A few short weeks ago, popular NFL analyst Rich Eisen made major headlines when he stated that fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers were out of their minds for wanting Mike Tomlin to be out as head coach.
Now, after calling the Steelers’ Week 15 matchup on the road with the Indianapolis Colts Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium, Eisen is singing a bit of a different tune. On the latest episode of the Rich Eisen Show on the Roku channel, Eisen stated clearly that he sees what Steelers fans have seen over the last month or so, adding that he sees a Steelers’ team that is very clearly not responding to Tomlin at this point in the season.
“Yeah, I see it. I had my own two eyes calling the game and I saw a team that is not responding to this guy and it’s a mystery to me,” Eisen said regarding Tomlin and the Steelers, according to video via the Rich Eisen Show on YouTube. “Now, you might sit here and say, ‘Well, why should it be a mystery to you?’ Steelers fans might say this: ‘Why is it a mystery to you? Take a look. They haven’t won a playoff game in seven years, and they’re sick and tired of hearing how he never has a losing record when it’s about winning championships, division conference. And the whole enchilada.
“I understand it. You know who also understands it? The guy that’s on the screen. His name’s Mike Tomlin, he understands that he’s gotta be sitting there thinking to himself, ‘Why are they not responding?'”
Eisen’s comments come after seeing the Steelers jump out to a 13-0 lead and then completely fall apart against the Colts, allowing 30 unanswered points, crumbling in the second half in the loss while allowing the Colts to put together a dominant nine-minute drive that featured 13 straight runs.
His comments are also centered on a pre-production meeting with Steelers’ star linebacker T.J. Watt, who stated it is “wild” to him that players aren’t motivated by Tomlin’s ways still and that younger players are taking criticism personally, rather than constructively.
“He is basically going into these meetings and being a dynamic leader and trying to inspire to the point where T.J. Watt said it was wild — he used that phrase. It’s wild to him that some of the players upon hearing that [message from Tomlin] don’t respond in a way on a field or on a practice field. He used that word,” Eisen added regarding Tomlin and the team not responding to him.
That is rather concerning to hear from Eisen, relaying Watt’s words in a production meeting.
That likely falls on the offensive side of things. The Steelers are very young and immature on that side of the football and don’t have the true leaders that the defense does. Though there are plenty of leaders defensively, you need that leaderships on the other side of the ball, too. They simply don’t have it. It’s a rudderless ship on offense, and it’s costing the Steelers.
“[Watt] said it is wild and that some of them don’t wanna practice, it’s what he said, or don’t want to practice in the way that everybody’s supposed to practice. And he said that this past week everyone did do that,” Eisen added. “And then you saw the result. Now you could sit there and say, ‘Then Tomlin’s gotta change his way.’ T.J. Watt also said that the younger generation takes criticism personally. And how that, he didn’t call it a problem, I just inferred it was.”
It’s a young team, a new generation, everything. There has been a lot of turnover recently in Pittsburgh on the roster and in the front office. This isn’t the Steelers of old. But, to hear these words from Eisen, relaying Watt’s comments and then also observing with his own two eyes, it’s very concerning.
Three weeks in a row the Steelers have flat-out folded. It’s been rather embarrassing.
The roster might have some limitations due to depth, but every team is crushed by injuries right now. Other teams aren’t folding. Yet, the Steelers are and it’s plain as day.
They aren’t responding to Tomlin, either. So, something has to change this offseason. Either Tomlin moves on to another opportunity or the Steelers overhaul the roster entirely, especially on the offensive side of the football, and get true leaders and hard workers into the room. If not, it’ll be the same thing this time next year, too.
