On the Steelers: Penalties on Tomlin's list of corrective measures

On the Steelers: Penalties on Tomlin's list of corrective measures











Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (MCT)
10:22 a.m. EDT, October 9, 2012



[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] coach [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] will go to work to prevent the pile of undisciplined penalties his team has been committing, but there's apparently one player he won't have to worry about.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] linebacker [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] became the most notorious player in the league for piling up fines and penalties for personal fouls to the extent the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] suspended him for one game last season.

Sunday, Harrison returned to play for the first time in 2012, and Tomlin praised him for his work that included a team-high three quarterback pressures. But on his best shot at sacking [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] quarterback [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], Harrison pulled up and let him throw. He explained why, that all those penalties and fines came to roost right then and there.

"I was nervous," Harrison said of that second-quarter play, which resulted in a deep incomplete pass. "I thought he might duck his head, I might hit him. I can't take [a] fine. I was worried more about a fine.

"It's Michael Vick; he goes shake and bake. You have to sit there and wait almost just to see what he's going to do. Because if he at the last second drops his head and ducks down and we make helmet-to-helmet contact, it's the fault of the defender."

Dear NFL commissioner [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]: James Harrison got the memo. Many of his teammates apparently did not. Two of them drew personal fouls on a Philadelphia touchdown drive.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] was called for roughing when he slammed helmet-to-helmet into tight end [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], who was in the process of being tackled by two Steelers. Although no one heard a whistle, the officials dropped the flag on Clark.

Five plays later, [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] rocketed high into wide receiver [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and another flag dropped. Mundy was penalized for a helmet-to-helmet hit even though replays showed it was shoulder-to-shoulder.

Both players thought they were unfairly penalized. Tomlin did not want to talk about either. He is a spokesman for the UPMC-Steelers campaign to educate football players dubbed "Don't Hit The Head, Don't Use The Head."

"We're not going to dispute calls," Tomlin said Monday. "Those [officials] are doing the best they can, particularly in light of some of the instances that we have in today's NFL regarding player safety. Just know that we're trying our very best to play within the rules and it's disappointing for us when we don't.

"We have a desire to play within the rules. We also have a desire to increase our chances of winning and when you're picking up 30 yards in penalties in one drive, that's going to give people an opportunity to score. Obviously, we're trying to rectify those things. I'm less concerned about judgments and interpretations and so forth and I'm more concerned about playing in the manner that the flags stay in the pocket."

There were plenty of those that left the pocket Sunday. The Steelers were charged with nine penalties for 106 yards, which ballooned their total to 37 penalties in four games. Their 346 penalty yards outgain their 331 rushing yards. They are tied for fourth in the NFL for most penalties and tied for fifth in yards.

"What needs to disappear and it didn't disappear [Sunday] are some of the presnap penalties, illegal formations and false starts," Tomlin said Monday. "Those are self-inflicted wounds. We won't tolerate that. We cannot tolerate that. It's my job to get them fixed. We will work on it this week.

"Penalties hurt you in a lot of ways. They put you behind the chains. They eliminate explosion plays and limit field position. They minimize scoring opportunities."

Ruled out

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and, it appears, [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] will not play Thursday night in Nashville against the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. Each left the game at the end of the first quarter Sunday with injuries. Polamalu has a severe calf injury and Woodley a mild hamstring injury.

Tomlin said Mundy will replace Polamalu again "but we're also willing to look at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] some as well."

He said James Harrison and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] came through the game "relatively fine," although Harrison's "knee had a little swelling but nothing major."

Roster decision

The Steelers roster exemption for returning tight end [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] expires at 4 p.m. Friday, Tomlin said, and it did not sound as if rookie tight end David Paulson would be the one to go.

"I think the big thing is he's proven that it's not too big for him," Tomlin said. "He's an attention-to-detail guy. He works hard. He's been a productive player for us in special teams and that's not something that we underscore when you're talking about an offensive guy from the tight end position. He's been a multiple special teams phase participant."

YEAH TOMLIN..GO AHEAD..MITE AS WELL ADD FIXIN' TEH PENALTY PROBLEM TO YOUR LIST AS WELL...ADD IT IN RITE AFTER ..TEH OFFENSIVE LINE PROBLEM...AND TEH RUNNING BACK PROBLEM...AND TEH DEFENSIVE LINE PROBLEM...AND TEH SECONDARY HELP HE DIDNT GET PROBLEM...AND TEH CHALLENGE FLAG THROWING PROBLEM....AND TEH LACK OF INTENSITY AND FOCUS PROBLEM....AND TEH CHARLIE BATCH PROBLEM....AND TEH INJURY PROBLEM....AND SEVERAL OTHERS IM SURE I KOULD THINK OF....BUT HEY GUYS DONT WORRY..ANY DAY THAT GREAT #2 PICK OF JASON WORLIDS WILL MAKE ALL TEH DIFFERENCE IN TEH WORLD...

OOPSY...DOONT FOR GET TEH KICKING PROBLEM...OUR KICKERS BLOW ASS TO...I KNOW I FEAR NOTHIN' WHEN SUISHYSQEEZEM' LINES UP FOR A FIELD GOAL LONGER THAN 38 YARDS...AND WHEN TEH F WILL WE EVER GET A KICKER THAT KAN KICK IT IN TEH ENDZONE?...RITE NOW ID TAKE BACK GARDOCKI BAC ANY DAY..HAHA

DaRKMuMMySauRuS wrote:YEAH TOMLIN..GO AHEAD..MITE AS WELL ADD FIXIN' TEH PENALTY PROBLEM TO YOUR LIST AS WELL...ADD IT IN RITE AFTER ..TEH OFFENSIVE LINE PROBLEM...AND TEH RUNNING BACK PROBLEM...AND TEH DEFENSIVE LINE PROBLEM...AND TEH SECONDARY HELP HE DIDNT GET PROBLEM...AND TEH CHALLENGE FLAG THROWING PROBLEM....AND TEH LACK OF INTENSITY AND FOCUS PROBLEM....AND TEH CHARLIE BATCH PROBLEM....AND TEH INJURY PROBLEM....AND SEVERAL OTHERS IM SURE I KOULD THINK OF....BUT HEY GUYS DONT WORRY..ANY DAY THAT GREAT #2 PICK OF JASON WORLIDS WILL MAKE ALL TEH DIFFERENCE IN TEH WORLD...

Clicketty click!

foghorn wrote:

DiehardSteelersfan wrote:

DaRKMuMMySauRuS wrote:YEAH TOMLIN..GO AHEAD..MITE AS WELL ADD FIXIN' TEH PENALTY PROBLEM TO YOUR LIST AS WELL...ADD IT IN RITE AFTER ..TEH OFFENSIVE LINE PROBLEM...AND TEH RUNNING BACK PROBLEM...AND TEH DEFENSIVE LINE PROBLEM...AND TEH SECONDARY HELP HE DIDNT GET PROBLEM...AND TEH CHALLENGE FLAG THROWING PROBLEM....AND TEH LACK OF INTENSITY AND FOCUS PROBLEM....AND TEH CHARLIE BATCH PROBLEM....AND TEH INJURY PROBLEM....AND SEVERAL OTHERS IM SURE I KOULD THINK OF....BUT HEY GUYS DONT WORRY..ANY DAY THAT GREAT #2 PICK OF JASON WORLIDS WILL MAKE ALL TEH DIFFERENCE IN TEH WORLD...

Clicketty click!

I'm being a bit mean in this reply.... but I question why a guy, who delivers pizza for a living, Thinks he has the smarts to run a pro football team? I mean if he was that smart..... why is he doing a job that is generally considered as menial work. I know the Pittsburgh Job market fairly well.... it isn't so bad that a bright, intelligent, articulate young man cannot find a career. NOT a job... a career. Again, I'm not bashing on mummy, as I really don't know him. But what he portrays on here.... if he's like that in real life.... becomes understandable why he is where he is.

There's some real anger issues that Mummy has to be dealing with. It goes way beyond Mike Tomlin IMO.

DiehardSteelersfan wrote:

foghorn wrote:

DiehardSteelersfan wrote:

DaRKMuMMySauRuS wrote:YEAH TOMLIN..GO AHEAD..MITE AS WELL ADD FIXIN' TEH PENALTY PROBLEM TO YOUR LIST AS WELL...ADD IT IN RITE AFTER ..TEH OFFENSIVE LINE PROBLEM...AND TEH RUNNING BACK PROBLEM...AND TEH DEFENSIVE LINE PROBLEM...AND TEH SECONDARY HELP HE DIDNT GET PROBLEM...AND TEH CHALLENGE FLAG THROWING PROBLEM....AND TEH LACK OF INTENSITY AND FOCUS PROBLEM....AND TEH CHARLIE BATCH PROBLEM....AND TEH INJURY PROBLEM....AND SEVERAL OTHERS IM SURE I KOULD THINK OF....BUT HEY GUYS DONT WORRY..ANY DAY THAT GREAT #2 PICK OF JASON WORLIDS WILL MAKE ALL TEH DIFFERENCE IN TEH WORLD...

Clicketty click!

I'm being a bit mean in this reply.... but I question why a guy, who delivers pizza for a living, Thinks he has the smarts to run a pro football team? I mean if he was that smart..... why is he doing a job that is generally considered as menial work. I know the Pittsburgh Job market fairly well.... it isn't so bad that a bright, intelligent, articulate young man cannot find a career. NOT a job... a career. Again, I'm not bashing on mummy, as I really don't know him. But what he portrays on here.... if he's like that in real life.... becomes understandable why he is where he is.

There's some real anger issues that Mummy has to be dealing with. It goes way beyond Mike Tomlin IMO.

I truly have concern for him. I'd say pity, but don't feel that is appropriate to describe things.