{"id":149283,"date":"2026-02-05T14:36:31","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T14:36:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=149283"},"modified":"2026-02-05T14:36:31","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T14:36:31","slug":"%f0%9f%9a%a8-worse-than-tomlin-the-shocking-stat-that-proves-mike-mccarthy-might-not-be-the-savior-pittsburgh-thinks-%f0%9f%9a%a8-is-mike-mccarthy-truly-the-answer-for-pittsburgh-a-shocking-stat-sug","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=149283","title":{"rendered":"\ud83d\udea8 WORSE THAN TOMLIN? THE SHOCKING STAT THAT PROVES MIKE MCCARTHY MIGHT NOT BE THE SAVIOR PITTSBURGH THINKS \ud83d\udea8 Is Mike McCarthy truly the answer for Pittsburgh? A shocking stat suggests he may not live up to the high expectations set for him as the new head coach."},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what I\u2019ve learned over the past week:<\/p>\n

\u2022 I need to give Aaron Rodgers another chance to be the Pittsburgh Steelers\u2019 quarterback.<\/p>\n

\u2022 I also need to give Will Howard a chance to be the Steelers\u2019 quarterback.<\/p>\n

\u2022 I\u2019m being too hard on the Mike McCarthy hire.<\/p>\n

\u2022 I\u2019m not being hard enough on Mike Tomlin going out the door.<\/p>\n

Aside from that, everything I\u2019ve written over the past week has been spot on.<\/p>\n

I appreciate your feedback, as well as your concern about the Pirates, Pitt basketball and my college alma mater.<\/p>\n

You are all very kind and caring people. Let\u2019s see proof of that in this week\u2019s \u201cU mad, bro?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

This guy\u00a0disagreed with my assessment\u00a0that Aaron Rodgers shouldn\u2019t be Pittsburgh\u2019s starting quarterback next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not in favor of bringing Aaron back, but who do you suggest that is better that\u2019s available?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Somebody else.<\/p>\n

Somebody who isn\u2019t 43 years old and didn\u2019t just go 1-5 against playoff teams last year.<\/p>\n

\n

Here\u2019s a message from Stan.<\/p>\n

How do you count Juan Thornhill? As a never-was or a has-been?<\/p>\n

Or both?<\/p>\n

\n

Howard is \u201cTeam Howard\u201d \u2026 Will Howard. Go figure.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you think the Patriots thought Brady was their future when they drafted him in that 6th round? We\u2019ll never know about Howard unless and until THEY PLAY HIM!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Howard, did you think Omar Jacobs, Landry Jones or Mason Rudolph were the future? Or do you just think that of Howard because it\u2019s necessary to believe that now since there is no clear starter as opposed to those guys who were drafted behind Ben Roethlisberger?<\/p>\n

By the way, all those guys were drafted earlier than Howard was.<\/p>\n

Will Howard-mania is based around his college resume, a matter of convenience with no obvious franchise QB in front of him and the sixth-round-Brady coincidence.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not because of his draft stock or anything that you\u2019ve seen of him as a pro, because no one has seen anything of him as a pro.<\/p>\n

If Howard proves to be worth anything as a player, it\u2019ll be because he has to be played. Brady played because of an injury to Drew Bledsoe. Howard may have to play because there is no better choice.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d prefer looking for a better choice before they have to go to Howard. If one can\u2019t be found, so be it. It\u2019s cross our fingers hope for the best at that point, I guess.<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s avoid pretending that having Howard start Game 1 of 2026 would be for any other reason besides that.<\/p>\n

\n

Jake wants me to fanboy out for new Steelers\u2019 head coach Mike McCarthy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy so negative against Mike McCarthy? You and practically every other local sports commentator seem to have decided that choosing McCarthy as the Steelers\u2019 new coach is the same as keeping Tomlin\u2026 C\u2019mon, man\u2026Stop with the negativity\u2026give the guy a chance.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cBesides, he can\u2019t possibly be as bad as Tomlin, who was a bigger failure than most people will admit\u2026by that I mean he not only failed to develop a QB, he set the franchise back at least 5 years by choosing guys like Pickett, Trubisky, Wilson, Fields\u2026and Mason Rudolph. Tomlin also failed to develop other positions\u2026he wasted myriad first-round picks on the OL, which is still merely mediocre at best. And he kept a declining TJ Watt, and wasted a ton of money on him.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

So, you don\u2019t want me to say that McCarthy is basically the same guy as Tomlin (even though,\u00a0as I pointed out, he had one playoff win in his last seven seasons, as Tomlin failed to win one in his last nine).<\/p>\n

Yet, for McCarthy to be better than Tomlin, he needs to be better than 10-7, win the AFC North and win a playoff game. He will have to do so with a 43-year-old Rodgers coming back, Rudolph or Howard.<\/p>\n

You understand what you\u2019re saying, right?<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t want me to point that out because he speaks with a familiar accent, n\u2019at? Would you be so pro-McCarthy if he were from anywhere else but Pittsburgh?<\/p>\n

You\u2019re trying to inflate your expectations of what McCarthy can be by tearing down Tomlin. Your complaints about Tomlin may be valid. But complaints about Tomlin don\u2019t make McCarthy better.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not my job to \u201cgive him a chance.\u201d Art Rooney II already did that. My job is to talk about why that was wise or unwise to do.<\/p>\n

I think it\u2019s a conservative, safe, low-ceiling hire. Sorry if that\u2019s the wrong thing to say in your mind because you prefer to see McCarthy\u2019s tires pumped.<\/p>\n

But something tells me if he were from Greenwich, Conn., instead of Greenfield, you\u2019d be less put off by the opinion.<\/p>\n

\n

After their latest brutal loss to North Carolina on Monday night, Sports Illustrated\u2019s Pat Forde sent this post about my beleaguered Syracuse Orange basketball team.<\/p>\n

When I reposted that, Robert replied.<\/p>\n

Please, Robert. One crisis at a time, OK?<\/p>\n

\n

Finally, Rich V has an idea about how to help the Pirates.<\/p>\n

\u201cUPMC and PNC recently donated millions to Da \u2018Burg for rescue\/EMS vehicles and plow trucks, respectively. Seems like now would be a good time for ole Bob Wins-Nutting to go hat-in-hand looking for corporate donations in order buy some power hitters for the batting order! What do you think?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m assuming that\u2019s how they already got Brandon Lowe and Ryan O\u2019Hearn. I prefer to get my street plowed before I worry about the Pirates getting a third baseman.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s what I\u2019ve learned over the past week: \u2022 I need to give Aaron Rodgers another chance to be the Pittsburgh Steelers\u2019 quarterback. \u2022 I also need… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":149284,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-149283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"\n\ud83d\udea8 WORSE THAN TOMLIN? THE SHOCKING STAT THAT PROVES MIKE MCCARTHY MIGHT NOT BE THE SAVIOR PITTSBURGH THINKS \ud83d\udea8 Is Mike McCarthy truly the answer for Pittsburgh? A shocking stat suggests he may not live up to the high expectations set for him as the new head coach. - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=149283\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\ud83d\udea8 WORSE THAN TOMLIN? THE SHOCKING STAT THAT PROVES MIKE MCCARTHY MIGHT NOT BE THE SAVIOR PITTSBURGH THINKS \ud83d\udea8 Is Mike McCarthy truly the answer for Pittsburgh? 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