Posts tagged Mike Tomlin at FanHouse

There's no scenario that could be drawn up where the Steelers should have won Sunday's game against the Eagles, but in the final minute, it's hard to figure out Mike Tomlin's decision-making process.

Down 15-6 with less than a minute to play, Byron Leftwich moved the Steelers into field goal range. Needing a touchdown, a successful onside kick and a field goal to win, the Steelers faced a third and one at the Eagles 13 with 1:08 to go. At that point, the Steelers' Byron Leftwich was sacked, forcing a fourth and 10 and a decision for Tomlin.

Tomlin could either send out the field goal unit, kick the field goal, line up for an onside kick and then hope for a miracle or go for it on fourth and 10 as the clock ticked down. Tomlin says he never thought about kicking the field goal.

"Absolutely not," Tomlin replied. "We did not move the ball consistently enough to say that had we kicked the field goal and got the onside kick that we could get down there again. We were down there, we were going to take our shots. Under the circumstances, based on what happened to that point, no way we're kicking a field goal down there."

That's Tomlin's logic, but it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense.

I'll admit it: in the weeks and months leading up to the NFL draft, I hated the idea of the Steelers drafting a running back with their first-round pick. There were much bigger needs along the offensive and defensive lines, and running backs, in general, are pretty easy to scare up and for relatively little cost (hi, Willie Parker!).

On draft day, however, that's exactly what happened: Pittsburgh used the 23rd overall pick on Rashard Mendenhall, running back. Thing is, given how events unfolded during the first 22 picks, it was hard to fault the Steelers; they did what diehard draft nerds are always preaching: took the best player available.

And now, two days before training camp begins, the club has signed Mendenhall to a five-year deal. Obviously, Parker is the feature back (or, at the very least, is listed atop the depth chart), but head coach Mike Tomlin has plans for the revamped rushing attack.

"Our initial plan is he's going to be a supplemental runner," Tomlin said. "The growth of his role will be determined on his ability to execute from an assignment standpoint, how he deals with being a professional athlete.

"To this point he's shown he's mature and unique for a 21-year-old guy. Hopefully, that translates into him growing and developing as a member of this football team quickly."

With plenty of lingering questions about the state of the offensive line, the skill position players will be responsible for keeping Ben Roethlisberger upright. If the offense can create match-up problems at running back and wide receiver, the o-line deficiencies could be minimized. If that doesn't happen, it could be a long, painful 2008 for Big Ben.

Typically, when the Steelers release a player, the process goes something like this: head coach Mike Tomlin explains that "it's a numbers game," and thanks the player for their hard work, commitment, etc.; player cleans out his locker and turns in his playbook; player immediately calls his agent; player signs with the Pittsburgh West within 48 hours.

Which is why recently unemployed running back Najeh Davenport probably wasn't too concerned about finding another gig. He told Sirius NFL Radio earlier this week that he would target the Cardinals and Lions as potential new employers, but he might want to think about casting a wider net during the job search.

"Cardinals GM Rod Graves said via text message this morning that the Cardinals have no interest."

So that's that. A running game that ranked 26th in the league last season has no need for a back who was eighth in value per play and 18th in total value. And Davenport's also a willing blocker and a good receiver. Interesting.

Actually, it's more complicated than that -- according to Rotoworld:

Najeh said he'd target the Lions and Cardinals as suitors, but his off-field past will work against him. The Cards also aren't in position to sign players other than their rookies. It's too bad, because this could've been a nice fit.

There's still Detroit, a team in need of a veteran running back who doesn't stink, and then there's Chicago: a team in need of a running back, period (although second-rounder Matt Forte has, roughly, a 10 million percent chance to be an improvement over Cedric Benson).

Mike Tomlin has been the Steelers head coach for nearly 15 months, and one of the storylines that refuse to die is that the team will be going to the Cover-2 defense in the foreseeable future.

ProFootballTalk.com points out that Pittsburgh conducted a private workout with former Miami safety Kenny Phillips, and if the club uses their first-round pick on him it "might be a sign that coach Mike Tomlin is laying the foundation for a change from the 3-4 to the Tampa 2 defense, since solid safety play is critically important to the success of the attack that helped get Tomlin the job he now has."

Actually, it's a sign that the Steelers are a) worried about Ryan Clark's recovery from spleen surgery, or b) convinced that Anthony Smith isn't the long-term answer at free safety. It has absolutely nothing to do with an eventual move to the Cover-2. At least if you believe Tomlin:

"A lot of people like to trace my origins to Tampa, Fla., but I coached a little football in college prior to that," Tomlin said at the NFL owners meetings. "I've been involved with a 3-4 defense, a 4-3 defense. The longer you coach, there's many ways to skin it. You better skin it in a direction that lends itself to your guys being able to do what they do best."

Head coach Tony Sparano is playing Mr. Mysterio about whether the Dolphins will be a 4-3 or 3-4 defense next season. Specifically, he thinks it's important "that a defense create an identity" and, according to the Sun-Sentinel, is why "he will likely stay away from a hybrid scheme that combines the 4-3 and 3-4, such as like the one the Dolphins have used the past three years."

Interestingly, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin discussed defensive schemes earlier this week and had a different take.

"A lot of people like to trace my origins to Tampa, Fla., but I coached a little football in college prior to that," Tomlin said at the NFL owners meetings. "I've been involved with a 3-4 defense, a 4-3 defense. The longer you coach, there's many ways to skin it. You better skin it in a direction that lends itself to your guys being able to do what they do best."

Obviously, the Steelers have had a little more success than the Dolphins recently, but it wasn't long ago that Miami's defense was among the best in the league.

Either way, ESPN.com's Matt Mosley isn't fooled by Sparano's hesitancy to label the Dolphins as one or the other:

Like everyone else, Mike Tomlin doesn't seem to have an answer to the Steelers special teams problems. But he is searching for explanations. His theory is that the Steelers didn't have enough guys on the roster who are true special teams guys. As the Washington Observer-Reporter explained:

Tomlin said losing players like Sean Morey, Chidi Iwuoma and Mike Logan, along with James Harrison becoming a starter, was a major blow to the unit.

"(Losing those players) it'd be the equivalent of losing seven, eight starters on the offensive and defensive unit when you're talking about that."

Maybe that's true, but here's what's wrong with Tomlin's comment. In the case of Iwuoma and Logan, the Steelers decided to cut them, so while they may have been gone, it was completely Tomlin and the rest of the Steelers front office's decision to let them go. And Harrison actually played special teams during the second half of the season.

And besides, the Steelers still had Andre Frazier, Arnold Harrison and Marquis Cooper on the roster almost completely because of their special teams abilities. So if the Steelers didn't have enough solid special teams players, it was a self-inflicted wound.

But it also might be an indication of how the Steelers will draft this year. Last year punter Daniel Sepulveda was a fourth-round pickup. This year it could be a couple of special teams aces the Steelers are looking for in the later rounds.

Mike Tomlin admits he isn't perfect, even if hindsight has perfect vision. So if he could do it over again, he wouldn't have allowed a curious quarterback sweep on third and six with the Steelers needing two first downs to hold off the Jaguars. But that's about the only thing from Saturday's game that he's willing to take back.

"In hindsight, if you had it to do over, yes you would love to do that," Tomlin said, "because the result of the play that we choose was not the result we were looking for. We weren't successful."

But even if everyone and their brother thought it was crazy to go for a two-point conversion once the Steelers got pushed back to the 12, Tomlin would do it again.

"Yes, I'd do it again. I throw caution to the wind. I play to win."

It's encouraging to see that Tomlin knows that he'll sometimes make the wrong decision and he needs to learn from it, even if it's still hard to figure out his thinking on the two-point conversion.

Tough weekend for Jim Furyk. The former U.S. Open winner finished tied for fifth in the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship after an opening round 74. Finishing behind four other players is usually considered a pretty good week of work, but Furyk is also a Steelers fan.

The Pennsylvania native taped the Jags-Steelers game because it coincided with Saturday's third round. And during a post-round interview with the The Golf Channel, Furyk had to remind Kelly Tilghman not to spill the beans on the game's outcome. In retrospect, he would've been better off finding out then instead of wasting a perfectly good evening watching the replay.

It was a game that apparently [Furyk] could have seen live, had he not won the Canadian Open last year to earn a trip to Kapalua, where he has a second home. A PGA Tour official said that someone from the office of Steelers coach Mike Tomlin phoned tour headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., to invite Furyk to the game.

Furyk admitted that he hasn't met Tomlin, but does know members of the Rooney family. When he does get around to meeting the Steelers head coach, maybe he can ask about this and this. In the meantime, I'm guessing the $218,000 fifth-place check helped Furyk get over his grief.

With 10:25 remaining in Saturday's Pittsburgh Steelers-Jacksonville Jaguars playoff game, the Steelers scored a touchdown to make the score 28-23, Jacksonville. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin decided to go for two and bring his team to within a field goal.

The initial play call -- a pass to Hines Ward -- worked, and the Steelers appeared to be within 28-25. But the Steelers were called for holding, meaning they now had to attempt it again from the 12-yard line. That time, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger tried to run it in and was stopped short.

Later in the fourth quarter the Steelers scored another touchdown to go up 29-28, and they went for two again and failed again. The final score, of course, was 31-29 Jaguars, meaning if the Steelers had kicked the extra points after both scores, the game would have gone into overtime.

So was Tomlin wrong? That's what all the Sunday morning quarterbacks are asking.

With the AFC North wrapped up and absolutely nothing to play for, it makes sense that the Steelers would rest some of their starters.

Four of them, to be exact. In today's preseason J.V. matchup with the Ravens, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will be the third quarterback (behind Charlie Batch and Brian St. Pierre), and the following players won't waste the effort putting on pads: wide receiver Hines Ward, safety Troy Polamalu, and returner Allen Rossum. Tackle Marvel Smith had back surgery earlier in the week, and running back Willie Parker was placed on injured reserve earlier this week with a broken leg.

While a win or loss doesn't affect Pittsburgh's postseason positioning, it will be a good opportunity for many of the young players on the roster. Rookie undrafted free agent running back Gary Russell could see a lot of action; Parker showed he was a big-play back during Week 17 of his rookie season: he went for over 100 yards against the Bills in a meaningless-for-the-Steelers game (although Buffalo was playing for a wild-card spot).

Returner/wide receiver Willie Reid will also get a second chance. Reid was taken in the third round of the 2006 draft to replace Antwaan Randle El. He was injured for most of his rookie season, and he performed so poorly in '07 that the Steelers traded for Rossum just before the start of the season.

One thought, though: if I'm Mike Tomlin, I'm letting Brian St. Pierre start this game. Charlie Batch is too valuable to lose to injury in a game that doesn't matter. God forbid, if Roethlisberger goes down during the playoffs, the Steelers will be in a bad way. But maybe I'm getting a little ahead of myself.