The Pittsburgh Steelers' Issues Stem From The Top

The Pittsburgh Steelers are a bad football team, plain and simple. There are problems that are deep seeded within the organization that flow all the way down to the coaches and players on the field. The Steelers’ drafting, coaching and execution on the field have all been questioned, as this season continues to go from bad to worse.

There are a lot of issues with this Steelers football team. You have a team President that seemingly aspires to be the next Daniel Snyder and/or Jerry Jones; not so much as an over spender in free agency, but more so as an owner that is going to stick his nose into the team’s business instead of letting coaches coach and players play. It was Art Rooney II that pushed Bruce Arians out the door, hired the much maligned Todd Haley, and proclaimed that the quarterback that brought his organization two Lombardi trophies needs to “change his game.”

From there it all flows downhill. Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert has been under harsh scrutiny in terms of his draft choices in the Mike Tomlin era. The 2008 draft choice has zero players still on the roster, and the 2009 draft class has two players remaining in the Steelers’ organization. The drafting process used to be a strength of the Steelers, but now it has left the team searching for early answers from rookies, and that is never a good thing.

Tomlin and his coaching staff have all gotten their fair share of the blame for the 2-6 start to this season, and they deserve every bit of it. A perfect example of inconsistent leadership and near incompetence would be when Tomlin decided, during the New England Patriots game last Sunday, that he was going to take his most versatile and explosive offensive player off the field and put him on the bench. Antonio Brown was benched for a missed assignment. Was Troy Polamalu benched for his missed assignments on Sunday? No. That inconsistent leadership and questionable decision making has given Tomlin the look of a leader that doesn’t quite know where he is leading, and that is an issue.

The players deserve their share of the finger pointing as well, but the once proud Steelers franchise is no longer all about winning, drafting and “the next man up.” The Steelers’ franchise is now relegated to mediocrity, questionable decisions from the president down to the coaching staff, and a severe lack of depth on the roster. There are tons of issues with this football team, but the simple X’s and O’s of football and the players are just the tip of the iceberg.

Jeff Hartman covers the Pittsburgh Steelers for www.RantSports.com and also contributes for the Penguins and Pirates. Follow him on Twitter @BnGBlitz