Through four games, the Pittsburgh Steelers find themselves at 2-2. They’ve been blown out in Week One against the San Francisco 49ers and again in Week Four against the Houston Texans. After head coach Mike Tomlin’s Tuesday press conference offered little in the way of real, concrete changes that he talked about after Sunday’s game, fan support is dwindling fast for a team that had high aspirations going into the season.
One man still has faith in Tomlin, though. Adam Schein, writing as a contributing columnist for NFL.com, turned his Schein Nine column into a discussion of nine of the 12 teams sitting at 2-2 and whether they were still contenders or had revealed themselves as pretenders. True to Schein, he had the Steelers as contenders.
“All in all, the vibes are off in Pittsburgh,” Schein wrote. “And the rival Ravens are coming to town on Sunday. Feels like 2-3 to me. Could this thing spin out of control? No. Because at the end of the day, the Steelers have one very big thing going for them: Mike Tomlin. His presence means Pittsburgh will win at least nine games… I trust Tomlin implicitly to rally the troops and surge back into the playoff picture.”
It’s true that Tomlin has a knack for ensuring his team doesn’t finish seasons with losing records. It’s never happened since he became head coach ahead of the 2007 season. So, history is on Tomlin and Schein’s side here.
Unfortunately, the Steelers are working hard to send the offense back to the Stone Age at this point. The stats paint the full picture, especially when you look at the offense’s performance in the first quarter.
That’s an issue that isn’t going to resolve itself overnight. Either Tomlin and his offensive coaching staff led by offensive coordinator Matt Canada need to figure out how to better utilize the players on the roster, or it’s time to overhaul the offensive coaching staff. However, fans are likely going to have to pin their hopes on the current staff figuring out some sort of solution because Pittsburgh simply doesn’t fire coaches mid-season.
However, if Schein is to be proven right, Tomlin has to figure out how to right the ship and fast. Despite all the offensive failures throughout the first four games, the Steelers are still 2-2 and are second in the division, only one game back of the Baltimore Ravens, their Week Five opponent. So, getting back into contender status is within reach. That means now would be a wonderful time for some of those “changes” Tomlin has talked about to happen. Perhaps we will have to wait and see until the bye week that comes after the Ravens game for real changes to occur, though.
Otherwise, Pittsburgh will continue its slide from contender to pretender status while leaving the front office with a lot of questions regarding Tomlin, Canada, and the overall future of the franchise.
