It's the morning after.
If you are a Steelers fan, you know what morning, and you know what it's
after. If not, it's the Sunday morning
after the Steelers loss to the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Wildcard round. A game they should have won. A game that wasn't supposed to go this
way. A game with all the intangibles
(save a large Le'veon Bell shaped one) seeming to point in the Steelers
direction.
The mantra of this team has and continues to be "The
Standard is the Standard". With the Steelers, winners of 6 Lombardi
trophies, the Standard is nothing less than a Super Bowl Victory and another
trophy to add to the case. Anything else false short. Of course we all know that is an unrealistic
view. The Steelers can't win the Super
Bowl every year. Nor would it be a good
thing if they did. Regardless, I found
myself wondering, was this a disappointing season?
If my sole criteria for making that judgment is that the
Steelers failed to win the Super Bowl, then I guess yeah, it's a disappointment. But I don't really feel that way. Don't get me wrong, I'm absolutely disappointed
that we (and yes, I along with everyone else who lives in Steelers Nations
feels WE lost, not just the team) lost, and with how the team played. How could I not be? But disappointed with the season? I don’t' think I am.
First of all, let me say this bluntly, Steelers Nation is
spoiled. I know it, and so do the rest
of you. We expect what we expect. To win.
And if we don't win, then at the very least we expect not to beat ourselves. We expect our players to play within the
scope and plan of the game plan. We
expect them to live up to standards that are unrealistic and unfair. We don't care if our favorites get older, if
they can't perform to the levels they once could. We don't care if younger players don't have
the experience or the knowledge to contribute right away. Either play up to the standard or you’re a
bust!
If we can take a deep breath though, and take a few steps
back, and try and view this, and frankly the last two seasons through a
slightly more realistic lens, maybe we can see this as a very promising
season. One that while not giving us the
overall desired outcome was certainly anything but disappointing. Let me break
my argument down into a few categories - The Old Guys, The New Guys, The
Coaches and Front office and let's see what the outcome of each is.
The Old Guys
Who are the old guys?
C'mon, we know who they are. Troy, Ike, Da Beard, Debo. Look, that's a hard group of guys to
let you go of, no question about it, but let's face it. It's going to happen at some point. Really, we had to let go of James Harrison
(Debo!) two years ago. Yes, considering
how the man has played this year, it's hard not to want him back again. Saying goodbye to Brett Keisel will be as
painful and upsetting to me as saying goodbye to Aaron Smith, or frankly Jack
Lambert. These guys just represent the
very heart of the Steelers. But it has
to happen. Ike. Swaggin U had a fantastic run, and I am truly
sorry you never got the credit you deserved.
Ike was and is a great guy, and I think he, and Keisel would make great
additions to the coaching staff.
Troy.
Ok, that one might be too hard for me. Even with all this, Troy can leave when Troy
wants to leave. Until then I don't care
if he can't cover a barn, he stays.
My point here is that eventually the old guys do have to
give way to the younger guys, and the truth is that it is always going to be a disappointment
and sad. No way to get around it.
Outcome - Disappointing. (Maybe devastating)
The New Guys
This one can swing either way depending on the how critical
you are of draft picks and of free agent signings (or lack thereof). Let's look at the last 3 drafts, and the last
3 seasons of free agents (In a limited way, because frankly I don't want to
write a novel here). What I'm going to
do is give each draft a plus, minus or even grade. I'll give a brief outline of my reasons, and
I'll do the same for free agents.
Drafts
2012 Draft - Even.
Why? David DeCastro, Sean Spence
and Kelvin Beachum. Mike Adams is a bust
at this point in my book, even though he's been a good solid sub, but you want
a second rounder to be a starter. I go
even because when you get a good starting tackle in the 7th round (and Beachum
has become good, not just ok, but good) you can forgive Chris Rainey, Toney
Clemons and Ta'amu Alameda.
2013 - Plus. Two
Words. Le'veon Bell. Ok, more than two words. We have Markus Wheaton, Jarvis Jones (stop
hating, he was playing better til he got hurt), Shamarko Thomas and Vince
Williams in this draft. Look, Landry
Jones was a wasted pick, granted, but they hit more than missed.
2014 - Plus. Look,
let's be honest, it's early to make this call, but from what we've seen so far,
I call it a plus. Martavis Bryant in the
fourth round? Stephon Tuitt in the
second? Shazier hasn't lived up to his
billing, but I'll give him a pass with the injuries and still call it a good pick. Dri Archer, well I don't think he's Chris
Rainey, but next year will tell the story on Dri. And Daniel McCullers was a steal in the
7th. Yeah, they lost a couple guys, and
there are guys who didn't work it, but I think this remains a solid draft.
Free Agent Signings
2012 - Minus. Sorry,
but 2012 is more about who they didn't sign than anyone they did. Losing Keenan Lewis was and remains a bitter
pill for a team in need of secondary help.
But hey, we signed Leanord Pope!
2013 - Plus. Yeah,
look, my gauge on free agency and the Steelers is set pretty low. But we got a decent backup QB (Gradkowski)
and brought Plaxico home for a year. We
lost Mike Wallace, but frankly I wasn't that upset, and Mendenhall is out of
the league two years later. Sometimes
they get it right.
2014 - Even. I'm only
calling this one even because Mitchell is saying he played all year with a torn
groin. I hope its true (even though it
sounds bad to say that) cause if not, then I'm re-grading. I was psyched for the Mitchell signing but
some really questionable penalties (which I am pretty sure cannot be attributed to a groin injury...but maybe they
can, I mean if my groin was hurt all year I might be cranky and make some bad
choices to), and overall poor play really made me second guess the
decision. I'm holding out hope for a
rebound next year. (Yes, Cam Thomas
should be gone, but Brice McCain and Arthur Moats offset that...and stop saying
Blount!)
Ok, let's sum things up, and you get 2 Evens, 3 Pluses and 1
Minus. I think being +2 is good enough
to say that the new guys are promising, and not disappointing.
Outcome - Promising!
The Coaches and Front Office
Without question this is the most volatile area. From my standpoint, I am so sick of the
Tomlin/Haley/Colbert and LeBeau (shudder!
How can you hate Mr. Night Before Christmas!) haters. For a minute, let's be real and understand
how good we have it. We have been
REBUILDING for 3 years. REBUILDING is
hard folks! It's hard because we were
(and will be again) good! We got low
draft picks. We don't go after high
priced free agents. What that means is
we have to be AWESOME drafting, and even more AWESOME coaching. Because you know what you normally get when
your rebuilding? LOSING SEASONS!
How many losing season has Tomlin had? ZERO.
Yes, he has some really good players, but he also has lost some, and he
has kept this franchise relevant, and fun to watch. Look, I loved Bill Cowher as much as
anyone. The Chin was great. And I think he was a great coach. How many losing seasons did he give us? Three.
How about Chuck Noll? Arguable to
me the greatest coach of all time, and certainly in Steelers history. How many?
Eight! Look, here is the key to me anyway.
Noll, Cowher and Tomlin, no matter what their records all have one thing
in common. They never lose their
teams. And up to this point, Tomlin has
never lost this team, and in fact, has done a great job of reacting to learning
opportunities. I loved Tomlin when they
hired him and I love the guy now. He
ain't perfect, but I wouldn't trade him for anyone. I mean it.
I think it's enough to say that Haley has made us the number
two offense in the league. And look,
let's give Dick LeBeau the benefit of the doubt. He doesn't have the bullets in his gun that
he used to, but they are reloading. I
expect the D to be much improved next year. If we can keep Munchak, well in my mind this is the best
coaching staff in the league.
And as far as the front office goes, they make more right
choices than wrong ones. They have ever
since Art let Dan take the reins.
Outcome - PROMISING!
So with all that being said, I don't think this was a disappointing
season. It was a promising one. It gave us glimpses of how good we could be, hope
for the future, and continued excellence.
The Standard is the Standard!
GO STEELERS!
