After suffering their third-straight loss yesterday to the Indianapolis Colts, the Pittsburgh Steelers find themselves in uncharted territory as they look like a team without a sense of direction. That’s saying a lot about this franchise as head coach Mike Tomlin has captained the ship in Pittsburgh since 2007, becoming one of the more well-renowned figures in the league after making two Super Bowl appearances, winning one and never posting a season below .500.
Still, Pittsburgh has underwhelmed in recent seasons, and that has culminated in 2023 with the team dropping their thrid consecutive loss after sitting at 7-4 in the perfect position to make a run down the stretch for a playoff berth. Many have criticized Tomlin for this team’s downfall and lack of urgency and execution in recent weeks, with former NFL scout John Middlekauff stating on the 3 and Out Podcast that Tomlin should want owner Art Rooney II to call him into his office after the season for he and the Steelers to go their separate ways.
“I think that Mike Tomlin should want to be fired at this time at this moment with where they are at,” Middlekauff said on 3 and Out. “It’s just time. I’ve been fired twice. Best thing that’s ever happened to me. Both times went on to have more success and make more money. It’s time for a break.”
Tomlin owned up to Pittsburgh lack of success last night in the post-game press conference, stating that his team is a fundamentally poor football group at the moment and that he takes responsibility for it. His team managed to get up to a 13-0 lead to start the game, but gave up 30 unanswered points to a Colts offense that lost WR Michael Pittman Jr. and Zach Moss to injuries while also entering the game without QB Anthony Richardson and RB Jonathan Taylor, seeing the combination of RBs Trey Sermon and Tyler Goodson run for over 150 yards on Pittsburgh’s defense.
The offense wasn’t any better as QB Mitch Trubisky struggled mightily, making mistakes by throwing into coverage while seeing a lack of effort by receivers in the blocking department as well as plenty of pre-snap penalties that have plagued this team for weeks. Tomlin himself also lived in his fears, opting to punt instead of trusting K Chris Boswell to hit a 56-yard field goal which is well within the big-legged kicker’s range.
Needless to say, the season has unraveled for Pittsburgh in the worst way, having a chance to win the division turn into them likely missing the playoffs entirely while trying to get another season above .500. Tomlin has been criticized for not making the decision necessary to elicit positive change, sitting to his traditional ways while the team continually loses games they should win. Plenty have questioned if Tomlin’s lost his edge that he had when he first got to Pittsburgh, seeing his team underwhelm and play down to their opponent than win games comfortably that they should win.
Given the number of teams that would be interested in Tomlin should he become available as well as the TV networks that would throw him big money should he decide to leave coaching altogether, Middlekauff suggests that Tomlin should want to have Pittsburgh cut ties with him to get a fresh start somewhere else rather than attempt to resurrect something that appears broken.
Tomlin is an icon in Pittsburgh, and likely will play out the final year of his contract in 2024 barring this late season slide continuing by losing out the rest of the way. Still, Tomlin’s seat has gotten the hottest its been since he came to Pittsburgh, and he and this team will have to find some way to get some positive momentum going to keep his job and other coaches and players’ jobs safe heading into a pivotal offseason.
