Steelers Have The Power To Win, But Big Ben Is Needed
By Danny Cox
The Pittsburgh Steelers had intentions of becoming AFC contenders this season and no one would have been surprised if they went deep into the playoffs. They were sitting at 4-2 when Ben Roethlisberger suffered an injury that put him on the sidelines for 4-6 weeks, but the rest of the team is still there, right?
Well, that may be true, and the Steelers were able to show a lot this past Sunday when they faced off with the New England Patriots. Ultimately, the game ended in their third loss of the season, but they proved to the NFL that Tom Brady can be stopped—or at least, slowed down. Unfortunately, Pittsburgh was missing the one key component that may have pushed them over the finishing line first.
Without Ben Roethlisberger, The Fight Is There, But Not Complete
The defense of the Pittsburgh Steelers showed that there are things to be done and measures that can be taken which will shut down Tom Brady. Sure, he still played a good game, but he wasn't the dominating force he had been so far this season - or even in past years. Brady finished the day with just 222 yards passing and two touchdowns...numbers far below his normal excellence.
From that point, the Patriots turned to running back LeGarrette Blount, who had a great day with 127 yards on the ground and one touchdown, but the Steelers still held in there. The defense wasn't great, but they did a good enough job keeping the team in the game and gave them a chance to win it.
Unfortunately, Landry Jones is good, but he's no Ben Roethlisberger. If the Steelers had their starting quarterback in the game and healthy, the end result may have been much different. It was blatantly obvious that the offense looked much different without him, and some plays that weren't made likely would have been if Ben was under center.
Right now, the Steelers have to hope that his return comes on the sooner end rather than later.
Has Mike Tomlin Finally Worn Out His Welcome In Pittsburgh?
Ever since 2007, Mike Tomlin has roamed the Steelers's sidelines with a look of intensity on his face, giving off the vibe of pure domination. He has won a Super Bowl championship with his Steelers and many believe he will have his spot for many years to come.
While that still may be true, the fans are starting to see that he may no longer be the answer.
After the loss to the Patriots, Tomlin told the press everything that went wrong, and none of the fault ended up falling upon him.
“We realized that our margin for error was minimal. We left some red zone possessions out there offensively, we threw an interception when we were down there, we missed a field goal … you can’t do that against good people,” said Tomlin. “On the other side, we didn’t come off blocks or make enough tackles in the run game.”
Yes, the Steelers were without Roethlisberger and Cameron Heyward was absent on defense, but there were issues with the coaching. Some strange plays were called along with odd formations that no one really understood. It's hard to fault the players entirely for this loss as they gave it their all, but Tomlin has to realize that some of the blame is on him.
The Steelers do have changes to make, and most notably to the run defense, but Tomlin has to realize that he is the expert in that field. If they're failing in that department, then he isn't getting his expert coaching in working order. Others see it, but he certainly doesn't seem to.