Mike Tomlin Was No Raheem Morris
January 24th, 2011
Joe hopes the play that clinched another Super Bowl trip for the Steelers last night made its mark on Raheem Morris.
The minute the Steelers pulled it off, Joe had painful flashbacks to the Bucs getting overly conservative at home against the Lions and choking the game away after Raheem decided to not let Josh Freeman throw for a critical first down or have LeGarrette Blount continue to pound Detroit.
Raheem instead opted to run the ball up the middle three times with Cadillac Williams twice and Freeman on a quarterback keeper (his “ball-security” plan) to set up a field goal and give the rock back to Detroit with 1:39 left.
Conversely, leading by five points with 2:00 remaining and a 3rd-and-6 on the Jets’ 40, the Steelers gave horny, sleazy Ben Roethlisberger a chance to put the game away. And he did. The Steelers went for the kill shot; The Bucs castrated themselves.
Yeah, Joe thought he was over it, but he’s still agonizing about the Bucs missing the playoffs because of that needless zebra-assisted loss to the Lions — one of the great what-ifs of the 2010 season.
January 24th, 2011 at 9:31 am
Tomlin had to learn just as Raheem learned with the Lion’s lost and other tough games last year. I believe the last two games of the season showed the maturity of Morris. I believe it is fair the judge Morris next year opposed to the first two because the guy jumped from position coach to head coach in a matter of months.
January 24th, 2011 at 9:36 am
ITS FAIR ENOUGH TO SAY ITS A LESSON LEARNED!!!
January 24th, 2011 at 9:41 am
Rah rah is no mike tomlin, just listen to the two of them articulate. I know tomlin, rah is no tomlim.
January 24th, 2011 at 9:48 am
I could care less if Raheem is not a good public speaker (it is actually one of the most anxiety ridden things a person can do). As long as he can communicate effectively with his players, coaches, staff, and front office, thats all that is really important to me as a fan.
January 24th, 2011 at 10:08 am
It was a tough lesson learned. Considering the different programs both coaches came into: Tomlin with a strong team ready to fight for Superbowls; Raheem with a dithering pile of puss that needed to be rebuilt, I think Raheem is ding well enough. He is learning and growing along with the players. It’s about “heart” as much as anything else. Just ask Jay Cutler.
January 24th, 2011 at 10:19 am
I thought the same exact thing. Hope he learned something.
January 24th, 2011 at 10:54 am
Give us the Steelers D and I’m sure we would go for the killshot more often.
Rah will be better next year. At the very least he will trust Blount and Free more to make plays or trust Olsen to call whatever he wants.
January 24th, 2011 at 11:21 am
Imagine Thomas judging anyone from the computer in his parents den. What a joke.
January 24th, 2011 at 11:36 am
What hurts even more is that if we had won the Lions game, we would have knocked out the current Super Bowl participant, and played what I think are winnable games against Seattle (we would have been the #5 seed) and either Atlanta or Chicago.
Oh, what could have been…
January 24th, 2011 at 12:11 pm
Wow, we coulda knocked out the Packers eh.
Reminds me of the clear pass interference call that should have been called on the Rams, on Jimmy Giles in the end zone, which would have given us a 7-6 lead in the 79 NFC Championship Game.
Or the time when TD was coaching here our kicker missed a field goal against the pack that would have secured a first round bye and home field, but blew it.
Game of inches.
January 24th, 2011 at 12:13 pm
Let’s hope it’s a lesson learned. We won’t know for sure until the Bucs are in that situation again.
January 24th, 2011 at 8:31 pm
Thomas knows Mike Tomlin guys! Yeah, I’m sure you guys are boys. You’re such a joke.
January 24th, 2011 at 8:52 pm
The distinction will be more clear once the bucs fall apart like a pinata in 2011.
I don’t think the Steelers are on the schedule, thankfully. One less complete butt whiping.
January 24th, 2011 at 9:47 pm
Look ! Eric made a prediction! Of course, he predicted 2-14 for last year, so it obviously isn’t something he knows anything about. Oh, don’t bet him either. He is a welch, and doesn’t honor his bets. Hes here with Thomas, trolling to kill conversation between “normal” men, And get attention. It’s just said how those two are thread killers
January 25th, 2011 at 12:06 am
The odds of me being wrong two years in a row are astronomical.
With a grown man schedule the real bucs will be revealed. Third year in a row no playoffs. no contention, not many fans.
January 25th, 2011 at 1:16 am
“With a grown man schedule the real bucs will be revealed. Third year in a row no playoffs. no contention, not many fans.”
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You talk a lot of smack about the Bucs now that the season is over I notice. Maybe it’s because they won’t win another game for 8 months, which obviously makes you happy. At least now you’ve got 8 months to find more excuses for every win that we have. If you really are a fan, then you are a poor excuse for one. I wonder if that is your prediction, or what you are hoping for. Either way, you are really sad.
January 25th, 2011 at 1:37 am
Agreed, Hawaiian Buc.
Besides, I’m not so sure why everyone is thinking next year’s schedule is gonna be so bad? I mean, we all know we have the division games… 4 of which are Atlanta and New Orleans, but we played Atlanta tough twice this year and beat New Orleans once. If the team improves at all, it’s possible we could split those 2-2 next year, or even better.
Other than that, we have the Bears at home and the Bears are up and down. Never know when we’ll catch them, but I think our chances are pretty good. We have the Cowboys at home, that could also be tough if they get back to form from two years ago, but again that’s if they get back to form. Detroit at home, we should have beaten them this year, and should again next year. Houston jumped onto the scene this year, but like the Bucs, they’ll have to keep improving to do the same next year and there’s no guarantee of either but I like our chances. Indy at home will be tough, but they were not spectacular this year either.
Road games include San Fran again, and we know we can beat them in their house with a bunch of backups. Tennessee doesn’t have a QB anymore, so who knows how they’ll be. Minnesota is in the same boat, no QB. Jacksonville is another unknown, could be good, could return to mediocrity. Green Bay is the toughest game on the schedule, especially if it’s in December.
I think we’ll have another chance at a playoff run, depending on the outcomes of our divisional games with Atlanta and New Orleans. Obviously, if we can’t beat them we’ll be third in the division again and fighting for the #6 seed at best. But I don’t see any of those games that aren’t winnable.