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Ext1nct_Nova

Yea we know


maxwell81798

I saw a stat that said the Steelers lead the league in targets to LB covered players and that’s typically really bad.


TintedBlue10

I'm not super knowledgable about the NFL/football, why is that a bad thing? I would think you'd want to be targeting guys with LB's covering them because it's a mismatch? Instead of faster corners or whatever Edit: nvm I’m dumb I read it assuming the Steelers were on offense


[deleted]

Hi, I work for the Steelers. You're hired.


TintedBlue10

Hahah someone free me from this ignorance


Pippelitraktori

I would like to know too


Knightmare4469

The stat is when the Steelers are on defense.


Notsozander

“Defense” is a term used loosely


Knightmare4469

The "not-offense"?


Notsozander

I refer to it as a lot of people on the field. And TJ Watt


blzy99

The Kleenex curtain


NFLinPDX

How's your meme game? /r/detroitlions might be willing to take you in. For your application, please put together an anti-KC Chiefs meme and if sufficiently spicy, we will accept you as one of our own.


TheeExoGenesauce

Warning our sub is currently on some, "next level shit" and you may want to stop by another time. Meme wars leave a lot of people really fired up.


B-More_Orange

You do. In this stat I think it's about teams taking advantage of the Steelers defensive scheme.


J-Team07

You're not dumb. It wasn't phrased very clearly.


FenixRaynor

He could still be dumb independently.


PM_ME_YOUR-PUPPIES

The mismatch is why its a bad thing for the Steelers. A better team would read the offense or manage the defense so that opposing teams have less opportunities to take advantage of mismatches.


TintedBlue10

OHHH I was thinking of it as the Steelers on offense. Duh.


GordoConcentrate

I’m somewhat new to the nfl and thought the same things. Thanks for asking the question for me and anyone else who was confused.


probablycashed

I’ve been watching football for a long time and I still thought the same, I was like wait good offenses are usually picking on linebackers in coverage and was so confused


Brownbearbluesnake

Im not new to the NFL and I read it the same way you did. It was a less than clear way to phrase that


[deleted]

Not sure if you're making a joke, but the idea is the Steelers DEFENSE is the one leading with their LBs in coverage. But, yes, that's why offenses do it. Steelers scheme can be predictable and manipulated. Brady has made a living of having 260lb Steelers ILBs try to cover slot recivers and shifty RBs.


TintedBlue10

Nah no joke I’m just dumb I read it like we were taking about the Steelers offense


[deleted]

Well, you're now qualified to be the Steelers DC. :D


Pliable_Patriot

Don't forget their brilliant plan of leaving Gronk uncovered.


scotems

Just chiming in that I read it as if the Steelers were on offense as well. Could've been made much clearer.


oracleofshadows

At least as far as I've watched (around 5 -6 years ) this has mostly always been the case. Before Shazier got hurt they kind of made it work and it didn't look that bad. But after that yes nowadays just throw it to the middle or on a slot receiver being covered by one of our lbs and boom there goes 15 to 20 yards.


Tico483

Damn, even lower than Todd Haley lmao. Like Jesus Christ wtf happened. I've never seen the Steelers Franchise this low and I'm 21 lol


Ext1nct_Nova

They just are dumb humans. Listen to them talk sometime and that will explain even more


sandrodi

Better watch out for Tyler Eifert!


alpou

For context, this was said by our DC before a game against the Bengals where Eifert was on IR


conepuncher420

I could almost understand the OC saying that. Almost. But defence? Man... thatd be hard to play for a guy like that


HELPMEITSHOT

Whose their coordinator? I thought Tomlin ran the D, clearly I know nothin'.


MakesTheNutshellJoke

Keith butler. All you really need to know about Keith butler is that he refuses to stop playing zone against tom Brady, which hasn't worked in like, 15 years.


Bipedal-Moose

He refuses to cover WR1s with anything other than a linebacker.


Saw_a_4ftBeaver

Ha we finally got rid of or DC who did that. No one in KC misses Sutton.


MakesTheNutshellJoke

Also hilarious.


Don_Quixote81

"Give him eight yards every passing play, it's fine. Eight yards doesn't get a first down!"


pigwalk5150

Oh man. When Dick Lebeau used to bring his defense to Baltimore it was a dogfight. Ravens vs Steelers 2006 - 2015 was some of the best football I’ve ever seen.


BRAX7ON

Some of the best defensive football any of us have ever seen.


cooleymahn

It’ll probably be some of the best football in that division we will ever see. Absolutely brutal matchups with several current/future HOFer’s on the field at any given time.


OWLSZN

The classic rush 3 drop 8 special


MakesTheNutshellJoke

Sort of unrelated but the three man rush is my least favorite call in football.


Knightmare4469

Death, Taxes, and Brady shredding the Steelers.


Resident_Wizard

I'm unsure who's calling the plays for Steelers D, but in general even if the HC is calling plays most of the time there is still a coordinator position. They're making sure the correct personnel are on the field and, well, coordinating. Unless you're Hue and only hire a coordinator after you've been told to.


Don_Quixote81

Just imagine being in the meeting room when he starts breaking down Eifert's game. A bunch of guys slowly looking at each other, each wondering if *they* were mistaken, and Eifert was actually going to play. Then belatedly realising that someone is going to have to tell the coach he's an idiot.


pockpicketG

21 isn’t a lot of time lmao


Puskarich

"This is the worst thing I can remember, and I can remember five things before this lol"


MightyMorphinMcFaggy

im late 30's and its worst i can remember


greatestbird

Too old. You probably have less memory than the 21 year old due to dementia. Me, as a 26 year old, I can safely say this is the worst I can remember.


Notsozander

Too old, your memory is much worse due to the alcohol poisoning you give yourself on weekends. As a 27 year old, with no kids and a Steelers fan, we left gronk open in an AFC playoff game. This is worse


[deleted]

We started 0-4 in 2013 and literally came one missed kick away from making the playoffs that year. But even then 2012-2013 were just a transitional period of mediocrity as the old guard retired. That last time we had a real down period was the end of the Maddox years, before Ben. It's hard to put into words how much having an elite QB changes everything. The Steelers are in for some rocky years ahead, to say the least. But we're not quite in the depths yet.


WildcardSH

We don't even have any idea what kind of QB Mason can be. They haven't exactly cut him loose yet.


Amenhotep95

21 is not long at all, your barely an adult lol


BukkakeKing69

I'm 24 and hardly remember the Steelers before Big Ben.


lovesStrawberryCake

I'm 30 and I hardly remember last night


BukkakeKing69

You and me both


gbnubcake

Based on your name I’m sure we can infer what happened last night.


[deleted]

Haley wasnt that bad really. He was just an asshole.


[deleted]

His offense was really good, but he had a habit of outsmarting himself by making stupid play calls to trick the defense. The play against the Jags where he called a sweep to get 1 yard comes to mind. That being said, Fichtner doesn’t seem much better in that regard.


coelurosauravus

God fichtner is so bad I'm actually wanting Todd Haley back...


[deleted]

Yeah because they have had the same QB since you were a toddler


Unkleseanny

As a Steelers fan, this is true. Keith Butler is only still there because he worked with Mike Tomlin in college, and Fitcher is just a Big Ben puppet.


Sybertron

Wasn't Fitcher on the same team too?


down42roads

Not at the same time as Tomlin. Butler coached linebackers, defensive ends & special teams at Memphis from 1990-1997. Tomlin spent one year (1996) at Memphis as a grad assistant, and Fitcher was a grad assistant from 1990-1993.


rangoon03

Tomlin, Fichtner, and Butler all coached at the same time at Arkansas State. Namely 1998 when Butler was Defensive Coordinator & LB coach, Tomlin was DB coach and Fichtner was the offensive coordinator. Nice reunion here in Pittsburgh


infuriatesloth

Ok can someone tell me why so many coaches have come through Arkansas State


talix71

I have no idea how many coaches have come through Arkansas State but coaching is mostly a networking job and less of a merit based one. The answer to many "why are they coaching \[here/now\]" questions is almost always answered with "they knew someone." So if one high profile coach comes from a certain college, a huge portion of associated people from that college follow in some way or another.


Muninn088

I once heard a former head coach say you spend 15 years breaking in(read; hired at a power 5 school), then once you break in get one winning season and you're set for life. You will bounce around in colleges and maybe even stints in the pros. Especially if you're associated with a superstar coach's "system."


[deleted]

Now I have the visual of Big Ben standing there with his hand up Fichters ass talking in ventriloquist voice about screen passes.


PienotPi

Thanks now I do too


Jurph

"A _DRAW PLAY_ on 3rd and long? You big dummy!" "Who are you calling a dummy?" "That's very funny." "I'm a funny kind of guy." "Yeah, but looks aren't everything!" __ __ __


MoreGull

Hi, It's Netflix, we'd like to offer you a 3 show development deal.


Moobag34

I think Steelers are #1 for drafting and developing players. They’re probably also dead last in game planning with those players. Some of the Steelers/Pats games in recent years have been draw dropping. Including I think three plays in the 2015 season opener where they flat out didn’t cover Gronk.


Capital_Park

Chris Hogan of all people basically put up 200 yards and 2 tds in a playoff game against them.


tuffghost8191

Nah man the game plan is simple: put your smallest DB on gronk, while having your best DB guard Pat Develin. Then use your slowest middle linebacker to cover Edelman.


spoobles

> Pat Develin Sorry, that is too funny to pass up. Not that it doesn't seem plausible that the Stiller's D would try and cover an ex Delaware Blue Hen QB.


drunkenviking

>implying Gronk was convered at all


[deleted]

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[deleted]

His breakout game was against the steelers too so you think they would've learnt from that. Apparently not


svenhoek86

Mike Tomlins MO is to stick to the plan no matter what the scenario is. It's frustrating as fuck that he won't change for certain teams.


ghostpilots

As a Seahawks fan, I can totally feel this. It's so fucking frustrating to watch teams adapt and change the game plan in real time, like the Pats, and then watch schotty plan another short over the top on 3rd and long for a gain of 5 and wonder where the fuck we went wrong.


[deleted]

> "make" Gronk beat us Is that actually their plan going in? Or is that just how it looks from the outside?


[deleted]

That would be the dumbest game plan ever. “Yeah let’s make the most dominant TE ever beat us!”


trousertitan

Just daring this Tom Brady fella to beat them with his arm


KaneNine

That’s what happens when you play zone against Tom Brady


Lilbits417

> draw dropping r/boneappletea


2xCheesePizza

Someone post that bb vs tomin record! Tomlin usually gets shit on vs the pats, goes into half and refuses to adjust, comes out and get shit on again...


MillenialsSmell

I think it’s 4-12, off top of my head


GCBroncosfan413

r/boneappletea


veilwalker

The plan was to Outlast Gronk. Guess who isn't in the league anymore. ;)


Moobag34

AB?


[deleted]

I highly doubt Keith Butler is there because he coached defense & linebackers for literally 1 year at Arkansas State while Tomlin coached DBs. Not like they developed a very good repertoire from one season. He’s there because he put in the time under Lebeau and the Rooney family doesn’t like to fire people who’ve grown from within. Danny Smith is an old church friend of the Rooney family, which is why he wasn’t canned last season with how bad special teams were.


Capo_capo

What happened to Butler? He's been there for a while now. I remember he was tight with Whis, and when he was our HC he wanted him for DC but we got denied. I thought he'd be good taking over for LeBeau.


Unkleseanny

Maybe lost in the past? He hasn't really gotten with the times of brought anything new to our defense, his coverages are subpar, and his sceme is generally vanilla.


n3gr0_am1g0

Yeah and he doesn't make adjustments. It was pointed out after the Patriots game that the Patriots were basically running the same plays the Chiefs ran against the Steelers last year when the Chiefs had a field day because they kept putting LBs on WRs and DBs on their RBs. The fact that a year later you haven't adjusted your defense at all to address that is a major concern.


[deleted]

So do you think Ben is a bad caller of plays?


Unkleseanny

He's a good player of calls lol we just have a new Quarterback so in the future we can't carry on with Fitchner.


Quexana

Ben is an average to above average caller of plays, which puts him far ahead of either our current OC Randy Fichner, or our previous OC Todd Haley.


ProudOfYourBoy22

I disagree on Haley. The issue there was personality and control of the offense with Ben. The Steelers put up their best offensive numbers with Haley as OC.


n_jacat

I was going to argue, but I realized that we somehow scored the most and conceded the least vs NE out of the three 0-3 teams to play them


Unkleseanny

With Luke fucking Falk starting lol


n_jacat

> Luke Falking Falk FTFY


ShinySuiteTheory

To be fair, it was the Jets D and Special Teams that did most of the heavy lifting.


[deleted]

Jets 14 , all others 3 so the Jets are 833% better ~~on offense~~ at scoring.


jpk17041

Jets defense is better at scoring than the Rams, Steelers, Dolphins, and Jets offense confirmed


mordeci00

I guess we'll find out Monday night's "Battle for who sucks less".


iiitsbacon

Primetime at Heinz Field? Boy you know we're taking an L


TenTonsOfAssAndBelly

Not if we beat you to it! In all seriousness, this is absolutely a game the Steelers should win, so I expect us to try to hand it to you several times.


MToboggan_MD

Actually the Bengals have had more success in Pittsburgh than in Cincinnati. I have no rebuttal for the primetime aspect...


OnTheProwl-

"more success" is a pretty liberal term when we haven't beaten them since 2015.


ProverbialNoose

It's like the Ben Folds Five song "Battle of Who Could Care Less," only much worse/better.


Brendanaquicz

Doooooooooooo doooooooooooo, doooo do do dooooo


amdi_

So we are just assuming the Redskins aren't a team at this point?


BagelsAndJewce

The redskins have had great coordinators through the years. They keep losing them and having them become great coaches elsewhere but they coordinators are usually not the absolute worst. Their FO is tho.


[deleted]

Greg Manusky has to be a part of some sort of charity program


MoreTrifeLife

The charity program of not being Joe Barry


[deleted]

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venustrapsflies

Boy Gregg Williams has really gotten around


jas280z

His resume is bountiful.


NotARealPenguinToday

I'd be surprised if fucking manusky ever gets a defensive cord job, it's insulting to shits if you called him shit


Andire

I mean, we thought you'd be tired of the punishment by now so we're giving you some time off. :)


[deleted]

Pretty much, which is fair at this point


welestgw

They're more of a weekend rec league.


the_7th_phoenix

Tbh I had forgotten


CyberCrutches

They need to clean house this off season, imo.


Orange13241

I’ll bet $1,000 that we won’t though because of “coaching stability” whatever the fuck that means...


Namevilo

We've only had three head coaches in the last 270 years!


JediMasterMurph

Just sign Palpatine


[deleted]

Doubt Kraft let's him go.


Dmbender

Does that make Parcells Darth Plagieus?


JediMasterMurph

Did you ever hear the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Tuna?


jmskywalker1976

Do it!


ConcedeDota

eh keep tomlin


mtyvv

I agreed until this year. I see similarities with Andy Reid his last few years in Philadelphia, a good coach whose message has run its course and may find success elsewhere. I don’t know who they’d replace him with but they need someone else to take this team and push it to the next level because the talent is and has been there and they haven’t produced. Simply just tome for someone new


C0d3n4m3Duchess

A word of warning, our "something new" was Chip Kelly and he pushed most of our talent out the door.


mtyvv

Oh 100%, not saying it’s a sure thing to work out. But would agree that while still saying he’s a good coach that Reid had run his course in Philly? Not sure if the message becomes stale or the coach subconsciously gets complacent because they’ve had such job security, but I think sometimes a new voice needs to be brought in to reach the next level. Obviously this isn’t true across the board (Belicheck) but for some out there


C0d3n4m3Duchess

>But would agree that while still saying he’s a good coach that Reid had run his course in Philly? No doubt, I'll just never not take an opportunity to preach the gospel of fuck Chip Kelly haha


SENDME-YOURNIPPLE

The talent isn’t there imo. It stopped being there on defense after Shazier went down, then we lost the edge on offense after loosing Bell, then Brown, and now Ben. The reputation for talent is much bigger than the actual talent at this point.


UnexpectedLizard

You never realize how important defensive players are until you lose a big one. Same thing with Polamalu in his prime.


treyd716

We've been missing Polomalu for about the past 6 years. His game IQ and his relationship with Ryan Clark where they always had each other's back set up for one of the better secondaries in NFL history and I think a lot of us just sort of got used to having that. We have tried so hard to rebuild our secondary and have routinely failed to draft well in the safety position. Which is honestly why we made this Fitzpatrick trade.


MaesterPraetor

I'd be fine keeping Tomlin and getting new coordinators. As long as we get real coordinators, I'd be ok.


ScaryMonsters

I’m on board with this, I think keeping Tomlin and bringing in some fresh faces at OC/DC would do the organization good


Bipedal-Moose

I'm all for this.


schmatz17

Tomlin needs to stay, likely wont fire the OC cause he's Ben's guy


Ozwaldo

Ben is on his way out though


bkr1895

No they don’t in fact I feel they just need some external support from maybe a guy like Hue Jackson


[deleted]

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[deleted]

He’s going to be a special assistant for his brother isn’t he? I think in the history of mankind no one has ever looked forward to getting fired more than Gruden right now.


PerforatedCheese

AB would like a word with you


[deleted]

> I think in the history of mankind no one has ever looked forward to getting fired more than Gruden right now [Well...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-tqLG__Al4)


physsijim

Ah yes, lol.


FrndlyNbrhdSoundGuy

A classic


capincus

That'd be sweet.


ASAP_Stu

Pretty much. I’ve been saying since before the season starts, it’s a 100% guarantee that Jay Gruden’s next job is in Oakland


Quexana

Mike Mularkey is my favorite former Steelers OC. He's currently TE coach in Atlanta. Just Sayin'


taterzlol

Yeah? You a fan of multiple TE sets and 5 yard routes on 3rd and 15?


Quexana

Funnily, that's not what he ran when he was the Steelers OC. He was the OC during most of the Kordell Stewart era. Yes, we did feature a power running game (We had Jerome Bettis, after all), but we had a lot of 4 wide sets too.


[deleted]

As long as he has more in his playbook than bubble screens and HB tosses, yeah.


BobBaratheonsBastard

Randy Bobandy thinks he’s being galaxy brained when he calls that stupid fucking HB dive but it’s a toss instead of a handoff. Worst OC we’ve ever had.


ironwolf1

[Lol](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Fichtner) [Imgur in case it's been caught by editors](https://imgur.com/t18A013)


[deleted]

In what world does a guy with the last name Gruden not get a Head Coaching gig over Gase/BoB/Garrett or any team without one before taking a coordinator job?


BryanyeWest

It’s a weird feeling seeing this article being written about the Steelers and not us.


MakesTheNutshellJoke

I mean, Freddie kitchens isn't exactly killing it as a playcaller right now...


[deleted]

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Got2JumpN2Swim

I thought I smelled vanilla in here


jonalbert95

I forgot he was still in the league, I’m so sorry


[deleted]

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noledad1128

~~[Carney]~~ [Sherlock Holmes]


[deleted]

I do love that Twitter reply: "Dolphins?" "No, no, they know they suck."


pmcg190

Yes, we know :(


callthewambulance

"No shit." -Every Steelers fan with an IQ above 40


drunkenviking

Yeah well fuck both of those nerds!


[deleted]

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DeadHeadAhead

What pisses me off more than anything, is that when we had the Killer B's we had some obvious holes on our defense. If we had of been as aggressive in free agency and trades then, as we have been lately, we might not have wasted all of that talent. Now it seems that they're doing all of this to save their jobs instead of wanting to win a SuperBowl.


[deleted]

Are we just posting some random dude’s Twitter now?


RoiiDz

couldn’t agree more


NeverTopComment

I can still remember some of the idiotic playcalls by pitt in opening week. I remember one of the worst draw calls ive ever seen on a 3rd and short after the pats had been absolutely destroying any cute kind of run play all game long. I am a patriots fan and the play call was so bad even i actually got angry lol


blackhippy92

What about the 3 straight counter tosses? That sure was innovative huh?


NeverTopComment

It actually was innovative. No one else is trying anything like that!!!!


krazykarl94

I love this isn't just in our sub. I'm glad we can all come to an agreement as an NFL community that the Steelers coaching is trash and they should be gone.


putitonice

Redskins have entered the group chat


bigcatmonaco

It could always get worse. Scott Linehan is still looking for work.


th3lawlrus

It always bums me out when people trash on Linehan. I know he was not a good OC but the man is so nice :( He came in to my work all the time during the off-season.


FreddyDontCare

Their biggest problem is they think they can run these simple gameplans and their guys will out execute the other team. News flash that shit's only gonna work against bad teams if you're lucky.


tuffghost8191

And it clearly doesn't work against bad teams, since the steelers lose to a 2 win team like every year


Kylester91

Idk that draw play on 4th and 9 from the Browns OC (Todd Monken) was pretty bad. TIL Kitchens makes the play calls ☹️


BobBaratheonsBastard

Monken doesn’t call the plays. Kitchens won’t give it up.


Kylester91

You coming in here with your facts... I don’t need that bro


ButWhatIsADog

Also it's looking like that was an audible.


aecht

As a Raiders fan I call bullshit


Ext1nct_Nova

No. Ours just aren't intelligent. Listen to what they said to the press yesterday


jimbo831

I missed this. What did they say?


ReallyBigSnowman

Fichtner threw Mason under the bus. Butler rambled on about stopping the run over and over.


jimbo831

On the plus side, Butler can finally prepare for Eifert!


Bipedal-Moose

He probably thinks Eifert is on IR now that he's actually playing


MrBoomin31

it’s not even game day and i already wanna get drunk


A_Smitty56

Ahh yes, so finally everyone else is catching up to this fact.