The New England Patriots’ 36-17 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Sunday’s AFC Championship Game was especially important – and interesting – to Browns fans because of all of the connections.
The Steelers, of course, play in the AFC North with the Browns. In fact, the two teams have been in the same division, or conference, since the Browns joined the NFL from the All-America Football Conference in 1950. If the Browns are ever going to get to where they want to go, then they will have to figure out a way to beat Pittsburgh.
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, as we all know, got his head coaching start in Cleveland in 1991. Nine years later, in 2000, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, who was preparing to enter the final season of a two-year stint as the defensive backs coach at the University of Cincinnati before moving on to the NFL the following season, worked Browns training camp in Berea under head coach Chris Palmer as part of the NFL’s Minority Coaching Internship Program.
Yes, of course, there are Browns connections on the NFC champion Atlanta Falcons as well, but not at the head coaching positions, which are always so intriguing. So we’ll stick with them, at least for the purpose of this piece.
With that, then, here are a few thoughts:
*Give Tomlin all the credit in the world for the way he handled the situation involving the embarrassing Facebook Live post by Pittsburgh wide receiver Antonio Bryant. He was tough, principled and unyielding, which, if you’re the Rooneys and your family has owned the Steelers for 84 years, is exactly the way you want your head coach to handle it. In addition – and I liked this even more – as a father, he profusely and honestly apologized for his egregious language that was heard in the background on the video. That’s not what he wanted his kids – or any kids, really – to hear. That kind of language goes on all the time in NFL locker rooms, but it’s meant to stay inside those closed doors and Tomlin’s language in public has always been exemplary. Yeah, that matters – a lot – even in 2017.
*Former Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw’s portrayal of Tomlin as “a cheerleader” is just stupid. Tomlin is a great coach, pure and simple. That’s obvious. Remember, Bradshaw is the guy who refused to attend the funeral of his head coach, Chuck Noll. Really? Maybe ol’ Terry is still a little groggy after getting dumped onto his head by Browns defensive end Joe “Turkey” Jones in 1976.
*The outcome of Sunday’s game was as predictable as the sun coming up tomorrow. Brown’s post, which included a Tomlin rant about the Patriots having a day and a half head start in preparation and then his calling them “those a——-,’’ was exactly the added incentive Belichick and New England certainly didn’t need, but were more than happy to take anyway. This fed right into Belichick’s long-held delight in punishing the Steelers, which you read about here last week. Just think how much worse it would have been had injured Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, whom no one can cover, played. The Patriots might have scored 55 points again on Pittsburgh, just like they did midway through the 2013 season in a 24-point win.
*And finally, what were the Steelers – especially former Browns linebackers coach Keith Butler, their defensive coordinator – thinking in the coverage schemes they employed against Tom Brady and the Patriots. They continue to play a soft zone, and Brady continues to light them up like a Christmas tree. I get the mantra from Tomlin and the Steelers that, “This is who we are, and this is what we do,” and I admire it, for it indicates being principled. And you have to be principled in this game to have any chance for success. At the same time, though, coaching is a lot – a whole lot — about, when needed, being willing to adapt and make changes. The Steelers don’t do that. They apparently never do that. But I think that could … well, change. Tomlin said after the game that he won’t lay blame for the horrible pass defense, but privately, you know he is fuming and will ask some very hard questions of Butler. If Butler’s answers aren’t what he wants to hear, then Tomlin will make changes either in schemes, his coaching staff or personnel – or all of these things. This is all a good lesson for the Browns and new defensive coordinator Gregg Williams as they go forward – that is, if the pompous Williams is humble enough to do it. By the way, the willingness to change is the mantra of Belichick and the Patriots, which explains in great detail why the AFC Championship Game went like it did.
