Steelers win, but don’t make playoffs
Well, the 2009 season is a wrap for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Despite beating the Miami Dolphins 30-24, the Steelers didn’t get the help that they needed from other teams in order to get into the playoffs. So the team goes into the off-season with lots of questions to answer.
But before we get to that, let’s review the game. Several players had especially good performances that are worth noting. Firstly, LaMarr Woodley had his coming out party in 2009. With Troy Polamalu on the sideline, Woodley became the most dominant member of the defense. Woodley showed no mercy to Dolphins quarterback Chad Henne, despite the fact that they were college teammates at Michigan. Woodley sacked Henne twice, and pressured him many more times.
Willie Parker also had a very good game. Despite not being utilized very much this season, Parker rushed for 91 yards on 12 carries against the Dolphins. That was a nice final performance as he enters free agency. Good luck next year, Willie. You won’t be playing for the Steelers.
Big Ben also had a very good game. He threw 3 touchdowns without an interception. 2009 was a great year for Big Ben.
Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger
The Steelers’ cornerbacks finally got an interception. Both Ike Taylor and Deshea Townsend got interceptions against the Dolphins. It’s too bad they also made Dolphins 3rd string QB Tyler Thigpen look like Dan Marino.
Mike Wallace also had a good game. He caught another long touchdown pass. I knew this kid was going to be good. I could see it back in training camp. I even wrote about it here.
Rookie WR Mike Wallace
Finally, offensive coordinator Bruce Arians called a pretty good game. I’ve been pretty tough on Arians this season, so I owe it to him to point out when he calls a good game. Bruce actually called a pretty balanced game. He used his running backs 32 times, and called pass plays 28 times. You can’t get much more balanced than that. Moreover, Ben had a great game while the backs rushed for almost 200 yards. See, you CAN run the ball and pass it too. Of course Arians did call for that asinine pass by Santonio Holmes. But I’m going to ignore that, and focus on the positive. Good game, Bruce.
But despite their victory over the Dolphins, Sunday was not a happy day for the Steelers. The bad news started early, and just kept on coming.
The bad news started when the Houston Texans beat the New England Patriots. The Steelers needed the Texans to lose more than any other team. Once the Texans won, the Steelers needed the Oakland Raiders to beat the Baltimore Ravens.
The Raiders were actually beating the Ravens, but then their quarterback got hurt and they had to call on JaMarcus Russell. The moment JaMarcus Russell came into the game for the Raiders, any hope the Steelers might have had went out the window. Russell is probably the worst quarterback in the NFL. Having to depend on him to win a game is like depending on Whitney Houston to say “no” to crack; it’s just not going to happen. So the Raiders lost, and the Ravens were in the playoffs. Then, to toss salt in the wound, the Cincinnati Bengals completely shut it down against the New York Jets. Not that it mattered at that point, but I’m sure the Bengals enjoyed knowing that they did absolutely nothing to help the Steelers’ chances.
So the Steelers now head into the off-season with a long list of questions. Will Casey Hampton be signed to a new contract? Will Ryan Clark be with the team next year? Will Troy Polamalu’s knee heal completely? Will Willie Gay get burned for touchdowns even when the Steelers aren’t playing? Will Bruce Arians return as offensive coordinator? Will the Steelers hire a new special teams coach? Will Jeff Reed be back for another season with the Steelers, or will he get arrested first and force the Steelers to let him go?
The Steelers won’t be in the playoffs, but the off-season is still going to be very exciting for Steeler Nation. The team has lots of questions to answer. I expect this team to make significant changes in the months to come. Stay tuned.
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You noted that Bruce Arian’s called a good game. While I agree with the balance, he blew it before halftime when he tried the old trick play and Holmes threw an interception. Bonehead call. I agree there will be changes and I am excited about the refurb. # 51 needs to be part of the changes. I have said it before and I will say it again. James Farrior has been a great linebacker for the Steelers, but the ship has sailed. He is too old and too slow. Yesterday again they showed him well behind a receiver that made a 1st down. Besides William Gay hitting the road and Troy coming back, we need to draft (HIGH) a safety. Its that time of the year already to start talking draft. I look forward to reading others comments. I am sad that they did not make the playoffs, but they did it to themselves. I do not mean the players are alone in this offense. The coaches are guilty of NOT coaching in certain areas to. WE Steeler fans expect more and we should. We have 6 Lombardi’s and we want MORE Lombardi’s. This type of season almost caused me to call my Doctor for a prescription for anti depressants.
1Thanks Timlin I am back on the bottle now because of you and your lead blowing games you put me through. Also I filled my Prozac prescription today to get my nerves settled with my coffee and I am not ashamed to admit but a couple gulps of vodka went in with the sugar. Brandon Marshall or Boldin in Arizona is who we need to bring in next year.
2First, Mark, you can’t blame Arians that Holmes decided to throw into double coverage instead of running with it or throwing it away.
Second, Admin, Thigpen is technically #4 on the depth chart behind Pennington, Henne, and (for some reason) White. If the Dolphins had put Thigpen in instead of White, we probably would’ve lost.
Props to Woodley, who made those who snubbed him for the ProBowl look stupid. He’s a scary good LB, and has a knack for making big plays at big times. Sadly, he’ll have to wait for next year to continue his 2 sack per playoff game streak.
3I am not hearing enough blame on Timlin for this disgraceful meltdown. That loss to the Raiders was unforgiveable and he has got to go. Maybe give Timlin another year but I would rather have Cowher back or Shananahan come in with and retool the offense to more of a throwing team and get better offensive lineman in free agency.
4Matt, I can not blame Arian’s for Holmes throwing the ball, I can and do blame him for calling the play. Bad call.
5mark,
was it a ball call in SB XL when randle el passed to hines for clinching TD to win SB? Just wondering.
6Timlinmustgo,
7Your name says it all. We can guess what your opinions are going to be. That’s fine. We encourage an exchange of ideas. However, please be warned that we do not tolerate racist remarks. That is why your first post was never published. Feel free to express your comments about Tomlin. If you don’t like his leadership, choice of coaches, or playcalling, say so. However, keep race out of the discussion. Thanks.
Matt,
Pat White was actually a pretty good pick for the Dolphins. Remember, they run a lot of wildcat offense. White is a great QB for that system.
Tim Tebow will be similar. He won’t be for everyone, but in the right system, he can be a good pick.
Personally, I think the wildcat offense is a good way to get your QB killed. Just look at what happened to Pat White. That’s why I disagree when Steelers fans say that we should use Dennis Dixon as our own wildcat QB. Dixon weighs under 200 pounds. He wouldn’t survive the beating that he’d take in the wildcat offense.
8Timlinmustgo,
I just noticed that you said that you want the Steelers to bring in Bill Cowher. Have you forgotten that the Steelers didn’t fire Bill Cowher. Cowher quit. So why do you want him back? Moreover, do you think the Rooney’s are going to pay the $10 million that is rumored to be Cowher’s asking price for coming back?
Also, you say you want Shanahan to make them more of a passing team. I’ll assume you meant running team. Don’t the Steelers already pass enough?
9Tony,
10I didn’t like the call either. The difference between that play and Randle-El’s toss in the Super Bowl was that Randle-El was a quarterback in college. He knows how to throw the ball. Hines Ward was also a QB. He knows how to throw the ball. Santonio Holmes…..not so much.
didnt say i like the call. but if he completes the pass everyone loves it and you know it. by the way, i can’t believe im taking up for Bruce!
You know, he did call a pretty good game i thought. however, isn’t it odd that when we have ball and trying to run clock out he calls 2 run plays up the gut when everybody in the stadium knew that would be the call? it just seems when it is creative to use high % ball-control-type passing he doesn’t do it. What an odd fella. Must go.
When you write an article on him i will share some real interesting thoughts on why he needs to go and why i still blame him more than lebeau.
Oh, by the way, the players deserve much of the credit as well for this season being such an embarassment.
11timlinmustgo,
obviously you are a novice and an undereducated watcher of football. I have many problems with Tomlin myself. I loved Cowher myself and hated to see him go. And unlike Donlad (admin) i don’t see him as a quitter on pittsburgh. he has had nothing but good things to say about steelers since leaving. Can’t a guy spend more time with family without being crucified by fan base?
Having said that, you are just spilling a novice fan statement that the coach must be fired because of a bad season. I guess we should release Troy because he only played a handful of games this year. I guess we should release Ben because he played awful against Oakland. I guess we should release the whole team for that matter.
At least know what you are talking about. At least get some knowledge of the game before you start saying things like that.
Your logic says we should have given Tomlin raise and long term contract just because we won SB with him.
Tomlin is certainly losing my respect. But for other reasons. I just don’t think he’s ready for head coaching yet. Not a very good leader in my eyes.
12BA is in the top 5 of the worst play callers in the NFL! He calls run when he should throw and calls pass when he should run. In almost every game he went conservative late in games when opening it up is what got us the lead in the first place. Tomlin did nothing to stop this Martyball philosophy of coaching. BA could never develop any sort of rythym in his playcalling and keep defenses guessing hence the horrible redzone effectiveness. BA would be a good receivers or QB coach but he is not a good or even average OC. Tomlin refusing to play Mendy early on hindered the teams development and did not allow for chemistry or team identity! This years embarrassing collapse had 80% to do with coaching and 20% to do with poor execution by players especially secondary and o-line. I agree that Tomlin was not ready to be a HC and BA is just a horrible horrible excuse for an OC! He needs to go and while I think he is a likable guy he just deserves to take the blame for the Steelers disgusting performance in the 09 season! Go Steelers!!!
13Hey Tony,
I agree with Donald about the play. Holmes has no business trying to throw that. My objection is the timing though. There are 4 to 5 minutes left before halftime, the Steelers have the ball on the 40 +, and they are running the ball pretty well. Burn up some of the clock please!? That is why WE have problems with Arian’s. There does not seem to be a lot of thought to game management involved in his play calling.
14Happy New Year everyone.
With your permission, I would like to move on to what and how we will change in the off season.
15(From an earlier post…) Yes it was an incredibly frustrating season. The fact that we could have won it last year and been so mediocre this year tells us that we do not have to blow the whole thing up in order to be in the hunt again next year. I am most interested in learning about our coach during the off season. We have all chronicled what we believe needs to change with our beloved B&G. What does our coach have in store to make us better? (Despite bold predictions, he did very little during the season to change our course.) Is he an ‘Arians guy’? Will he try to be more involved with the defense? Will Zierlein be sacrificed? Or will nothing change?
Will we draft the best player in a key need area (fill in the blank) or will we pick the highest guy on our board regardless of position? Who comes back (FWP,Big Snack, JR?) & who is jettisoned? Once for all, we should have more evidence to help answer what is my biggest question, “Does the man have a plan?”
Have a great 2010 Steeler Nation!Peace! …and Let’s go Pens!