A couple of people have run these kinds of numbers. Ben Anderson did on Steel City Blitz, and found that Tomlin’s record against teams that finished the season with a losing record was on par with Chuck Noll and Bill Cowher.

Jim Wexell also wrote about it this past off season.

Taking a deeper look at things, he found that Tomlin teams do tend to come up short against weaker teams (I think his metric was teams that the Steelers were favored to beat by an XX point margin), but only on the road.

I am a Tomlin supporter, but these types of “Trap Games” are an issue.

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Last year I started crunching the numbers for Rebecca regarding Tomlin’s record against bad teams while comparing him to other coaches. This was due to the “Fire Everyone” crowd saying he doesn’t win the games he is supposed to. Though I never finished crunching all the numbers (Sorry Rebecca), I did see that Tomlin’s record against bad teams is much better than people think and he is in line with the other coaches I looked into.

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Al Michaels during last night’s game against the Titans said that the team and WR’s specifically have become much closer after Drake’s death. It was fortunate that the game was in Tennessee as it allowed them to visit his grave and pay their respects and find some closure to it.

It is so refreshing that the biggest question heading into the final preseason game is who will be our backup QB, Dobbs or Rudolph. Getting back to the norm of Steelers preseason football, typically boring, feels so good.

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Nice analogy Homer. While the “Fire Everyone” crowd will never admit it, Tomlin is good when times are tough. His best job coaching might have been in 2013, when he turned a 2-6 start to an 8-8 finish. As Ivan pointed out at the time, Tomlin didn’t do that on his own — he had the organization behind him, but teams that start 2-6 generally finish a lot closer to 3-13 or 4-12 rather than 8-8.

But people don’t accept that. I’ve seen the 2-6 start in ’13 (never mind the injuries that basically led to starting a 2nd team in September) thrown out as evidence of just how bad Tomlin is.

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Losing AB and Bell, adding a rookie LB with unlimited promise, and with the lack of experienced depth at TE and LB, we see a team that could be loaded or may be an injury or two away from real disappointment. Or, if they stay healthy and some of the young guys with so much promise continue to develop, they could be really loaded this year. Really loaded.

The early schedule is tough, and there could be some rough going early on.

But Mike Tomlin’s greatest strength may be leading the team in difficult situations. He’s lost control of one or two prima donna players (who are now thankfully gone), but he has never lost control of the team. He is a leader of men, and he rallies them when the going is tough.

Like the ’74 Steelers, this is a young team, and the youngest of the young will determine just how far they go.

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I suspect there are a number of factors contributing to Browns current public meltdown. I think of the singular focus on road he traveled to even finish college let alone make a NFL roster and to climb to the peak of his profession and the head trauma he has suffered in the games he has played and I also wonder how much of the normal day to day interaction with other people he had or didn’t have when he growing up. Sometimes there can be a social deficit (I don’t know if this is really a term) where a person just hasn’t had a chance to learn and become comfortable with social norms in many situations. Throw in an avalanche of media and personal attention after years of relative obscurity and is it any wonder he is having trouble coping?

Maybe it is time to let him have some quiet personal time to reflect and grow.

Disclaimer: I may have some of my facts wrong ( I am still working on my first coffee of the day).

Having said that, people here in Winnipeg will likely be disappointed they won’t see him tonight when the Packers and Raiders play. I will not be in the crowd.

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