How Ridiculous Is Steelers West Coast Request?

By Craig Gottschalk | Mar 28, 2015

‘The Steelers travel well.’

Too bad that quip only pertains to Steelers fans that show up in masses during away games that seem to out number the opposing home crowd. The team itself and its record, however, is a different story.

Since Tomlin arrived as head coach, the team has gone 2-7 in games that are in or west of the Rocky Mountains. Widen the zone to just west of the Mississippi, and the Steelers are an abysmal 3-13.

Hard to make an argument against Tomlin having a difficult time preparing his team to travel west… obviously.

They turn the ball over more when they travel long distances, are less disciplined, and just overall play lousy football. Nine games on the ‘west coast’ over six or seven seasons is a large enough data pool to extrapolate the hypothesis that Tomlin struggles to prepare his players when traveling long distances.

Maybe it’s jet lag, but Tomlin has waved that excuse in the past. It still could be a contributing factor despite Tomlin’s unwillingness to agree.

So, it makes sense that Art Rooney II and the Steelers have put in the formal request to the NFL that the Steelers play back to back games on the west coast when they travel to play the Seahawks and the Chargers.

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If granted, the Steelers would elect to stay out west and practice in a rented facility until the following Sunday.

Maybe the Steelers need to save traveling money after re-signing Ben Roethlisberger. Ok, joking aside – they are serious about getting this exception granted.

From a league level, the request is absolutely ridiculous. If granted, there would be a huge amount of pressure to grant other similar requests causing a scheduling nightmare. The Ravens have already placed a similar request.

Where does the line become drawn? How far is too far? After all, the Cowboys are in the NFC East division, but are located in the middle of the continental United States.

From a team standpoint, the request makes complete sense. Keeping players locked in one time zone for more than a week shakes off any traveling woes and would help keep the players focused.

It might help lessen what is already the hardest schedule in the league.

Where it really makes sense would be a Sunday afternoon game followed by a Thursday night game. But, teams don’t usually and traditionally don’t travel far on a short week of rest.

As a fan, I think it’s a great idea that could help the team stay focused and shake the ‘west coast blues.’ However, I think the league would need to grant future requests based on precedence – which means it will more than likely get shredded.

After all, what they are really doing is asking to dictate to the NFL (and the Commish) when they play what game. And, that won’t fly.

What do you think, Steeler Nation? How ridiculous of a request is it for the Steelers to ask for a particular schedule?

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