BALTIMORE’S LAMAR JACKSON WAS A PROBLEM FOR T.J. WATT AND THE STEELERS DEFENSE.
Once again, dem-dere Steelers were forced to exit M&T Bank Stadium by the back alley exit after a dreadful 2024 wild card round spanking delivered by the B’more Ravens. The final score was 28-14, Jan. 11.
The cause of the defeat cannot be attributed just to the offense, defense and special teams. This was a massacre, an inhumane destruction of a football team.
Let’s now sift through some of the postgame rhetorical garbage that many of the “writers” left to fester in the kitchen overnight to smell up the house. There was an article posted on athlonsports.com: “George Pickens’ Message After Postgame Controversy Turns Heads” was the headline. “With Pittsburgh’s season over, the Steelers wide receiver was asked about his outlook on the team during the postgame press conference. While Pickens shared that he has ‘seen signs of growth’ from the offense, one exchange in particular made waves on social media. ‘Does [the team’s growth] make you optimistic going forward?’ one reporter asked. ‘Nah,’ Pickens said in response.”
The article rambled on: “Pickens’ succinct message seemed to hint at his potential dissatisfaction with the Steelers. Such a stance would not be surprising given the Steelers star’s off-field issues over the years.”
In my opinion, how can a one-word response, “nah,” be an indicator of trouble or issues that a young, talented receiver has endured over the past couple of years? These folks are USDA-certified imbeciles. Let’s begin with the offensive coaching strategy. Let’s hit rewind and review some of the past strategies and outcomes of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ supposedly-highly-sought-after Offensive Coordinator Arthur Smith.
This man has committed failure after failure after failure.
When the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Tennessee Titans, 35-24, winning the AFC Championship on January 19, 2020, Arthur Smith was the offensive coordinator for a Titans team that featured running back Derrick Henry. During that AFC Championship loss, Henry had 19 carries for 69 yards.
After that defeat, not many folks blamed Arthur Smith for his ineffective game plan. However, critics and a few pundits began to whisper that Derrick Henry may have lost a step or two. Fast forward to 2025. Derrick Henry appears to have regained a step or two because this is the same Derrick Henry that was ineffective when he was used as part of a failed strategy of a failed coach that mowed over the Steelers defense as if it were a brown water-starved lawn experiencing a drought.
Arthur Smith been unsuccessful as a two-time offensive coordinator and a one-time head coach.
Noah Strackbein recently posted an article on Pittsburgh Steelers on SI. “Coaching Changes Coming For Steelers: Who’s Gone?”
Strackbein wrote that: “[Eddie] Faulker has done a great job developing runners in Pittsburgh since he arrived, and with Jaylen Warren’s success as an undrafted free agent, he’s got a proven track record. Still, Pittsburgh needs a dominant running game and will likely try to add a running back either through free agency or the NFL Draft to replace Najee Harris. With that new runner, they may look for a new position coach as well.”
Why should Eddie Faulkner be replaced? He can only coach and prepare the running backs to perform, he doesn’t call the plays. Just take a look at how he has developed undrafted free agent running back Jaylen Warren into a legitimate offensive threat, both running and receiving the football. Yet Warren has been misused and barely acknowledged by Arthur Smith almost as if Warren had a confirmed case of leprosy or the bubonic plague. Instead, Smith chose the sloth-footed Najee Harris, the former #1 draft choice out of the University of Alabama. In the most recent playoff game, Najee Harris had 17 yards on 6 carries. That recent debacle/wild card game in Baltimore seemed to mirror the Titans versus Chiefs 2019 AFC Championship. Also, on more than one occasion, Jaylen Warren was denied playing time because Arthur Smith favored his “homeboy,” a holdover from Smith’s failed tenure as the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, running back/kick returner, Cordarelle Patterson. Was Jaylen Warren in Smith’s outhouse, doghouse or both? Were they even at the same address?
As far as the Steelers defense was concerned, the “Big Nasty D” morphed into the “Big Patsy D.” There were numerous occasions after the many three and outs by the Steelers offense that the D only had enough time to share the oxygen tanks for a few minutes before they were forced to “get back in there.”
Now this next scenario is cray cray. Ex-Dallas Cowboys head coach and current Fox Sports analyst Jimmy Johnson came up with this lunatic suggestion. He said, “Things are stale in Pittsburgh. Things are stale in Dallas. How about a coaching swap? Mike McCarthy is a Pittsburgh guy. Let him go to [the Steelers]. Let Mike Tomlin go to [the Cowboys]. Both franchises would be excited.” First, it would take only 18 days, not 18 years, for Mike Tomlin to be exiled to the “Platinum bathroom” (not the “golden throne room”) of possibly the world’s greatest narcissist, (besides Donald Trump), Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. This would be the fastest and sneakiest way to finally exile Mike Tomlin from the NFL head coaching ranks for good.
“Both franchises would be excited.” Yeah right.
The only ones that would be excited would be part of the “yinzer” fan base. The “yinzers” would instruct the Dallas fan base how to give credit to everyone else but Mike Tomlin for success in the Dallas market. However, there would be a guillotine sharpened and ready to go at the Alamo, to socially decapitate Mike Tomlin for any failures that the Cowboys would experience now or in the future.