2023 Steelers Season Thread

Whatever other opinions there are about Tomlin, it is really apparent that he has a very glaring deficiency in at least one aspect of his job - instant replay challenges. He rarely wins the challenges he does make, and yesterday he basically cost the team a touchdown with a winnable challenge he failed to make. His explanation of it quite frankly is ludicrous. He said he didn’t see the play because he was “blocked”, and the Jumbotron didn’t show any replays. Really? In the year 2023, with all the technology available, you are relying on what the coach can see from the sideline and the stadium Jumbotron? Come on man, there has to be someone in the booth with an iPad or something who could look at the replay and tell Tomlin to throw the freaking flag (or in most cases don’t throw it). Originally Posted by Smarty1

Tomlin's explanation was completely on point.

I guarantee he never saw the replay until it was too late. And the booth would have to wait for the TV copy, which took much longer than the 40 seconds of real time they had to make that decision. Charlie Batch said the same thing on the post-game show, and I'd take his word over that of a fan any day.

I also guarantee nobody in the peanut gallery was thinking about challenging the call until the NFL rules analyst came on, AFTER the commercial break, and explained that they MIGHT have had a TD (not that they definitely had one).

Another guarantee: if Tomlin had challenged and lost, the narrative would have been "stupid Tomlin always wasting challenges". I know how the game is played around here. He's damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. Even when he wins the game.

Tomlin's explanation was completely on point.

I guarantee he never saw the replay until it was too late. And the booth would have to wait for the TV copy, which took much longer than the 40 seconds of real time they had to make that decision. Charlie Batch said the same thing on the post-game show, and I'd take his word over that of a fan any day.

I also guarantee nobody in the peanut gallery was thinking about challenging the call until the NFL rules analyst came on, AFTER the commercial break, and explained that they MIGHT have had a TD (not that they definitely had one).

Another guarantee: if Tomlin had challenged and lost, the narrative would have been "stupid Tomlin always wasting challenges". I know how the game is played around here. He's damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. Even when he wins the game. Originally Posted by tommy156

Sorry, but not buying it. I’m not denigrating him in general, but Tomlin has a well documented track record of being terrible at challenges. He seems to just go off gut feel, and he is the one personally making the decisions. It is unreasonable to expect a head coach on the sideline to be the person who always has the best view of the play. Having someone in the booth, who presumably could see the play better at least some of the time, helping in the decision making process would be helpful. Having someone in the organization videoing the game as it’s going on so they don’t have to rely on the tv feed also seems reasonable. I don’t think Tomlin is a bad coach at all, but having him be the only one with input into challenges just is not working well.

Oh, BTW, I don’t really care if any random person watching the game knows the rule about getting the third foot down rendering the play dead and making it a TD — it’s not the fans’ job to know that rule. However as the head coach of an NFL team, it most certainly is part of Tomlin’s job to know the rules. Like I said, by using their own video and having a person whose job it is to monitor it for potential challenges, the Penguins get probably 90+% of them right. That has to be a better way to do it than the way the Steelers do, don’t you think?

Tomlin's explanation was completely on point.

I guarantee he never saw the replay until it was too late. And the booth would have to wait for the TV copy, which took much longer than the 40 seconds of real time they had to make that decision. Charlie Batch said the same thing on the post-game show, and I'd take his word over that of a fan any day.

I also guarantee nobody in the peanut gallery was thinking about challenging the call until the NFL rules analyst came on, AFTER the commercial break, and explained that they MIGHT have had a TD (not that they definitely had one).

Another guarantee: if Tomlin had challenged and lost, the narrative would have been "stupid Tomlin always wasting challenges". I know how the game is played around here. He's damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. Even when he wins the game. Originally Posted by tommy156

... Too right - and it's NOT up to Tomlin to get the
calls there correct - He's NOT officiating the game.
The referees and umpires are - and they should at least
know the rules, so they can officiate the game properly.

... The officials surely shit inside their bed on that play.
BOTH feet down - and a "third step" football MOVE to show
it's a TD...

... And What Happened to "reviews" of touchdown scores??
Don't they take a quick look at all of 'em just to confirm??
They surely "review" all turnover possessions.

So WHY is it up to the Steelers to "challenge" a TD call??
... It's all rather mystifying.

#### Salty

Sorry, but not buying it. I’m not denigrating him in general, but Tomlin has a well documented track record of being terrible at challenges. He seems to just go off gut feel, and he is the one personally making the decisions. It is unreasonable to expect a head coach on the sideline to be the person who always has the best view of the play. Having someone in the booth, who presumably could see the play better at least some of the time, helping in the decision making process would be helpful. Having someone in the organization videoing the game as it’s going on so they don’t have to rely on the tv feed also seems reasonable. I don’t think Tomlin is a bad coach at all, but having him be the only one with input into challenges just is not working well.

Oh, BTW, I don’t really care if any random person watching the game knows the rule about getting the third foot down rendering the play dead and making it a TD — it’s not the fans’ job to know that rule. However as the head coach of an NFL team, it most certainly is part of Tomlin’s job to know the rules. Like I said, by using their own video and having a person whose job it is to monitor it for potential challenges, the Penguins get probably 90+% of them right. That has to be a better way to do it than the way the Steelers do, don’t you think? Originally Posted by Smarty1

I agree!! Tomlin sucks at it and has always sucked at it.
I could swear Bill Billichek has someone watching the telecast. Idk if that’s what he does but whatever works. Seems crazy to me to be this bad and not be forced to make changes. I’d love it if someone like PFF kept track of this.

... Too right - and it's NOT up to Tomlin to get the
calls there correct - He's NOT officiating the game.
The referees and umpires are - and they should at least
know the rules, so they can officiate the game properly.

... The officials surely shit inside their bed on that play.
BOTH feet down - and a "third step" football MOVE to show
it's a TD...

... And What Happened to "reviews" of touchdown scores??
Don't they take a quick look at all of 'em just to confirm??
They surely "review" all turnover possessions.

So WHY is it up to the Steelers to "challenge" a TD call??
... It's all rather mystifying.

#### Salty Originally Posted by Salty Again

The refs blew the call; no argument there. But refs are human and they do blow calls. That is why replay exists. In this case, the call was incomplete pass. Had it been called a touchdown the review would have been automatic. Since the ruling was incomplete there was no TD and it was up to Tomlin to challenge

I listened to Tomlins press conference today.
Loved what he said about Diantae. He’s gonna have to explain his lack of effort on the fumble to his teammates. Great move!
Hated his BS on throwing red flags. It made so little sense I don’t know how to explain it.

The refs blew the call; no argument there. But refs are human and they do blow calls. That is why replay exists. In this case, the call was incomplete pass. Had it been called a touchdown the review would have been automatic. Since the ruling was incomplete there was no TD and it was up to Tomlin to challenge Originally Posted by Smarty1

... Hmmmmm... I do believe you are correct about that, mate.
Thanks fer the reasonable explanation...

#### Salty

The refs blew the call; no argument there. But refs are human and they do blow calls. That is why replay exists. In this case, the call was incomplete pass. Had it been called a touchdown the review would have been automatic. Since the ruling was incomplete there was no TD and it was up to Tomlin to challenge Originally Posted by Smarty1

Again, Tomlin never saw the replay. Blame the guys in the booth, if you must, but that wasn't Tomlin's call.

I also guarantee nobody in the peanut gallery was thinking about challenging the call until the NFL rules analyst came on... Originally Posted by tommy156

Wrong. I expected a challenge as soon as it happened.

Btw are you a mind reader? If not, how can you "guarantee" what other people think?

Wrong. I expected a challenge as soon as it happened. Originally Posted by lustylad

Riiiight

Why not have someone actually watching the network telecast and buzz Tomlin when to throw the red flag?? I believe he’s counting on a replay being played on the Jumbotron, which makes zero sense.

I'm a big supporter of Coach T but he's one of the worst in the league at knowing when to throw the red flag.

https://www.fieldgulls.com/2023/7/11...league-coaches

These statistics are just based on times that he threw the red flag. Incidents like Sunday's when he should have thrown the flag but didn't are probably harder to quantify.

Why not have someone actually watching the network telecast and buzz Tomlin when to throw the red flag?? I believe he’s counting on a replay being played on the Jumbotron, which makes zero sense. Originally Posted by Charley3

At one point the Steelers hired a guy just to do challenges, but he must be bad at it too.

Agreed on having someone monitor for challenges. That was my main point - it should NOT be on Tomlin to look at the Jumbotron, rely on what he did or did not see live, or just listen to the players, or whatever the heck they are doing now. You can’t tell me that they are at the mercy of the stadium Jumbotron operators. Nobody On the team payroll has a freakin IPad or other device that they can use to stream the broadcast? Nobody on the team is videoing the game themselves for future study? Somebody associated with the team must certainly have access to video replays shortly after they occur. That somebody should be in charge of notifying Tomlin as to whether or not a challenge is warranted.

Again, whether or not the casual fan would have known to challenge this particular play is irrelevant. The call was blown, and it should have been challenged. This is a professional football team - it is the job of the head coach and anyone else tasked with reviewing calls to know the rules and recognize when a challenge should be made. The Steelers record regarding replay challenges during the Tomlin era is undeniably god awful. If there is someone who is advising Tomlin on challenges, then he needs to follow Canada out the door. If there isn’t then either it is because Tomlin has too big an ego to actually delegate that responsibility to someone else and actually listen to them or the Rooneys are extraordinarily cheap and refuse to hire someone for the job. Either one is pretty shameful IMO.

It really is not that difficult, as the Penguins prove year in and year out. You have someone whose only job is to review replays of game action and notify the coach when there is some reason to challenge a call. The coach can just put the challenge decisions out of mind and focus on other game planning and strategic decisions, relying on the video review person for challenge decisions. If I’m watching a Pens game and they challenge a call, I am very confident that they will win the challenge - they almost always do. I have no such confidence with the Steelers.

If Johnson does his job and holds on to the ball it never needs challenging. If Warren doesn't fumble on the next play and the Steelers still score, it's a minor point.

Johnson standing around doing nothing on the fumble play is inexcusable. He didn't block his man, he didn't try to recover the ball, and he didn't try to make a tackle. I hope he's traded or cut this offseason.

As for the coaching staff, the Steelers have one of the smallest and least costly staffs. That is on Rooney.