After a loss like the one on Sunday against the winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers, you can find plenty of scapegoats and people to blame. For many fans, the easiest solution is to place the blame squarely on the shoulders of Mike Tomlin. It seemed that many can’t get rid themselves of Tomlin quick enough.
I don’t necessarily subscribe to that viewpoint, but when you lose fans lose perspective, their views can change on the fly.
Especially when you lose the way the Pittsburgh Steelers did on Sunday.
You can’t forget about Todd Haley. Haley can’t buy a break in Pittsburgh. Granted, many of these same fans who are dying to show Haley the door, are the same ones who could not wait to fire Bruce Arians.
Even the great Dick LeBeau is feeling a little bit of heat now. The game is suddenly passing him by according to many armchair quarterbacks; he’s too old, his schemes have run their course.
You could speak to each of those topics in detail, among many more, but I’ll wait.
It looks like there will be plenty of time, and reasons, to confront these topics in the coming weeks.
With so many people to blame, it’s hard to know where to begin, but I think I know where to start.
I am placing a healthy dose of the blame on the lap of Antonio Brown, who ironically was the best player on the field for the Steelers Sunday afternoon.
In a game where the Steelers committed an inexcusable 13 penalties for 125 yards, no penalty was more symbolic of the total lack of discipline than Brown’s idiotic celebration penalty that forced the Steelers to kick off deep in their own territory. Though Tampa was unable to take advantage, it did not make the actions any less stupid, or selfish.
Though some might say the penalty did not make a difference in the game, it seems to be symptomatic of bigger issues. For one, if your best player can’t keep his emotions in check and act like a pro who’s done it before, then how can you expect others to? Second, if players like Brown supposedly have so much respect for Tomlin, how does this even happen at all?
Was Brown not the same player dressed down by Tomlin after his over the top celebrations after a dazzling two touchdown performance against the Atlanta Falcons in the 2011 preseason? Did Tomlin not say that was something that would not happen again?
I’m certain it was.
Lesson learned? I guess Brown forgot that lesson on a punt return TD against the Redskins in 2012? Remember that one? The one where Brown jogged backwards into the end zone the last 20 yards, mocking the opponent and looking like a fool in the process?
Now Brown claims he did not interpret the rule correctly this past Sunday, and I will be the first one to tell you that I think the NFL is way over the top when it comes to penalizing players for celebrating TD’s. However, there are plenty of rules in life I don’t especially agree with, but I know that if don’t follow them, there will be potential consequences.
Does Antonio Brown?
If there is one thing I will blame Tomlin for, it’s the lack of discipline this team has displayed, and more alarmingly, their inability to learn from past mistakes in this regard. That was demonstrated for all to see when Brown decided his decidedly lame TD dance was bigger than the team, more important than the authority of his head coach.
It’s hard not to love the play of Brown. He’s turned into one of the best in the league at his position. However, the lack of judgement is alarming, and I don’t think that it’s a stretch to say that poor judgement could be linked to a lack of focus.
Was it a lack of focus that caused him to drop a perfectly placed pass on flea flicker that would have given Brown his third TD catch of the game, and a likely insurmountable Steeler lead? It seems to be a more than fair question, because it seems for all the great plays that Brown makes, his poor judgement, and foolish decision making is more Santonio Holmes, than Hines Ward.
We’ve heard Tomlin talk about “frank discussions” and how it “won’t happen again” enough. If great players like Brown want to help the team, and not just themselves, they need to grow up, and let their play do the talking. If it does not change, it’s going to be hard for Tomlin to claim he has the respect of his players.
As a coach, without that respect, what do you have?
Photo Credit: CBS Sports
