Nov 2, 2014; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin looks on from the sidelines against the Baltimore Ravens during the first quarter at Heinz Field. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
The Pittsburgh Steelers have developed an affinity (this season most of all) for starting games slowly. That’s not to say that they trip out of the gates so badly that they can’t get up – they did muster several come from behind wins. But, it’s clear that this team has a knack for digging themselves a hole early due to their inability to score quickly on offense and keep the opposing team off the scoreboard during their early drives.
How often has this happened this season alone? In eight out of ten games this season, the Steelers have been outscored 60-33 in the first quarter. What is incredibly frustrating about these slow starts (and enough to make you want to puke) is that this team has one of the easier schedules of the season among the other NFL teams. The combined winning percentage of the Steelers opponents, past and future, through Week 10 for the 2014 season is .371 (49-83). The dreadful NFC South’s struggles are skewing the win percentage stat slightly, but even pulling them out puts the overall barely at .500.
Mediocre vs. mediocre. The Steelers current record of 6-4 would suggest that they’ve faired ‘ok’ against their opponents. It doesn’t take a keen observer, however, to know that it’s the abysmal losses to the bottom feeders of the league that stick out the most. Overall, the slow starts have been costly. Dejan Kovacevic wrote in a column earlier in the week that when Tomlin was posed with this question regarding slow starts and the horizontal offensive game plans, DK reported that Tomlin said the Steelers spend the earlier portion of games “probing” to see what works.
Oh look. He must coach on the sidelines.
Probing.
After the 15 year old in me stops chuckling, let me say that regardless of what verb you use – whether it’s probing, testing, exploring – that term really goes to show just how bad things are going for the Steelers. This ‘probing’ philosophy to playing football is most indeed at the core of what is wrong with this football team. Probing does not define the type of game you want to establish. Probing does not impose your will on another team.
No wonder the players struggle early in games. They’re too busy waiting for their coaches to size up the competition on the field rather when it’s too late rather than in the film room – getting the players working on what they (the coaches) 100% believe will work to win the football game. No wonder James Harrison was on the field during a crucial drive (albeit it was late in the game) – they must have been probing to see if the Jets would be fooled by such jackassery of a goal line package and decision to let Harrison out into the flat as a receiver.
It gives players a true lack of direction. A sense of urgency. No build up in the week of how you need to go in and utterly destroy a crumbling organization – Jets, Bucs, Jaguars, take your pick – before they even have a chance to count the handful of their own fans dumb enough to pay outrageous prices to see their home team make an embarrassment of themselves.
Probing.
It’s a philosophy for a group of guys who think they can outsmart their competition with the explorations of nine lateral passes before one gets thrown downfield rather than just capitalize on a known fact that they are up against a reeling secondary (for the second time in three weeks) and throw nothing less than 15 yards down the field for the first several drives to put that defense back on their heels. Yes indeedy. A bunch of Newtons out there testing their Theory of the Sideways Pass, while the scoreboard gets run up on the other side putting this team in a desperate situation.
If they are prone to probe week in and week out, shouldn’t their testing show that the three weeks they decided to throw the ball downfield early and often racked up points and put them riding high on a three game win streak? Do they only observe what they want to and just consider success outside of their theories are anomalies? Is that being a bad scientist… I mean, bad coach? Or just dumb?
These three, especially Haley and Tomlin, have quickly fallen out of Steeler Nation’s good graces. But, weren’t they praising those guys the last two weeks? Sure thing. Seemed like things had turned the corner and they were finally putting the pieces together in the right spots rather than fit a square peg in a round hole.
As long as this sideways game reigns supreme as a means to “test” defenses… well, I can tell you that Mike Tomlin and Todd Haley and Dick LeBeau can take their probes and shove them you know where. Besides, doesn’t he know that probing works best up and down and not sideways?