Steelers vs. Titans Review

So, I had a preview for this game. I really did. I had it in mind, wrote about 90% of it, then ran out of time. I might have been able to throw it up at about 7:15 last night, but I figured that it wouldn't work as a retrospective that was actually posted before the game started. Or something.

Well, basically, there have been three major questions that have arisen out of this game:

1. Why, exactly, didn't Hines Ward hit the deck and let Jeff Reed win the game in regulation?
2. We had 36 yards rushing and only one first down running the ball. Can this persist?
3. We had 363 yards passing on 43 attempts and 18 first downs passing the ball. Can this persist?

Well, 2 and 3 are basically the same question and it comes down to identity and sustainability. Number one is a little different.

Here's how I feel about it: That's Hines Ward. You knew that going in. You knew that when you drafted him. That's the way he's played the game since he made the team in 1998. He's always trying to get that extra yard. He's always trying to score. That's just how Hines rolls.

If he had scored, no one would be talking about how he had an error in judgment. They would be talking about how he did it all with a smile on his face. He'd be talking about how no one believed in him. Even if he hadn't fumbled, no one would have said anything.

Basically, it comes down to the fact that Chris Collinsworth said something about it during the broadcast, so everyone else feels the need to talk about it. If no one asked Obama what he though about Kanye, no one would be talking about the "jackass" comment. If he had said "no comment," then no one would be talking about it. But, that's how Obama rolls. And people are talking about it.

I'm fine with the risk of Hines fumbling once every 800 touches or so in order to take advantage of all the great plays he makes when he's out there running around with no regard for his safety. Because that's how Hines rolls.

The other questions, like I said, come down to identity and sustainability.

Passing a lot is not the Steelers' identity. They are a running team.

That's the root issue here. If they start throwing the ball a lot, then Tomlin will have changed their identity. He had done just fine living off the identity and personnel that he inherited, so breaking from that identity could spell doom.

Also, 2003.

Well, here's the thing...

I have been preaching since Tomlin was hired in 2007 that he wants to make this a Cover 2 defense and a passing offense. I have been preaching this because I completely read Mike Tomlin wrong. I assumed that, since he came from a Cover 2 backgroung that he was a system guy and that he wanted to move to the Cover 2 at all costs, because that's his system.

Tomlin is not a system guy. He's a personnel guy. He wants athletic, tough, physical players that hopefully can play a few different positions. That's why he drafted guys like Timmons, Hood, and Burnett. Not because they're Cover 2 guys, but because they can do a lot of different things, they're athletic, and they're violent, physical players.

On offense, he wants tough, physical guys. He's talked about wars of attrition. He's talked about football being a violent game. He's talked about dominance and physicality. He really, really, really wants to be able to gain two yards on third and one and drop the other team for a two yard loss on third and inches.

But, he's willing to change systems and change the way he does things if he doesn't have the horses.

All he knew coming into the head job for the Steelers was the Cover 2 defense. But, he didn't have the players to run that system, so he stuck with the 3-4. He had the guys to run a physical, violent style of offense, so he stuck with that.

Now, he doesn't have the guys to gain two yards on third and one. He doesn't have the guys to gain a foot on fourth and inches. And he knows it. And he knows that, Isaac Redman or no Isaac Redman, no one that's available can make the line to gain with the guys he has up front.

And, really, this isn't a new development. The past eight games (one of which was against the Browns in Week 17 when they had given up), the Steelers have tallied the following rushing totals: 70, 91, 73, 176 (Browns), 165, 52, 58, 36. All last season, the Steelers rushed for more than 100 yards only seven times and four of those times were against the Browns and Bengals (twice each). So, they may be able to have success running the ball at some point this season, given who they're playing against, but it may not be their identity.

Tomlin is not one to switch horses in midstream. Obviously, he kept up with "Student Body Left" well after Faneca left the team and well well after it stopped working. Last year, he didn't have the horses on the offensive line, but he felt as though he also didn't have a short yardage back or a healthy Willie Parker.

Now, he has a healthy Willie Parker and a short yardage back. But... he realizes that he still doesn't have the horses.

The real question, at this point, is when Tomlin will admit that he doesn't have the horses and go into full-on passing mode?

The answer, mercifully, is: Probably soon. Which brings us to the second question...

If the Steelers decide to become a passing team, is their success in the Tennessee game sustainable?

I hate to be crass, but... shit, I don't know. It's been so long (since 2003) since we decided to go pass wacky. At that point, Jerome Bettis, Chris Gardocki, Tommy Maddox, and Amos Zeroeue were still on the team. Guys on that team that are still on this team?

Aaron Smith
Casey Hampton
Ike Taylor
Troy Polamalu
Brett Keisel
James Farrior
Hines Ward

Notice anything about that list? That's right! Hines is the only offensive player from that fateful team still on the roster.

Ben Roethlisberger is a better quarterback than Tommy Maddox. Santonio Holmes is a better second receiver than Antwaan Randle-El. Mewelde Moore is a better third down/passing situation back than Verron Haynes.

That wasn't a JV squad they faced last Thursday night. Tennessee sent two players in their secondary -- Cortland Finnegan and Chris Hope -- to the Pro Bowl last year. But, I really can't say that passing the ball 43 times and being that successful that consistently is sustainable.

Here's what I do know: Mike Tomlin shepherded this team through one of the toughest schedules in league history last year and lead them to a championship. He oversaw the bankrupting of their rushing attack, the ascension of Ben Roethlisberger to the pantheon of two minute quarterbacks, a horrid offensive line that was among the league's worst, abyssmal special teams play, and complete dependence on a defense that was among the greatest that the NFL has ever seen.

Essentially, he coached the Steelers to a championship on balls and determination. He doesn't have that in him again this season. The team doesn't have it in them again. The kind of clutch play, luck, good timing, and standout performances they experienced last season are not sustainable.

Tomlin needs to try something new. The biggest test of his young career is whether or not he can adapt.