Here's how to fix the Steelers: Get better players.
Pin The Blame On The Coordinators might be the region's most popular indoor sport, and they're hardly blameless. But the biggest difference between this team and the teams that went 12-4 as recently as 2011 is the talent gap.
Good players got too old, or broke down, or no longer fit under the salary cap. The replacements, in almost every case, have been inferior.
When you replace players with others who aren't as good, suddenly consecutive 12-4 seasons turn into back-to-back 8-8 records.
It shouldn't come as any surprise because we've been here before.
It's ancient history now, but the Steelers once won four Super Bowls in six years because they had six years of exceptional drafting. They selected nine future Hall of Famers from 1969 through '74 and reaped the benefits of that incredible stockpile from '74 through '79.
Then those players got old or broke down, and the replacements weren't nearly as good. Cliff Stoudt replaced Terry Bradshaw. Franco Harris begat Walter Abercrombie. Mel Blount was followed by Sam Washington, then Harvey Clayton.
The front four that was featured on the cover of Time magazine -- Joe Greene, L.C. Greenwood, Ernie Holmes and Dwight White -- became a three-man line of John Goodman, Gary Dunn and Tom Beasley.
Even when the successor was pretty good, like Mike Merriweather, he was still short of the standard set by Jack Ham.
The scale hasn't been as dramatic as it was when the '70s took that cruel turn into the '80s, but the template is sadly the same. Aaron Smith turns into Travis Kirschke and Ziggy Hood. Casey Hampton is replaced by Steve McLendon.
The Troy Polamalu who once played a game as wild as his hair has been replaced by an older, slower version.
If Vince Lombardi came back to be the defensive coordinator, he probably couldn't get much of out of this group, which is also now missing three injured starters. Sentimentalists love having Brett Keisel and James Harrison back, but their emergency additions just demonstrate how bereft the roster is.
In two years, the receiving corps has lost Mike Wallace, Emmanuel Sanders and Jerricho Cotchery. Who has replaced them?
Last week in Cleveland, Markus Wheaton was targeted for 11 passes. He caught four. Ben Roethlisberger had a lousy game, so he gets some of the blame, but how does a receiver catch only 36 percent of the passes thrown his way?
It doesn't have to be that way. New England constantly changes the personnel around Tom Brady and consistently wins. Bill Belichick has had one losing season in 14 years, and that came when he took over in 2000. The Patriots reversed that 5-11 record the next season and won the Super Bowl.
The Steelers are 3-3 and facing a pivotal point in their schedule with three straight home games.
Painful as it might be, the best outcome for this season would be a 5-11 or 6-10 record. That would get a better drafting position and jolt ownership into taking a hard look at the entire operation: player procurement, cap management and, yes, coaching.
That should have happened last year, but they got deluded by the 8-4 finish that followed an 0-4 start.
There are a lot of things that need to be fixed. If it were only as easy as hiring a new offensive coordinator.
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--TALENT RAID?
Pirates bench coach Jeff Banister has achieved his long-standing goal of becoming a major league manager.
As he settles in with Texas, will he raid the Pirates for staff help? He spent 29 years in the organization and undoubtedly knows people on and off the field he'd like to have helping him.
Teams can reject lateral moves, but rarely stand in the way when someone has a chance to take a better job.
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--SETTLING IN
Jason Grilli closed on a house in Gibsonia last week. After living in Orlando, he's decided to make his permanent home in the Pittsburgh area.
As his playing career nears an end, Grilli will undoubtedly be seeking radio and TV work and is a good bet to wind up on the local airwaves.
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