Let's face it fans, it's time for some Firings...

No I'm not calling for Tomlin's head at this point, but there has been a disturbing trend all season that this team can not hold a lead.  There no need for words or Tomlin-isms.  Some things should have been fixed by now and haven't been, which means some people should be let go.

A couple of weeks ago I would have said that ST coach Bob Ligashesky needs to be fired after continued embarrassing ST performances.  Well, they didn't fire him but made a few personnel changes which seems to suffice for now (bringing back Madison was a smart move).  So, I guess he gets a pass for the rest of the season for now...but I'd look for him to be let go after the season.

On the other hand, the one glaring issue to me is the pass defense, and most notably in the secondary.  I know things are different without Troy back there, but still the secondary play has been embarrassingly poor all year.  Today against Oakland, they single-handedly gave the game away.  They looked confused all day out there...CBs not sure if they were getting S help deep, S's out of position, getting beat individually, dropping INTs(Burnett's would have been the game winner), slipping and falling all day.  Yet, this is nothing new, for the most part it has happened all season.  So, either secondary is full of well below average players or the coaches really aren't doing their job.  It's probably a little of both, but to start with, I'd say it's time to let Ray Horton go as Secondary coach. 

We must face the reality, that while Troy is an all-word SS, the rest of the secondary is below average.  Ike Taylor is supposed to be our top cover guy who's getting faster with age.  He should be able to handle opposing WRs man-to-man, but he doesn't seem to be able to (even though the don't play man often) and he doesn't have the hands to make a pic when we need it.  Not what you want from your top cover guy...below average for your #1 CB.  Gay has been one of the most picked on CBs in the NFL, and rightfully so.  He gives up too much ground, get'sout of position, gets sloppy with his technique and gets beat often...below average.  He's decent as a blizter, so maybe he should be a nickel instead of a starter.  Clark is a big hitter at FS which is nice, but he gets beat in coverage deep, and sometimes he jumps the short route or reads run too quickly and gets out of position....average at best.  Ty Carter is a better backup for Clark (then for Troy) in that he is a similar player, a big hitter but he gets beat even more often than Clark.  Also, he get into the wrong coverage from time to time....below avg. as a stater, avg. at best as a backup.  Townsend has lost his step as a CB and isn't even being used as much in the nickel these days, I'd say replace Gay with him, but not sure if that would work at this point...so below avg. as your 3rd CB.  Mundy is also more of a Clark type...big hitter but can't cover (and his Personal foul penalty was a dumb play even though he was trying to knock the ball out...it was already gone)....below avg. at this point.  Burnett is more of a STer than a viable DB at this point and his drop of a potential game winning INT shows why...below avg.  Keenan Lewis hasn't played much this year (and has been hurt at times) which is disappointing considering he was a 3rd round pick with hopes of coming in and challenging for a starting or nickel job.  If he could play, now would be the time to insert him to see what he's got but looks like he doesn't have enough yet....below average.  Madison is strictly a STer and Ratliff was disappointing thus he was let go.  There you have it, the state of our secondary is in sad shape and will likely be exploited the rest of the season.

Another weakness has been the pass coverage of the ILBs.  Farrior has been beating several times...two biggies where in the 1st Cincy game on the 4th down pass Brian Leonard, and in the Balt game on the 4th down pass to Ray Rice.  There have been others too, so I'm wondering if it's time to make him a 2-down player...he's still good as a blitzer though so there is atrade offthere.  Similar thing is true with Timmons, he can be beat in coverage, but he is good on the blitz.  Problem is Fox isn't necessarily the answer in coverage and he is best as a run defender and can blitz.

It's also time for LeBeauto come up with some new schemes and ideas to close out games because opposing teams seem to be able to handle the blitz late in games for the most part.  And with our poor secondary, he has to find a way to either get even more creative with the pressure late, or consider just rushing 3 or 4 and dropping 7 or 8 into a zone (like what Balt did to Dixon).  Would be nice if Ziggy Hood had come along a little faster as a #1 pick because you would think he'd be a good fit as a rush DL in that type of package...or in the zone blitz the LeBeau runs. 

It's too soon to say that the game has passed LeBeau by, but this is the worst we've seen from one of his defenses.  That's why I'd start with Horton first and then see how things go, because I think everyone would hate to see LeBeau let go.

Of course there are still problems on the offensive side of the ball, and some poor decision making that I think falls on Tomlin...like trying the 53-yd FG in the windy side of the stadium.  But, the one thing that is encouraging about the O, is that most of the problems that we're occurring early have been able to be fixed.

Either way, I'd like to see less talking and more action from Tomlin, because right now it looks like he doesn't know how to right the ship he is sailing.