of change the better," Roethlisberger said. "We don’t want to have big changes because we’re right there. We’re on the cusp." Ben went on to say the issues between he and Haley were "perceived as a bigger deal" than they were. Haley is not under contract for 2018, but these comments from Roethlisberger at least give him a shot to return.


Source: Aditi Kinkhabwala on Twitter

Ben plays with the media too often.. it was pure sarcasm / BS in what he seemingly hinted about wanting Haley to remain. It's been obvious, Haley isn't his kinda guy. Knowing that Tomlin wasn't gonna tick the renewal contract of Haley.. Ben quickly springs out and says something completely different to his 'retirement' consideration after last season ended. Big Ben has announced he is looking forward to return. There was some mention of playing another three years but I'm only taking 'year by year'... Haley and Ben have been at odds too often for a team who look at getting back to the big dance. In a way, I'm glad Haley isn't returning. Some of the 'catch the opposition out' with indifferent play-calls have blown up on the big stage. His replacement will be long time QB coach, Randy Fichtner, who started as WR coach in 2007 before progressing to QB coach.. A poor man's Bruce Arian one might say.

 

[Exe Gesis]

 

[Mancey]

Yeeeeesssss

Still dirty on Lamar going to the ravens though

 

[Exe Gesis]

Reckon Rudolph is better

 

[Mancey]

Reckon Rudolph is better

Oh yeah i'm in the camp that a running QB would get wrecked in the AFC north, and our offense simply isn't suited to it.

But i liked Jackson, so seeing him go to the ravens is a kick in the guts

 

[Mancey]

Bigger news was taking Jalen Samuels. A do it all running back, who can line up as a receiver or even block.

Sounds.....familiar

 

[Exe Gesis]

Steelers GM Kevin Colbert said third-round pick Mason Rudolph "was with the group of the top quarterbacks" on their board.

Pittsburgh moved up three spots in the third to get Rudolph, giving up a seventh-round pick in the process. "We didn't want to take that risk," Colbert said. "Mason Rudolph was somebody that we valued as much as the rest of those quarterbacks that were drafted." If this was completely true, Pittsburgh would not have passed on him for a receiver, Rudolph's college teammate James Washington, in the second round, but it at least sounds like the organization believes Rudolph has real starter upside. Despite grumbling about retirement in the past, Ben Roethlisberger reportedly said he plans to play three more seasons.

Source: Penn Live

 

[Mancey]

I'd love ben to hang around, but while he's been as resilient as any qb has, he's one injury away from hanging em up.

Gotta have an insurance policy, and that isn't dobbs or Landry

 

[Mancey]

Real question is who gets cut. Dobbs showed flashes but hasn't had much time to show what he has.

Landry cops a bunch of shit, but as backups go he's pretty solid

You'd think one of them goes

 

[Exe Gesis]

I think Ben lasts one more year (this year), and that should be time for Rudolph to learn behind him and be ready to take over in 2019 (or mid-season 2019) if Ben still hangs around but falls off a cliff mid-season.

 

[Helfarch]

Real question is who gets cut. Dobbs showed flashes but hasn't had much time to show what he has.

Landry cops a bunch of shit, but as backups go he's pretty solid

You'd think one of them goes

Landry cops shit because he is shit.

 

[Mancey]

Landry cops shit because he is shit.

If he wasn't shit he'd be a starter, not a backup.

With backups you're just hoping for a guy that isn't a total dumpster fire, he's better than a lot of backups in that regard. Hard to tell if he's better or worse than dobbs.

That said I still think Jones will be the one to go

 

[Helfarch]

If he wasn't shit he'd be a starter, not a backup.

With backups you're just hoping for a guy that isn't a total dumpster fire, he's better than a lot of backups in that regard. Hard to tell if he's better or worse than dobbs.

That said I still think Jones will be the one to go

You have to wonder what other backups could do with that offense...

 

[Exe Gesis]

Fan puts on full pads, tries to practice with Steelers
Posted by Michael David Smith on August 11, 2018, 9:21 PM EDT

Getty Images

A fan put on a full uniform and made it past security at Steelers training camp this morning, just missing getting to take part in practice before he was exposed.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the fan attempted to take part in drills with the team before he was escorted off the field.

If they were full-contact drills, the security guards who pulled the fan off the field probably saved him from great bodily harm. Shoulder pads and a helmet aren’t enough to protect the average Joe from the hits an NFL player would deliver.

The fan was wearing a No. 43 jersey, which Troy Polamalu wore and which the Steelers haven’t issued since Polamalu retired after the 2014 season.

It is unclear whether the fan is facing any type of charges for trespassing on the practice field. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin declined to discuss the incident when reporters asked him about it after practice.

 

[Exe Gesis]

Terry Bradshaw: Mike Tomlin is not my kind of coach
Posted by Michael David Smith on September 4, 2018, 2:27 PM EDT

Getty Images

Steelers Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw has long been a critic of the team’s current coach, Mike Tomlin. That criticism is not subsiding.

Bradshaw said on 97.3 the Fan in San Diego that he thinks Tomlin acts like too much of a friend to his players, and not enough of an authority figure.

“I played for a tough sucker, and I was afraid of him, and we played our ass off for him because we feared him,” Bradshaw said of his coach, Chuck Noll. “I don’t see that with this guy. He’s chest bumping and all that. I’m the head of the corporation, I’m the CEO, I’m the chairman of the board, I’m talking to the stockholders telling them here’s how we’re gonna do at the end of the quarter. I’m selling this thing, and I’m not delivering the goods, which is championships. You’ve got to face the criticism. I’m sorry, but he’s not my kind of coach. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again.”

The Steelers were one of the best teams in the league last year and have won a Super Bowl under Tomlin, but Bradshaw says a better coach would have won multiple Super Bowls with the players Tomlin has coached in Pittsburgh.

“Mike Tomlin is winning football games, but at the same time, Super Bowls are disappearing, and that’s my criticism,” Bradshaw said. “How can you have this great offense and you being a defensive guy, and I think that football team should have been in another Super Bowl or two. How could they not be? And to lose at home to Jacksonville, I don’t care how good of a run Jacksonville is on, I don’t care how Jacksonville played New England in the championship game. You don’t lose 45-42. Are you kidding me? In a championship game?”

Bradshaw thinks firing offensive coordinator Todd Haley was a mistake, and it’s the side of the ball that Tomlin coaches, the defense, that needs to get better.

“He fires the offensive coordinator, and keeps the defensive coordinator,” Bradshaw said. “Now I don’t know the reason behind that, I’ve asked a few people and they’re as puzzled as I am. I don’t know why you fire the offensive coordinator who gave you 42 points, and kept the defense, unless you just thought you don’t really need an offensive coordinator, anyone can run that offense. So I’ll fire him, I’ll make the change there, and everybody will look and, go, he made some hard changes. But on offense? I’d fire that defensive coordinator, pack his ass out the highway, and I’d go find me somebody else who can do the job. I just don’t understand that at all.”

Late in the 2016 season, Bradshaw referred to Tomlin as a cheerleader, not a great coach. Nothing Tomlin has done since then has changed Bradshaw’s mind.

 

[brutus76]

So will Dez and Bell form their own team?

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

Go to agree here and highlights how much Bell has been underpaid in comparison....

Not that Bell is working for peanuts—had he signed his franchise tag before the season, he’d be at $30,582,194 in career earnings by the end of this season. But that’s less than fellow 2013 draftees such as:

• Eric Fisher ($50,492,498), Ziggy Ansah ($48,492,656), Lane Johnson ($44,90,920), DeAndre Hopkins ($44,199,009) Star Lotulelei ($33,461,500) and Kyle Long ($33,251,058), all fine players but none of whom have put together better careers than Bell to this point.

• Terron Armstead ($33,627,276), who’s missed 15 games over the full two seasons since he got his extension.

• Bell would also be just ahead of the likes of Alec Ogletree ($29,169,779), who was traded from the Rams to the Giants after a disappointing 2017; Luke Joeckel ($28,889,098), who’s no longer in the NFL; and Justin Pugh ($28,473,935), who just signed a big deal with Arizona after an up-and-down few seasons with the Giants, culminating with a half-season lost to back problems.

 

[Exe Gesis]

Responding to a tweet saying Ben Roethlisberger is the reason he puts up numbers, Antonio Brown wrote, "Trade me let’s find out."

The tweet came from someone who previously handled public relations for the Steelers, so Brown is not responding to anyone with any power. Still, his emphatic response is at least notable after he was seen bickering with the coaching staff multiple times during the Week 2 loss to the Chiefs. Pittsburgh is certainly not going to trade Brown, but it seems like the receiver is unhappy with how things are going early in the season.


Source: Antonio Brown on Twitter

 

[AmericanCrow]

No need to thank me--you are welcome.

 

[bigmicka]

What is the story about Big Ben, Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels?

 

[Exe Gesis]

ESPN's Adam Schefter reports the Steelers are now listening to trade offers for holdout RB Le'Veon Bell.

They're satisfied with what James Conner has given the offense through two games and are looking to move on from the Bell situation, which has caused major off-field distractions. Bell has shown no intention of wanting to play anytime soon, seemingly more concerned with his musical career than football during the prolonged holdout. Any team interested in trading for Le'Veon would almost certainly want to work out a long-term deal before the move is made, and that creates several different obstacles to work around, including Bell's suspension and injury histories in addition to what's left of his commitment to playing football.