Post AFC Championship thoughts

We are four days removed from the, shall we say, embarrassing loss the Steelers suffered to the Patriots. It was clear the Steelers defensive structure was going to be based on zone defense for the entire game. But why? Tom Brady is well known for being rushed under continuous pressure and underperforms when more than four pass rushers are sent against him. Mike Tomlin stuck with the strategy he prepared which meant giving up the middle of the field and wide open New England receivers down after down. Tomlin should understand his team works best when actively pressuring the quarterback, especially with an elite linebacker such as James Harrison in the mix.

James Harrison pushed the Steelers to a victory in Kansas City with the holding call he drew on the Chiefs two point conversion attempt late in the fourth quarter. Harrison is almost impossible to stop when you let him loose to attack, but Tomlin took him out of pressure. Tomlin has prepared strategies for must win game situations but too often his plans did not work. This was the case Sunday when he was set on a zone defense against an elite Super Bowl winning quarterback. What? Why? Clearly it did not work but Tomlin did not adjust maybe because he did not want to be perceived as weak. Football is a game of adjustment and tactical maneuvers but Tomlin did not adapt. It is easy on any day to second guess a seasoned coach but when an entire nation watches in dismay and begs for their team to adjust there is clearly an issue.

The Patriots advanced to the Super Bowl again and they made it look easy against a tough defense, usually tough if played correctly. Someone in the Steelers front office needs to reevaluate Tomlin's standing on the team. It does not make sense to have a head coach who is unwilling to adjust the game plan just because that is what you prepared.