Former NFL quarterback Michael Vick, who spent the 2015 season with the Pittsburgh Steelers, is now an analyst for Fox. Ahead of the slate of Week Six games, the panel of analysts was asked which coach they’re most impressed with at this point in the season. Vick said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is the guy.
“I’m going Mike Tomlin. It’s been 16 years of consistency, last week, signature win against the Baltimore Ravens, everybody was saying fire the offensive coordinator. But Mike Tomlin and team took it amongst themselves on defense to get the job done, and then Kenny Pickett and the guys followed. So it goes to show guys will run through a wall for Mike T. I was in his locker room, true leader of men, one of the game’s greatest coaches,” Vick said on Fox NFL Pregame.
Tomlin’s always been able to get the most out of his players, and he has a tendency to win games when the Steelers have their backs against the wall. A loss against the Ravens last week would’ve been devastating and put Pittsburgh at 2-3 with back-to-back losses heading into their bye week, but the Steelers were able to pull a win out against their division rivals.
It hasn’t been all sunshine and roses in Pittsburgh, because both of Pittsburgh’s losses this year have been ugly blowouts. They opened the season with a 30-7 loss to the San Francisco 49ers before losing 30-6 to the Houston Texans in Week Four, and the offense has been a problem all season. But the Steelers have a winning record and have used their pass rush to disrupt opposing offenses and find ways to win.
They might be ugly wins, but they count all the same in the record book. Tomlin has been able to help the Steelers afloat. But this season especially with the talent Pittsburgh has, just staying afloat and finishing over .500 isn’t gonna be enough. The Steelers have to show they can win when it matters in the postseason. They haven’t won a playoff game since 2016, and this is the most well-rounded roster the Steelers have had. While it’s been an impressive coaching job at times so far this year, it has to carry over into December and January.
But there is no doubt that Tomlin has a lot of respect from the players in the locker room, and that’s important. They’re going to give it their all each and every week, and hopefully that leads to more wins coming out of the bye week.
You can watch the full segment below:
