The title “My Worthless 2 Cents” that I came up with isn’t one I feel I can take full credit for, but is a story in itself, so here it is. I was in the 8th grade at the time, and found myself tagging along with my older sister (a senior in high school), as she was a part of the high school theatre group who would work as ushers for local community theatre productions. Working as an usher at a production of “Harvey”, the dad for one of my baseball friends came up to me at intermission and handed me two pennies and asked me to go back to the dressing area and find the lead actor in the play. I was to give him the pennies and tell him “this is from the guy with the big nostrils, giving you his two cents worth”. I thought this was funny so I agreed to do it, especially since I knew the two were friends. I go to the dressing room and deliver the message and the “gift”. The response I was given was even better. The actor told me to return the pennies and I was to “tell the guy with the big nostrils to take his worthless 2 cents and shove them right up his big nostrils”. So that’s it. This is my 2 cents after sitting on the latest Steelers game for a bit. This is quite the opposite of my Knee Jerk Reaction article, so I get to bring everything full circle. You might tell me to take my worthless two cents and shove them up my nostrils, and that’s okay, because we are friends and I don’t look at it as personal.

I am going to break things down into three categories: One, something I feel stronger about. Two, something I have softened on a bit. Three, something that didn’t really change.

SOMETHING I FEEL STRONGER ABOUT

Me. I’m an idiot. A couple of weeks ago I was praising Teryl Austin and felt that he was underrated as a coach. Cue the last two weeks. At this point I’m starting to wonder what in the world he is calling on the defense, especially on third downs. The Steelers went from looking like a totally dominant defense that might keep teams under 15 points all year, to a group that cannot get off the field on third downs. You talk about a statement that did not age well. Someone should have told me to take my hot take on Austin and shove it right up my big nostrils. Or maybe you should tell me that now. Because I sure got that one wrong.

SOMETHING I’VE SOFTENED ON

Steeler fans who are critical of Mike Tomlin. As long as someone can argue their points against Tomlin, I am now listening. I have decided that he is a man with faults, like any other men. The issue is that some of those faults are currently really hurting the Steelers as an organization. I say this because he has to be the person responsible for the philosophy of the team, and currently my issue with the Steelers is that I do not care for their philosophy. The philosophy is not making mistakes on offense, trying to score a couple points without taking chances, and allow the defense to win the game. It’s not a winning formula. Oh, it’s a formula that will get you over .500 in the regular season, but it is not a long-term solution for playoff victories, as evidenced by the long drought the Steelers have had winning a playoff game.

SOMETHING THAT HASN’T CHANGED

The Steelers are still playing a boring brand of football. The Steelers only look for splash plays on defense. The offense is so conservative it is almost unwatchable. No wonder George Pickens is unhappy. What offensive-minded player would want to be playing for a team that doesn’t want to let them display their offensive skill set to the max? What offensive player would want to play for a team where they are constantly handcuffed? The Steelers need to quit trying to finagle wins and start smacking teams in the mouth. Make them stop you. Throw the kitchen sink at them. Change something, because the last seven years of Steeler football haven’t been anything to write home about

There you have it. My worthless 2 cents. Maybe you liked it, maybe you didn’t. Maybe you want to tell me to shove my worthless two cents up my big nostrils. Maybe you have your own worthless 2 cents you would like to share. If so please feel free to share it in the comments below, I might look at it and tell you to shove it up your big nostrils…but that’s okay, because we are still friends.