Three straight losses, all three in embarrassing fashion for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Now, they sit at 7-7 and are on the outside looking in at the AFC playoff picture, with things all that much harder to get into the playoffs as the Steelers don’t exactly control their own destiny moving forward.
But for NFL.com columnist Jeffri Chadiha, there is still hope left for the Steelers despite being on the playoff bubble.Â
That hope? It centers on head coach Mike Tomlin’s track record.
“Tomlin has never experienced a losing season as the Steelers’ head coach, so that must create some optimism for a team that has dropped three straight games. The Steelers also know what it’s like to be in this position when their coach is tasked with creating miraculous results,” Chadiha writes regarding Tomlin’s track record as a reason why there is still hope for the Steelers. “They were 7-7-1 with two games left in the 2021 season — and fresh off a blowout loss in Kansas City — when they somehow managed to win their final two games and sneak into the AFC’s final wild-card spot that year. The problem, as the saying goes, is that all good things must come to an end.”
Not only are the playoffs in jeopardy for the Steelers and Tomlin, so too is the non-losing seasons streak for the future Hall of Fame head coach.
Sitting at 7-7, the Steelers have three games remaining on the year, with a home game Saturday against the Cincinnati Bengals before two road games to close the season against the Seattle Seahawks and Baltimore Ravens. The Steelers need to win two games to extend that non-losing seasons streak.
Chances of that happening? Seems somewhere between slim and none.
But Tomlin has done this before. His record in December and January, despite the 0-3 mark here this season in December, is rather strong.
Since 2013, Tomlin is 35-19 in December and January. His teams tend to get better as the season progresses, and they end up playing much, much better down the stretch than they do in the early portion of the season. That isn’t the case this season. The Steelers are falling apart down the stretch in every facet.
“The Steelers are relying on backup quarterback Mitch Trubisky to lead one of the worst offenses in the league…Tomlin is one of the best coaches this league has ever seen. If he can turn this thing around at such a late stage, it will be his most impressive job yet,” Chadiha writes.
With quarterback Kenny Pickett still recovering from an ankle procedure that has kept him out of the last two games, the Steelers have had to call on Trubisky. He hasn’t been very good and has largely cost the Steelers quite a bit with some of the mistakes he’s made with the football.
It’s been rather hard for the Steelers to overcome those mistakes, especially with the injuries defensively piling up.
But if they’re going to do it down the stretch, it will be with Tomlin leading the charge. Right now, things feel rather stale in Pittsburgh, almost as if Tomlin has lost the locker room. But a big divisional matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals Saturday just two days before Christmas is as good a day as any to try and right the ship.
