Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
It has been disgusting enough to witness how unprepared, unmotivated, and undisciplined that Mike Tomlin’s teams have been during recent seasons.
The fact that Pittsburgh’s head coach backed up his ridiculous decision which kept Ben Roethlisberger in a 55-31 game with 2:41 to go during his most recent post-game press conference was what really had me steamed earlier this evening (via Steelers.com):
"Because we have to get better and those are snap opportunities to get better. We aren’t turning it down. We aren’t running away from anything. We had the opportunity to work and get better so we did that. The guys that were healthy were going to stay on the grass and finish the game."
Tomlin can spew all of the “snap opportunities to get better” garbage he wants, but maybe his team should have tried to get better and compete at a higher level when the game was tied 24-24 or even 31-24. Hanging his team’s “franchise player” out to dry at a meaningless point in an already meaningless game does nothing positive for anybody involved.
Oh, and isn’t “practice” usually the time when teams are supposed to get better, Mr. Tomlin?
At that point in the contest, Pittsburgh had lost Marcus Gilbert and only had one backup offensive lineman on the bench. The Steelers’ offensive line was comprised of Mike Adams, Kelvin Beachum, Ramon Foster, Guy Whimper, and Fernando Velasco, and “Big Ben” had already been sacked five times in the game.
Of course, Tomlin sent Roethlisberger out on the field for a meaningless drive and “Big Ben” had to evade pressure and took useless post-pass hits in the process. I know that Pittsburgh’s signal-caller was not seriously hurt on that final drive, but this team can ill afford to lose their most important player during an already “lost season.”
Final Thoughts
Without Roethlisberger, this current team would have trouble defeating the Jacksonville Jaguars.
I know, some of you might laugh at that statement. Yet I don’t see the defense doing anything special, and Pittsburgh’s play-makers on offense would be without the guy who distributes them the ball.
With Tomlin at the helm, it looks like this team is a rudderless ship headed nowhere. The guy is “all sizzle and no steak,” and his post-game remarks and penchant for uttering the word “obvious” through them cannot cover up how his coaching and personnel decisions have hurt this team during their rebuilding phase.
This team is 4-11 in their last 15 regular season games, and it might serve the Rooney family well to consider whether or not Tomlin is actually the correct man for his current job.
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