Though the comment may have been tongue in cheek, the message was clear. Only a Mike Tomlin-coached team could consistently win ugly the way the Pittsburgh Steelers do. In some ways that’s good. In some ways it’s not. Winning is all that ultimately matters; a gritty win is always better than a flashy defeat. But it would be nice for the Steelers to win comfortably. Just once, to try it on and see how it fits.
Appearing on 93.7 The Fan with Adam Crowley and Dorin Dickerson, PFF’s Brad Spielberger said what Tomlin has done is borderline impossible.
“I think Tomlin’s perception in Pittsburgh is bizarre,” Spielberger told the show. “I think they should be building statues every single week for the fact that they’re able to win some of these football games. Still have not had 400 yards in the Matt Canada era and find a way to win all of these games.”
Spielberger pushed back on the criticism Tomlin receives from the fan base, one that has increasingly called on him to be fired. The frustration stems from the Steelers’ lack of playoff success. They haven’t won a playoff game since 2016 and have been one-and-done in their last three chances. Two of which were upset losses to the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Cleveland Browns. For Pittsburgh, seven years is its longest playoff drought since the moment before the Immaculate Reception when the franchise went its first nearly 40 years without a playoff victory.
But Tomlin has the unique ability to rally the troops and find ways to win games in which the Steelers have no business coming out on top. No team is as successful in one-score games than Tomlin’s Steelers and they seem to be at their best when their backs are against the wall. Whether that’s remaining competitive in 2019 with Mason Rudolph/Duck Hodges, storming back from a 2-6 start in 2022, or winning all five games of 2023 by razor-thin margins.
Pittsburgh will be in a big-time battle to return to the playoffs in 2023. Though 5-3, they play in the NFL’s toughest division, a group that’s looking much closer to its preseason projections than how things appeared a month into the season. The AFC North is the only division where all four teams have a winning record and if the playoffs ended today, all four clubs would advance to the postseason. With more divisional games on tap, that’s unlikely to hold true by season’s end.
The Steelers hold an advantage of being 2-0 in the division and if they can just split their remaining four AFC North games while taking care of business in others they “should” win (Colts, Cardinals, Patriots), Tomlin and company should be inside a stadium come Wild Card weekend. Whether they advance further than that remains to be seen.
