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Brian Batko's Steelers chat: 09.11.23
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Brian Batko
11:16
Johnny Wilson, Florida State WR
MT
11:17
BB, this is the kind of defeat that throws everything into question, including my standing offer at Fox Sports as an eloquent talking head future HOFer, no? Gracias.
Brian Batko
11:17
No
Joe
11:18
Why is Tomlin never held accountable for these coaching atrocities, and yesterday was one of many. Does Art Rooney care about winning anymore, or is he Nutting in disguise?
Brian Batko
11:19
Maybe that's why he didn't get a new contract this offseason
MCGottaGo
11:20
All the hype of the preseason and the second play from scrimmage is another jet sweep for a loss of yardage.  Kenny Pickett was horrible but why would a team respect a deep ball when you know the majority of the play calls will be failed jet sweeps and failed screen passes.  I've been a Tomlin supporter for a while but I'm starting to think we need a change.  If this season is equal or worse than last year do you think this might be the end of the ML era?
Brian Batko
11:21
Sounds like you want it to be the end of the MC Era, the MT Era and whomever ML is apparently is catching strays, too. Marv Leal?
Jay Daven
11:21
Brian, what was the defensive game plan?  Who were the Steelers concerned about and what were they told about the 49er offense?  Were the coaches afraid of their offense and that's why they elected to receive at the start of the game?  There are many questions but thank you for your answers.
Brian Batko
11:23
My sense is they elected to take the ball first for the very concerns you detail. They didn't wanna have to play behind against the 49ers defense and didn't wanna let the 49ers offense dictate the game. Obviously, they got kicked in the teeth anyway. Cam Heyward said something afterward like nothing surprised them, they knew how good the SF personnel was, etc. But that's not exactly reassuring when the last four times you played a legitimate Super Bowl contender you got beat pretty easily by all of them.
reedboat
11:26
Irrelevant, but it seems like when Pitt loses in football then the Steelers follow suit. Any correlation over the last decade?
Brian Batko
11:26
Maybe I'll have to look into that for you, reedboat. I do know that was a brutal ~18ish hours on the North Shore if you root for the Steelers and Pitt and pulled the back-to-back-Ac doubleheader.
TJ
11:27
ugly - Not Much Positive - Watt and McFarland stood out. Biggest disappointment to me is that we just didn't show up to play.
Brian Batko
11:27
Yeah, Anthony McFarland averaged 30.3 yards on kick returns, including a 34-yarder. Good for him.
Jim
11:28
So much for fixing the trenches, what in the heck happened for them to get pushed around on both sides of the ball?
Brian Batko
11:29
Cam Heyward getting hurt early didn't help. But yeah, the interior of SF's OL, comprising such ballyhooed names as Aaron Banks, Jake Brendel and Spencer Burford, didn't have much trouble. And on the other side of the ball, we knew the Steelers' improved O-line would be tested against one of the best D-lines in the NFL. I was a bit skeptical of the rebuilt trenches considering Isaac Seumalo looked like this team's best lineman in camp and was actually probably the weakest lineman in Philly, albeit for arguably the league's top unit.
Colonel
11:30
Regardless of whether this team is not going to have success with Matt Canada or not, we're stuck with him as our OC for the rest of the season. Is there any situation where Canada would be relieved of his duties or have we reached a point where Mike Tomlin won't make a change because that would be admitting that he made a bad hire?
Brian Batko
11:31
Hard to envision, once again because there just isn't a ton of (recent) (NFL-level) OC or play-calling experience under him. That's not good. But of course, if things get really bad, I wouldn't rule out the most drastic of solutions.
Darrin
11:32
When you hear that coaches script the first 15 plays is that something that is based on the down and distance?? Seems like you would call something different on 2nd and 1 then on 2nd and 15.
Brian Batko
11:33
Never been an OC, but as I understand it, they probably aren't doing quite what you're thinking. Yes, they have a certain "script" of plays in mind to potentially find mismatches, see how the defense responds, set up things off of that, but you need to have adjustments or wrinkles or alternatives depending on what actually happens.
epiballo
11:33
I am not one to think the sky is falling after the very first game against a SB contending team. My question is about Levi Wallace. He drew a penalty and that happens. But he completely whiffed on a tackle that led to the 65 yard TD run. Is he on a short leash too? They have to have a better option.
Brian Batko
11:34
The depth on this team is such that no one should feel abundantly safe. But in fairness to Levi Wallace, his job is much more coverage-based than tackling, and I'd say he was the lesser of their concerns when it comes to the starting cornerback play.
Kendrick
11:35
Hi everyone!  The real reason the Steelers lost is because I wasn’t there!  Maybe you all want me to come back to the Steel City?
Brian Batko
11:35
OK, this one kind of made me chuckle.
Kevin
11:35
Some big names got injured yesterday. Any update on their status going forward ?
Brian Batko
11:36
We should know more tomorrow when Tomlin does his weekly presser at noon. Perhaps some guys will be around in the locker room today and give an update on their status.
Steeler in nc
11:37
What changes do you see for next game? Any player changes? Punter??
Brian Batko
11:37
Giving Joey Porter Jr. a drive or two in the early going is an easy one, and one I'd look at this week in practice.
mike
11:38
Poor Tomlin, after 16 yrs as HC, he deserves harsh criticism. He no longer has guys like Mike Munchak, or Dick LeBeau as coordinators. Yes one game, but this not a good look coming out the gate. Someone needs to be replaced or added assistants with sharp minds. This dumb stuff of jet sweeps is a old movie  no one wants to watch as fans!!
Brian Batko
11:40
If things go from bad to worse this season, it'll be an interesting notion to keep Tomlin in place but ensure that his "second act," if you will, is more as a CEO-type head coach. Bring in well-compensated OC and DC to do the heavy lifting schematically and see what happens with Tomlin as the overseer.
Hi Brian
11:41
I was wondering if you could help with a question I was asked.  It was “please tell me the date of the last Steelers game when someone said, wow, what a great game plan on either side of the ball?”.  I have no game to reference.  You?
Brian Batko
11:42
They handled the Browns rather convincingly last time they played, which was literally the last game that mattered before this one. I'm just saying.
Mike
11:44
Why on earth is M. Adams, a 300 pound D lineman, outrunning every other defender for 60 yards to try and tackle McCaffrey on that TD run? Outrageous.
Brian Batko
11:44
Good hustle!
Steven
11:45
Would Dan Rooney ever have allowed Matt Canada to be hired as offensive coordinator, let alone be brought back for third season?
Brian Batko
11:45
I have no clue.
Jeff
11:45
While I agree that yesterday's game was horrible to watch for Steeler fans, I think there is way too much over reacting about it. What are your thoughts on this team moving forward?
Brian Batko
11:47
Of course there's overreactions. There was always going to be an overreaction, whether they won or lost, just like there was to the preseason. But it is fair to REACT to what you see. We did that after the offense looked sharp in meaningless games. Now we have to do that in light of Week 1, while also finding the right balance with what we already suspected about this team. They can still have success. It's just about finding the recipe they need. Yesterday was not it. They need to start fast, establish the run game and win that way.
11:49
All right friends, that's all the chatting I have for today. We kicked off early and went a bit overtime for the season opener. Thanks for stopping by and please do stick with us at www.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers as we break everything down and on our YouTube page www.youtube.com/@pgsportsnow
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