Well, the Super Bowl is over. People in Pittsburgh took a certain satisfaction in watching the Patriots lose. I'm a sports fan and a degenerate gambler. I thought the Eagles would win and was glad they did from a purely financial perspective. I actually thought the score would be more like 34 to 10 but the game went pretty much the way I thought it would. The Eagles came out and whacked the Patriots on the pee-pee and didn't let up. They are that good.
I just looked out my window to confirm this. This is Pittsburgh, so the only real story is the future prospects of the Steelers. It's not good my friends. We got big trouble right here in the River City.
Big Ben is not retiring and that's a damned good thing because there is no viable plan to replace him. Exactly how would you go about that anyway? There's no Steve Young on the horizon, not even a Danny White or a Bubby. However, unless something changes and fast, they are looking at a losing season. You'll have to make a reservation to jump off the Clemente Bridge.
Well, Jim. You sound like any other Yinzer fan. No, I'm a degenerate gambler, remember? Here's what I see. All of last season the Steelers played down to their competition and sorta got away with it but then in the play-off game they played a classic 'look-ahead' game and lost a game they should have won. Those two things are classic coaching failures you normally see in college ball. Mike Tomlin is a talented, intelligent, prepared and insightful individual. It would be ridiculous to think he doesn't see what I've seen. The question is: can he do anything about it? Sometimes, with some programs, it gets to be a cultural thing and those at the center of that culture become blind.
It's a definite, 'we'll see' kinda thing. Immediately, firing Haley was a good step in the right direction. Not just the change but the way it was made. Instant karma for failure. That could be a strong indication that weakness is recognized and will be met aggressively. The organization doesn't share much of it's inner thoughts and workings. That's as it should be. They aren't fans eager to discuss every detail. They are professionals being paid fantastic sums to create those details. I know for a fact they don't care what we think. Chuck Noll said, if you start thinking like the fans, soon you'll be sitting with the fans.
As a team, they are at the perfect spot in their collective careers. Maturity, talent and experience. We'll know about half way thru the third game of next season if they'll make a serious run or if it will be an opportunity lost like it was this past year.
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