Will Mike Tomlin’s Recent Threats Carry Any Weight?
Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
"Not good enough. Not good enough. It just wasn’t [the effort]. We are going to comb through this with a fine tooth comb, as we should. Those people who are lacking effort won’t be playing. It’s just that simple.-Mike Tomlin (Steelers.com)"
Ooohhh! Mike Tomlin obviously was as pleased as “Steeler Nation” was with his team’s effort during their record-shattering 55-31 loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday evening.
Of course, these types of threats have become common from Tomlin during Pittsburgh’s 2-6 start to the 2013 regular season. In fact, they’ve become so frequent that they have essentially become “empty” for lack of a better word at this point.
What Tomlin and his coaching staff expect to change I’m not sure, especially since the team has been ravaged by injuries and is not exactly chock-full of superior talent to begin with. Seriously though, what can the Steelers do at this point?
How is he going to start demoting offensive linemen when they barely have enough healthy guys to dress on a weekly basis?
The same thing can be said for positions like cornerback, inside linebacker, defensive end, outside linebacker and wide receiver. There is either not enough on the depth chart for Tomlin and the coaching staff to start taking playing time away from the starters.
And even at positions where veterans could be demoted like free safety, I have a hard time believing that the team would bench the lolleygagging Ryan Clark in favor of an inexperienced player like Shamarko Thomas anyway.
Who knows though? Maybe Tomlin will take away their precious table games in the locker room? Maybe that will light a fire under his under-performing players.
Oh wait, he already did that.
Like always though, I expect “the standard” to remain “the standard,” and the “status quo” will remain in place as it always has been during the Tomlin regime.
Instead of taking a “nothing to lose” approach to the final eight games and playing the back-end of their roster for talent evaluation purposes, the Steelers will likely ignore this advantageous opportunity. Instead they’ll treat us fans to an underwhelming second half to the 2013 campaign filled with little change and the similar garbage results we have been accustomed to witnessing during their recent 10-14 stretch.
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