For what it’s worth, the general consensus amongst fans and the media in Pittsburgh this fall is that changes need to be made. Even at 3-3, expectations have not been met by the Steelers and head coach Mike Tomlin, and it is difficult to form an argument otherwise. The team has been dominated, albeit on the road, at division foes Baltimore and Cleveland. There was the loss to Tampa Bay and the less-than-stellar victory against Jacksonville. Both of those Floridian teams have one win between the two of them.
Fire the coaching staff. Fire the general manager. Bench some of the veterans. Suggestions and demands have run rampant but if we know one thing about team ownership, they almost never overreact or make sweeping changes mid-season. That’s not the Steeler way of doing things and why should it change now? There has been an unsettling stretch of mediocrity since the trip to Super Bowl XLV, when a seventh Lombardi trophy was too far out of reach, going instead to Green Bay. The stars of the past defense have gotten older and slower and the offense does not score enough points, plain and simple. Plenty of yardage is gained, but not enough points.
Pittsburgh has alternated wins and losses through the first six weeks…win, loss, win, loss, win, loss…right on pace for a third straight 8-8 season! Just what Pittsburgh fans wanted. Note the sarcasm. This is not the team many thought and/or hoped it would be, but be reminded that last year’s team began 0-4 before finishing 8-4 and narrowly missing the playoffs. An 8-4 finish in 2014 would result in a 10-6 season.
In my humble opinion, this version of the Steelers cannot make an 8-4 run unless some minor changes are made. And, even then, don’t hold your breath. But why not try something a little new, a little different? It may save the jobs of Tomlin and offensive coordinator Todd Haley. It may allow Dick LeBeau to, at the very least, go out respectfully instead of with a thud. Many expect the 77 year-old Hall of Fame coach to retire and many more would hate to see his last defense be one that was consistently embarrassed throughout the season as they were in Cleveland on Sunday.
Notice, above, I suggested minor changes. Major changes…firing Haley, firing Colbert, etc., seem extremely unlikely right now. If the coaching staff and management are serious about making a few changes that will: a) give the current roster a better chance to compete in the remaining ten games, b) build for future seasons by giving young players meaningful time on the field and c) allow the veteran leaders to pass the torch, teach and encourage rather than continue to fall flat and leave the field after each loss with heads hung low. What is that teaching the younger players? Nothing.
Here are a few subtle changes that may benefit this franchise, ones that we may see sooner rather than later:
— Shear the Beard. Steelers fans love Brett Keisel, and rightfully so…but there is no way the 36 year-old should be getting more playing time than second-round draft pick Stephon Tuitt on the defensive line. Tuitt has just two tackles and has not seen much of the field behind Cameron Heyward, Cam Thomas and Keisel.
— Paging Jason Worilds! Worilds has been invisible and Tomlin called him out by name in his weekly press conference. Arthur Moats is behind Worilds on the depth chart and he has not been much better. Watch highlights from Sunday for a reminder of that. James Harrison is the only other OLB on the roster and no one can possibly expect him to save the day at this point. When Ryan Shazier returns from injury, which will be soon, Sean Spence may be able to shift outside to spell Worilds occasionally and put some pressure on him to start improving. Vince Williams is another option. Despite a lot of drafting for the defense and specifically in the linebacker corps in recent years, Colbert is getting minimal production from this unit.
— Even worse is the secondary and part of that is due to injury. Ike Taylor and reserve safety Shamarko Thomas are both unavailable, and Cortez Allen has been pretty awful since signing that contract extension. Mike Mitchell is not making any impact close to how he played on Carolina’s outstanding defense last season, possibly struggling to understand and play in LeBeau’s complex schemes. Polamalu seems to be everywhere, like always, but he has been poor in recognizing route or what the quarterback plans to do, often guessing wrong and paying for the mistake. Troy also has missed a lot of tackles and he frequently overpursues the ball carrier, running past in the wrong direction.
It is a unit that gives up huge plays with alarming regularity. William Gay and Will Allen hardly seem capable filling in based on what we’ve seen, and Brice McCain has made one big play on a gift from Blake Bortles. There is, sadly, little hope in the pass defense and it must be a focus in upcoming drafts.
— On offense, Antonio Brown carries the workload in a passing game that has struggled to find consistency. Ben Roethlisberger has great numbers, limiting interceptions and putting up decent yardage, but red zone efficiency is poor and he takes too many drive-killing sacks. Markus Wheaton could be used a lot more effectively as a slot receiver, allowing Ben to release quickly and provide the offense with more second and third down short-yardage situations rather than third-and-long. Also, more Heath Miller is never a bad thing. When it’s second and ten, you need to be able to find the tight end for eight yards to make it a manageable situation, but too many times the offense seems predictable with simple hand-offs, screen passes that are losing yardage repeatedly, and a reliance on the quarterback needing to throw long on second and third down.
— Keep limiting penalties. This group cannot afford to shoot themselves in the foot, that’s for sure. The last two weeks have netted seven and six penalties, respectively, so improvement is being made there. Now if they would just improve in every other facet, all may not be lost just yet.
