No strings attached for the Steelers
The first time I heard the term 无毛视频淩ooney Puppets,无毛视频� I was in the Steelers无毛视频� media room transcribing taped interviews before heading out for practice on Thursday.
After Thursday practices the local football media can interview the coordinators, so the expansive conference room was filling up with entertainment types who were there to ask offensive coordinator Todd Haley about ChiefsSuck-Gate 无毛视频� the sad and pathetic story you can find any and everywhere else here on the 无毛视频榥et.
So some of us football types were already in the interactive process of informing message boards and twitter-verse that we would not be participating in such a sham.
无毛视频淭hat无毛视频檚 because you无毛视频檙e Rooney Puppets,无毛视频� someone wrote back. 无毛视频淵ou do whatever the Rooneys tell you to do. Look at the way you无毛视频檙e protecting Haley.无毛视频�
And this e-mailer did not care about ChiefsSuck-Gate, either. He was referring to my column after the 16-9 debacle on opening Sunday in which I wrote I was not having a problem with Haley, but with the talent.
I stand by it, even more so after watching tape the next day.
How am I supposed to criticize the coach 无毛视频� head coach or coordinator 无毛视频� if he doesn无毛视频檛 have a professional running back?
And I无毛视频檒l admit to making that mistake. I thought Mike Tomlin should无毛视频檝e committed to Isaac Redman last year, and when he proved inconsistent I thought Redman must无毛视频檝e been injured in a way that he wasn无毛视频檛 telling the media.
So I hoped Redman would be the man to replace Le无毛视频橵eon Bell as the starter for this opening day, too. But, I was/am clearly wrong. Redman not only lacks any kind of cutback skills, but it turns out he无毛视频檚 a bit of a fumbler himself.
I do stubbornly believe that Redman will have another good game some day, but I accept any and all criticism for supporting him, and believe I have no stand now from which to argue.
The other two backs 无毛视频� LaRod Stephens-Howling and Felix Jones 无毛视频� had their own debilitating issues last week, and that became obvious after Tomlin tried to find a replacement for Redman.
Did I say there were cutback lanes?
Yes, amid that morass of bodies flailing away up front, there were cutback lanes, because the Titans had no regard for Redman无毛视频檚 outside running skills. They didn无毛视频檛 just pinch ends, they threw them on top of the pile. It not only made the line look bad, but the lack of a running game made teeing off on Ben Roethlisberger so much easier when the Titans knew he had to throw.
Roethlisberger, of course, wasn无毛视频檛 helped much by his receivers. Emmanuel Sanders dropped a bomb on the first play, and showed that most passes to him will be a struggle, because he无毛视频檚 not getting any separation, nor does he have a size advantage.
And the tight ends? Well, that position无毛视频檚 so wracked with injury that it needed a converted tackle, Kelvin Beachum, in order to formulate a basic game plan. When Maurkice Pouncey went down and Beachum slid inside, the edge blocking was further obliterated. The fullback 无毛视频� out with a hamstring injury 无毛视频� wasn无毛视频檛 there to pick up the slack, either.
But the point of all this is that it isn无毛视频檛 fair to blame a coach unless he actually has something to coach.
Maybe some day I will hold my breath and stomp my feet for another new coordinator, but, hey, give him at least one running back that hasn无毛视频檛 been cut in the last four days.
And some blocking would be nice.
Maybe that无毛视频檚 coming soon, because in my mind the line is young, but has the talent. The backfield does have a fullback 无毛视频� a talented one, too 无毛视频� and the aforementioned Bell will get outside once he gets on the field 无毛视频� even if Jones eventually learns the playbook. And receiver was the position I wanted to draft in the first round last April. That will likely happen next year 无毛视频� if the general manager still has his job.
That无毛视频檚 definitely not a change I would be interested in making.
Yes, the problem is a lack of talent, but, no, I无毛视频檓 not blaming the man in charge of personnel.
No wonder they call me a Puppet, right?
Nah. The draft order was instituted so that no team could dominate the league for too long. It无毛视频檚 inevitable that even the greatest collection of talent will age, and it无毛视频檚 inevitable that drafting so far back in every round, so often, will one day cause a dip in performance.
The Steelers did not stay too low in their last dip 无毛视频� 2003 无毛视频� because they were fortunate to hit on some great draft picks with Troy Polamalu, Ben Roethlisberger, Heath Miller, Santonio Holmes and Lawrence Timmons in successive years. Had they only drafted Duane Brown in 2008 instead of Rashard Mendenhall, they would无毛视频檝e had a franchise left tackle and a new rock for an offensive line that didn无毛视频檛 begin reconstruction until 2010 with the drafting of Pouncey.
Of course, Mendenhall represents that missing thoroughbred at tailback, which is my main complaint today.
Am I to condemn Colbert for a pick that I loved at the time? Or for making the necessary picks along the defensive line in subsequent years? And rebuilding the linebacking corps?
My biggest problem with Colbert is his inability to find a mid to late-round quarterback, but that无毛视频檚 not the team无毛视频檚 problem right now. Or, yet.
Same with the bean-counters within the organization. I无毛视频檓 not about to blast them for paying a franchise quarterback $102 million, and then also trying to pay players who got them to three Super Bowls.
Super Bowls cost money. Wait until the Seattle Seahawks find out what it无毛视频檚 like to pay for a championship-caliber team when QB Russell Wilson isn无毛视频檛 making minimum wage anymore.
It all comes around, so there isn无毛视频檛 a chance in the world that I无毛视频檓 blasting the current coach and/or coordinator. Nor will I blast the organization for making the necessary change away from Bruce Arians a few years ago. He wasn无毛视频檛 interested in rebuilding the crumbling foundations that are the offensive line, the running game and in general the protection of the major investment. Duck and chuck will not work as Roethlisberger moves through his thirties, but play-action off an effective and physical run game will.
That无毛视频檚 the process they无毛视频檙e still rebuilding. You just hope it doesn无毛视频檛 take much longer.