What we learned from Steelers disgraceful Week 1 loss to the San Francisco 49ers
By Eric Hassel
The Steelers coaching staff did not have the players ready to play against the 49ers
Let's call it what it is. Miike Tomlin and the coaching staff simply did not get the players 'up for this game. To think that a head coach with as much experience as Tomlin has can not get the players ready to play on opening day at home is 'head scratching'.
Yes, I know 'opening day' is a baseball term but I think it's appropriate in this context. Fortunately, we will have an extra day to get ready for our next contest, but with the way we played today, one extra day won't be enough to fix the issues we currently have.
The offensive game plan looked eerily similar to any game plan that Matt Canada devised last season. It didn't take long for some 'trickeration' to materialize. On the second offense play, Canda called a misdirection play to Calvin Austin who lost a yard.
That type of play is a play you call later in the game after something has been established. We established nothing to that point and that's the play that is called? Canada simply lacks a 'feel' for playcalling but that is something Tomlin witnessed almost the entire season in 2022.
So, when is Tomlin going to admit that retaining Canada was not a good idea? Perhaps he never will or will after it's too late to 'right the ship'. I hope that is not the case, but I really have no faith that changes will be made after what I will describe as an embarrassing loss.
The defense faired no better. We gave up thirty points at home the first week of the season. That is not good, to say the least. As with the offense, Tomlin knows and is probably more involved in the game plan on defense than he is on offense.
Nevertheless, we had no answers for the 49ers offense and that is embarrassing, plain and simple. All I can say is this: I really hope we never have to discuss an awful performance for the rest of the season. If we are discussing another awful performance, that would probably mean we are talking about the first losing season under Tomlin's 'watch'.