Are Us Fans A Part Of The Problem?

[Whatever]

(01-02-2018, 12:22 PM)thillan Wrote: I'm curious as to how you guys honestly view our fan base as opposed to other teams, and if it has any positive or negative impact on the team.

Do you think we drove coaches or players away? Are we at all a part of the reason for our teams lack of success (Lack of success being no playoff wins... going to 5 straight postseasons is success)? Can we help in any way?

I'm not challenging, just genuinely curious. I wonder because when that report came out that Marvin was leaving, there was some bad talk about how Mike pats and treats coaches.. but I also felt some negativity towards our fans.

Thoughts?

The fans aren't the primary factor, but I do think the fanbase has certain negative effects on the players and the team.

Whoever the new coach is, they will automatically walk in with a quarter century of playoff futility dumped at their feet.  The pressure will be increased on them and the team unfairly during every primetime, playoff, and Steelers game due to the failures of previous regimes.

The fanbase has somewhat damaged it's ability to demand excellence from the organization due to lukewarm support of the team during years when there was a good product on the field.  A lot of that stems from previous years of futility.

The fanbase pretty much has a toxic relationship with the organization, a lot of the ill will coming from the current stadium deal, that I'm sure many outsiders would prefer to stay away from.