Off-Topic » Tomlin told reporters covering the Seahawks on Sunday.

The hype trains touting NFL offseason activity typically start leaving their stations each January Womens James Conner Jersey , when new head coaches are hired and fan bases are fired up about the fresh start that sends hope soaring high like the football in the air on the opening kickoff of a game.There’s another round of departures in March, when the biggest-buck free agent contracts are signed to put some of the highest-profile players in the league on new teams snatching up missing pieces to their Super Bowl puzzles. Then, the first-round draft picks clamber aboard at the end of April.By December, well, the derailments are inevitable.From Le’Veon Bell to Jon Gruden to Leonard Fournette, here’s a pick-six of the biggest disappointments in the NFL this year:NO-SHOWThe millions of fantasy football players who snagged Bell for a seeming bargain in their auctions and drafts would wholeheartedly agree, though the Pittsburgh Steelers survived the absence of the two-time All-Pro running back due to the emergence of James Conner and, most recently T. J. Watt Jersey White , Jaylen Samuels.Bell bet on himself, steadfastly refusing to sign his franchise tender without the promise of a contract extension one of the sport’s most dangerous positions and ultimately accepting his ineligibility for the season . The Steelers didn’t blink, either, and Bell will assumedly restart his career with another team in 2019.CHALLENGE FOR CHUCKYThe Oakland Raiders, eyeing an eventual move to Las Vegas, gave Jon Gruden a 10-year contract worth about $100 million to return to the franchise he got his start with as a head coach.The Raiders are in this for the long haul, after burning through nine head coaches in the 16 seasons that passed after Gruden shed his silver and black. Their 3-11 record two years after a 12-4 finish, however Terrell Edmunds Jersey White , is a shaker of salt in the wound for the Bay Area loyalists on the verge of losing their team. Watching traded stars Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper thrive elsewhere has only made this season hurt worse. No team has been easier to score on this year than the Raiders, with an average of nearly 30 points allowed per game.SOPHOMORE SLUMPPart a strong crop of rookie running backs last season, Leonard Fournette finished fifth in the league in yards rushing per game as the Jacksonville Jaguars came so close to beating the New England Patriots in the AFC championship game. The Jaguars as a team would qualify as the league’s biggest letdown, so Fournette is hardly alone. But even with a mulligan for missing six games because of a hamstring injury, Fournette has taken a clear step back.The fourth overall pick in the 2017 draft has averaged only 3.4 yards per attempt (46th in the NFL) and 56.6 rushing yards per game (24th in the NFL). Last week in a three-point loss to Washington, Fournette spent most of the second half on the sideline while undrafted rookie Dave Williams ate into his playing time.TOUGH TIMES FOR TOP-10 QUARTERBACKSDrafting a quarterback in the first round is a decision made with as much long-term view as any in the league, and success for rookies at this high-pressure position can be awfully difficult without strong supporting casts.Still, more and more quarterbacks in their early 20s are coming to the NFL with the skills to be an instant success Womens JuJu Smith-Schuster Jersey , and given the impatient nature of a results-driven culture there’s been no shortage of complaints about Sam Darnold (third overall pick), Josh Allen (seventh overall pick) and Josh Rosen (10th overall pick), particularly when judging them against first overall pick Baker Mayfield’s late-season surge with the Cleveland Browns. With a combined 30 touchdown passes against 38 interceptions, Darnold, Allen and Rosen have displayed a need for more experience and more help. The New York Jets, Buffalo Bills and Arizona Cardinals have a collective record of 12-20.KICKING IT AWAYSure, Chicago and Green Bay play on grass in cold climates, but Minnesota and Detroit have indoor stadiums. NFC North teams have enjoyed a long line of successful kickers. This year Womens T. J. Watt Jersey , though, has been a struggle, with 12-year veteran Matt Prater of the Lions the only specialist whose season has become a story. The Vikings cut rookie Daniel Carlson after two games and three missed field goals that cost them a victory against the rival Packers, who had their own issues with Mason Crosby. Cody Parkey ranks 28th in field goal percentage for the Bears, one spot behind Crosby.SO MUCH FOR DRAMAThat last-second 2-point conversion the Los Angeles Chargers used to win at Kansas City and tie the Chiefs for the AFC West lead turned that division race into a December thriller. That’s the exception , though, with the Bears, New Orleans Saints and Los Angeles Rams already in possession of top-four seeds in the NFC and the New England Patriots and Houston Texans holding two-game leads in their divisions with two games to play. That three-team race in the NFC East has been muted by all that mediocrity. The Baltimore Ravens JuJu Smith-Schuster Jersey White , at least, have made the AFC North a legitimate competition with the Steelers. One of the biggest questions regarding the 2019 Steelers offense relates to whether new No. 1 receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster will be able to handle the extra attention that comes from being the top option in the passing game. Coach Mike Tomlin explained on Wednesday that this is nothing new for the team’s 2018 MVP.“He’s used to that,” He faced double teams a year ago. A lot of people [are] capable of doubling two people on possession-like situations. That was often a tactic that was employed against us a year ago where they doubled him and Antonio [Brown]. Him facing double teams particularly in situational football is not anything new. That’s why it’s important to strengthen ourselves as a collective unit then we are simply going to distribute the ball where the coverage tells us to and know that JuJu is going to get his opportunity to be impactful in the long run.”It’s one thing to be doubled in certain situations and to be doubled consistently and another to consistently beat double coverage. That’s what Smith-Schuster will have to do, especially without getting him much help from the rest of the team’s other receivers.Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger spread the ball to nine different receivers, with Smith-Schuster getting eight targets and six catches. Donte Moncrief, the top candidate to become the new No. 2, had 10 targets but managed only three receptions.