Aubrey Bruce: Tomlin can’t do it all; QB must take most of the blame

 

UGLY IS IN THE EYES OF THE BEHOLDER

by Aubrey Bruce, For New Pittsburgh Courier

There have been many opinions and theories regarding the recent trials and tribulations of the Pittsburgh Steelers Football Club. A few of the opinions have a few valid points while others are based on a few insidious “QAnon-Esque,” Mad Max theories. All this drama could have been avoided if, A) The Steelers had left Mitch Trubisky blowing in the winds of Chicago and Buffalo; B) If the Steelers had left Mitch Trubisky blowing in the winds of Chicago and Buffalo; C) If the Steelers had left Mitch Trubisky blowing in the winds of Chicago and Buffalo….and D) If the Steelers had left offensive coordinator Matt Canada north of the border. Oh, Charlie Chan, so sorry. Charlie Chan thinks with the ice-cold, tundra-like Steelers offense, designed by Matt Canada, there is no way that coach Canada comes from the lower 48 states.

Matt Canada is a great quarterback guru, but not so great as an offensive coordinator. Another convenient scapegoat regarding the non-performance of the Steelers is as always, head coach, or head “goat” Mike Tomlin. The following are a few excerpts from the “fireside chats” that are throwing “logs of wisdom” into the fireplace, fueling the terminate Tomlin talk. On June 22, Alan Saunders published an article on steelersnow.com titled: “Steelers’ Mike Tomlin Inexplicably among First Coach to be Fired Odds.” Saunders wrote, “Mike Tomlin has the 12th-best odds to be the first NFL head coach fired in the 2022 season, according to odds posted on Tuesday by BetOnline.com, proving that there is indeed a bet for every sucker. Tomlin has 16/1 odds to be fired first. He signed a three-year contract extension last spring that will run through the end of the 2024 season. The Steelers haven’t fired a coach since 1968.”
Those comments may both be a sort of back-alley endorsement and criticism of Coach T.

On September 22, Bob Quinn published the following on www.steelernation.com: “The Pittsburgh Steelers pay head coach Mike Tomlin $8 million per year to coach the team. He has had the position for 16 seasons and the Steelers have experienced every level of success and some bitter playoff failures under his leadership. The only thing that the organization and fans have been spared during his tenure is a losing season and that is no small achievement. He masterfully maneuvered a career backup Mason Rudolph and practice squad quarterback Devlin “Duck” Hodges in 2019, and the team narrowly missed the playoffs.”

Quinn continued: “The offense has struggled mightily in the first two weeks of the season. Fans and media observers are divided on the blame for the problems between Canada and Trubisky. The man who is responsible for keeping the ship sailing in the right direction is Tomlin and he does not seem to be considering a course correction.”

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Quinn added: “To be clear, this is not insinuating Tomlin should be on the hot seat. But if he mishandles the quarterback situation and in the eyes of the fan base ruins the chance for Pickett to be successful, that seat will get warm. Maybe he should take a drive through the neighborhood of possible offensive changes that could be made. He does not have to stop and get out; Tomlin could just check out the scenery while he is still responsible for driving the car.”

I don’t care if you drive a Rolls Royce or a Maserati, if someone puts sugar in the tank, that ultra-expensive vehicle is going to be sitting on the side of the road, with its driver, waiting on a tow truck. As former United States President Nixon might say: “Let me make one thing perfectly clear.” Matt Canada cannot deliver the ball to Chase Claypool, George Pickens, or Diontae Johnson. Mike Tomlin cannot open a hole on the O-line for a running back or protect any quarterback when they drop back to pass. Coaches can only coach. They can’t play and coach the game as well or they would be defined as “player-coaches.”

My suggestion to all of the journalist-coaches, and fan-coaches out there: If you think you can do better, get on the sidelines and start coaching or get out on the field and start playing; don’t waste any more time, get to crackin’.

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