I suspect there are those who will argue it would have been less painful in the long run to tank, gut the team, and start almost from scratch, but given the preciousness of a franchise quarterback and the ticking clock on the one we have, who can blame Tomlin and the Steelers brain trust for attempting to adjust and rebuild and still keep open the possibility of a playoff run each year? Not I.

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Over the last two years, this view has been quite popular in Steelers Nation. A credentialed journalist with a major publication, someone whom I rexpect, once made the same point to me in private during the 0-4 start in 2013.

I don’t remember how many times during the 2014 season and then again following the playoff loss, I had the example of Andrew Luck and the Colts rapid-rags-to-riches turn around.

I get it. The Colts pulled it off, or so it seems. But people forget how incredibly lucky the Colts were with Andrew Luck (no pun intended.)

Replacing a franchise quarterback with another franchise quarterback is akin to pulling off the Jerry Seinfeld “Roomate switch.” Its possible, but incredibly difficult.

The 49ers did it with Joe Montana and Steve Young, but that was only possible because there was no salary cap and no free agency to allow Young to depart elsewhere in the late 80’s when his greatness was apparent.

The Packers did it with Favre and Rogers — good for them. And now the Colts have done with Manning and Luck….

…How many more examples are out there in NFL history?

Perhaps a few.

But the Cowboys are waiting for their next Aikman. The Dolphins for their next Marino. The Broncos waited how long between Elway and Manning?

I’ve had separate conversations with two Cowboys fans this season, both of whom have said, “Now we need to lose out, to get a better draft pick.”

Again, I GET IT. The logic’s plain. And you can even see that Colbert-Tomlin (and perhaps Colbert-Cowher) do seem to draft better after 8-8 and 9-7 seasons.

But my stock response is to point to the Steelers 1968 campaign. Bill Austin went 2-11-1. A lot of people lambasted the franchise, saying “they don’t even know how to lose right.”

The logic was that by winning a couple of games and tying another at mid season, Bill Austin had been dumb enough to cost the franchise the first pick in the draft, thereby preventing them from drafting O.J. Simpson….

…Which it did.

And as a consequence, Chuck Noll and Steelers Nation had to settle for Joe Greene.

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