Tomlin to blame for lack of discipline
PITTSBURGH – Discipline was a word thrown around the Steelers’ locker room a lot following the team’s 27-24 defeat Sunday against the previously winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
More appropriately, it was how the Steelers are playing with a lack of discipline.
After being penalized 13 times for 125 yards – and really, it seemed like many more than that – the Steelers have 44 flags thrown against them for 387 yards.
Ouch!
Short of hiring a nun to come in and crack players on the knuckles with a yardstick – it worked at my elementary school – what can this team do to stop the deluge of yellow flags hitting the field?
It’s going to come down to each player taking a long, hard look at the things they are doing to draw the penalty flags.
It’s not as if it is a longstanding problem. Last season, for example, the Steelers were penalized 80 times over the course of the 16-game season. That’s an average of five penalties per game. This year, they’re seeing flags thrown against them at a rate of 11 per game.
“If you have penalties and it’s not a lack of effort, then it’s undisciplined,” said quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
The bad thing is not only are the Steelers being often penalized, they’re drawing some of those flags at inopportune times.
Clinging to a 24-20 lead after forcing the Buccaneers off the field following a fourth-down incompletion from the Pittsburgh 14-yard line, the Steelers had a chance to run out the clock by getting a first down.
After gaining two yards on a run by Le’Veon Bell and Tampa Bay using its second timeout with 1:40 remaining, center Maurkice Pouncey was penalized for a false start for moving the football early and simulating a snap.
Instead of having second-and-8 at the 16, the Steelers were pushed back to their own 11 into a second-and-13 situation.
That’s not a lack of discipline. That’s a lack of focus.
The Steelers are lacking both this season. And the blame for that has to fall on head coach Mike Tomlin.
Yes, Tomlin isn’t on the field making these mistakes. He is, however, in charge of this mess.
The buck has to stop with Tomlin.
“The bottom line is that we’re an undisciplined group. We’re too highly penalized,” said Tomlin. “We’re not coaching it, but we’re allowing it to happen. I take responsibility for that. We’re not going to win close football games penalized in the manner in which we’ve been penalized over the first month of the season. It’s inexcusable.”
Fixing it, however, isn’t easy.
“Some of the penalties are technical in origin, facemasks and things of that nature,” Tomlin said. “Some of the pre-snap penalties and post-play penalties are just lack of discipline. We’ve got to fix it. I’ve got to fix it. I will.”
It’s not been a problem for Tomlin-led teams, but it is with this current group. Penalties were a big reason why Pittsburgh failed to improve to 3-1.
The Steelers have talent. They’ve shown they make plays necessary to win a game.
But they haven’t shown the ability – at least this season – to play the game within the rules. And when you continually hand the other team 100 extra yards per game, you’re going to struggle.
“We’ve got to cut out the mistakes,” said defensive end Brett Keisel. “That’s what’s beating us, mistakes against ourselves. We can’t go out and expect to beat an NFL team and beat ourselves as well. It’s too hard.”
F. Dale Lolley can be reached at dlolley@observer-reporter.com.