Heads should roll after last Sunday’s 45-42 defeat at the claws of the Jacksonville Jaguars and while the Pittsburgh Steelers did toss a little ice water on the burning garbage fire of their one-and-done playoff crapstravagansa when they fired offensive coordinator Todd Haley, it wasn’t enough.
As a tribute to Todd Haley, Ben Roethlisberger should run the quarterback sneak on the first play from scrimmage next season.
— Colin Dunlap (@colin_dunlap) January 17, 2018
As long as Mike Tomlin is head cheerleader in Pittsburgh, that’s the best it’ll get for now. That game is the perfect example of how stats don’t tell the whole story. Ben Roethlisberger threw for 469 yards, five touchdowns and one interception and lost. Blake Bortles was 14-of-26 for 214 yards and one touchdown with no picks and won. So what happened?
Well, first the Jaguars put forth a solid opening drive and shoved the ball into the end zone. Pittsburgh countered with a three-and-out. After a Jacksonville punt, Roethlisberger threw his only interception of the game, a pretty terrific sideline, tip-toe grab from linebacker Myles Jack. The Jags turned that into a touchdown to go up 14-0.
Here is where a good, well coached team must respond. Instead, the Steelers run eight plays then punt. The Jaguars drive down and score another touchdown and everything in the gameplan has turned to shit.
https://twitter.com/12upSport/status/953674367669620736
To be fair, the Pittsburgh offense finally got going after turning the ball over again, resulting in a fumble return for a touchdown, but in the second half they got completely back into the game, down by seven, 28-21.
That’s when the defense decided to lay down and die. Every time Pittsburgh’s offense would close the gap, the defense would surrender points on the following drive. That’s not on Haley. That’s on Keith Butler who, unbelievably, remains employed as I write this.
But the final blame all goes on Mike Tomlin who oversaw one of the absolute worst two-minute drives in the history of time management and all of sport. The Steelers were down 45-35 and, being the math whiz that I am, I know that means they need a touchdown and a field goal to tie it. Less than two minutes isn’t ideal, but here’s what you do if you’ve played even a few games of Madden.
The miscommunication, mental lapses, outright head-scratching pays by this defense should have people in the front office evaluating what's going on with Keith Butler's unit. Just an awful performance all around today
— Ray Fittipaldo (@rayfitt1) January 14, 2018
You drive down into field goal range, kick the field goal, then try the onside kick. If you get the ball back, then you get to control the clock with spikes and sideline work as you try to get the ball into the end zone. Ideally, you run two plays deep down the center of the field, which should be open and make the kick with around a minute left on the clock. It’s your only chance.
What did Tomlin do? Not that. With 47 seconds to go, the Steelers had the ball on the Jags’ five yard line. I can see how you’d be tempted to go ahead and try the pass here, and, frankly, I would have too. But Roethlisberger was called for intentional grounding, lost 10 yards and got a 10-second runoff. You have to kick at that point and try the OSK. There’s no other choice if you want a chance to win.
The fact that a run heavy Jags team passed on 3rd and goal from this same personnel grouping should tell you it’s near 100% a run here, but PIT DC Keith Butler still ready for the pass tells you a lot about Butler. pic.twitter.com/jMGVXAPOW6
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) January 14, 2018
Tomlin didn’t do it. Instead, he kept the offense out there to finally put the ball in the end zone with one worthless second left on the clock. There would be no onside kick attempt.
The good news for Steelers fans who loved this whole turn of events is that Tomlin just signed an extension this last off-season that will keep him your head coach through 2020. You know what that deserves…. THE PERFECT CHEER!
https://youtu.be/WifF0kZ0zp4?t=3m44s
BEN ROETHLISBERGER
First off, if your a Steelers fan that wants to feel this horrible again in the playoffs next season, you’re in luck. Ben Roethlisberger told reporters after the game his “plan” was to return and play in 2018.
As long as Roethlisberger is Pittsburgh’s quarterback, they’ll be in the Super Bowl mix, but if last Sunday’s game was any indication, it’s probably always going to end just like this. You can’t count on this team, coached by Tomlin and Butler, to hold down any opposing offense. The real gift of losing to the Jags Sunday is that we didn’t have to see the Steelers get dominated by the New England Patriots at Gillette again.
A Jacksonville bakery shipped Ben Roethlisberger 7 turnovers as a thank you for the Steelers' turnovers against the Jaguars this season. 😂 😂 😂 (via Cinotti's Bakery/Facebook) pic.twitter.com/WZpHhUhkdb
— ESPN (@espn) January 17, 2018
This season Roethlisberger started 15 games, completed 64.2 percent of his passes for 4,241 yards, 28 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.
Even with Roethlisberger’s return, Pittsburgh really needs to address their future QB situation. I don’t think Josh Dobbs, as great a kid as he is, is the answer. I sure as hell know Landry Jones isn’t. That means they’ll need to draft somebody or invest in a young, high end back up that could turn into something like Brett Hundley. As good as Roethlisberger is, there’s no guarantee he won’t immediately go off that QB cliff next season. It’s time to really get ready for it.
LE’VEON BELL
It’s doubtful the Steelers will franchise Bell this coming off-season after paying him more than $12 million this year. As it was his last year (probably) in Pittsburgh, they felt free to run him into the ground. Bell led the league with 321 carries. He gained 1,291 yards, averaged 4.0 yards per carry (his lowest since his rookie year) and scored nine rushing touchdowns. In the passing game, he caught 85 passes for 655 yards and two scores.
LeVeon Bell right now. pic.twitter.com/tGcQlYQ0Uy
— Andscape (@andscape) January 14, 2018
The Steelers won’t be completely out of the mix with Bell and certainly would love to have him back in their offense. I just don’t see them paying him $11 million a year, which is probably what it would take, to do it. He’s most likely gone.
NEW OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR RANDY FICHTNER
It makes a lot of sense to elevate Fichtner to offensive coordinator after ejecting Haley from the building. He obviously has Roethlisberger’s support, which is important, and will run the same basic offensive scheme, which means nobody has to learn a new system. Fichtner has been with the Steelers since 2007, first serving as the wide receivers coach.
Randy Fichtner to replace Todd Haley as Steelers OC: https://t.co/z9LiiDIssm pic.twitter.com/wrH0ttOjjU
— NFL (@NFL) January 18, 2018
He’ll have a tougher job than Haley, running the offense without Bell. He will have a solid, second-year running back in fan favorite James Conner, the rookie out of Pitt who finished the season in injured reserve. Conner flashed when he got his opportunities, averaging 4.5 yards per carry.
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