I'm not the kind of guy who is so
invested in a team that its fortunes in any way impact my mood. I
don't pay much attention to college football. I know it's out there.
I live in South Carolina for crying out loud. After people here ask
which church you attend, they ask whether you are a Clemson or South
Carolina fan. “Uh, n-n-neither,” I stutter. I then receive a look
as though I had brought a cat box to the pot-luck supper.
Now, I must admit, if I were someone at
least somewhat interested in college football, I would have watched
the championship bowl game between Clemson and Alabama. I don't care
about either team, really, but I'm a bit sorry I missed the smirk
being knocked off Nick Saban's face. I lived in South Florida when,
as coach of the Miami Dolphins, he fiercely denied he was leaving to coach at
Alabama and two weeks later wound up in a press conference in
Tuscaloosa being presented as Alabama's new football coach. I have no
feelings one way or the other about Alabama, but I have a strong
dislike for Saban. What a cockroach.
But I digress....
If I were someone who got all lathered
up over a sports team's fortunes, I'd be positively inconsolable
regarding the Steelers missing the playoffs this year. For the second
year in a row, this highly talented team won't be in the championship
game. This year it even managed to miss getting into the playoffs.
With more than half the season behind it, it looked to have its
division sewn up.
What in the wide, wide world of sports
went wrong? Oh, let me count the ways.
Actually I won't bore you with my
armchair analysis other than to say, at its core, it's gotta be a
coaching issue. I am a big supporter and fan of Mike Tomlin and
always have been. But there is something basically wrong in
Pittsburgh.
Week after week, game after game, this
team only played to the level of its opponent. Only three games were
decided by more than one score – win or lose. The trend was set
with the first game's 21-21 tie with the Browns...THE BROWNS! From
there, for the next 15 games only four were decided by more than one
score – several by a field goal.
There were only two real bright spots
in the season: The 52-21 win over the Panthers and the 17-10 win over
the Patriots. The Panthers win because it was the only game where the
Steelers were firing on all cylinders on both sides of the ball, and
the Patriots because, well, it was the Patriots.
After four games, the Steelers record
was 1-2-1. At that point, I thought Tomlin might be coaching his
first losing season. I didn't miss it by much. It wound up being
9-6-1, with the 1 being the tie with the Browns that had the deflating impact
of a loss. Of the actual loses, three were by a field goal. How is it
that one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL can't muster at
least three more points against teams like Oakland and Cleveland?
There are those who argue the real
issue was the turnover ratio: The Steelers lost the turnover battle
in a very big way. I agree, but I argue, that really boils down to a
coaching issue. Now it looks as though the Steelers will be coming
back in 2019 without Bell and Brown. That's a front-office/coaching
issue, too.
It's the coaching, stupid.
No comments:
Post a Comment