Just a few short weeks ago, many in the national media were singing the praises of Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin for the work he’d done, leading the Steelers to a 7-4 record and the thick of the AFC playoff race.
Three weeks later though, the bottom has completely fallen out from underneath the Steelers. They sit at 7-7 on the season, and it looks like there’s a real chance they lose out the rest of the way, leading to Tomlin’s first losing season of his career.
That’s putting the focus on Tomlin, who hasn’t had the type of success the Steelers have been accustomed to historically. No playoff wins since 2016, more seasons around .500 in recent years than actually being a contender, and now players are lacking effort while some concerning comments are coming out of the locker room.
Former NFL defensive end Chris Long, appearing on the latest episode of his “Green Light Podcast” stated that maybe a change for the Steelers and Tomlin is best.
“I’m a huge Tomlin fan. If he gets let go, he’s gonna coach somewhere else. Tomlin is a dog. I’d love to play for Tomlin,” Long said regarding Tomlin and the coaching job this season. “But when you’re a high-floor guy, it’s hard to justify a sinkhole, man. This is bad. The floor is tremendously low.”
Tomlin likes to talk about floors rather than ceilings, and he’s always prided himself on being a high-floor guy, especially as a leader of men.
But right now, like Long pointed out, things are very bad in Pittsburgh. The Steelers have lost three straight games, including one to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 15 that everyone on the roster said they were treating like a playoff game. They flopped against the Colts, allowing 30 unanswered points and getting bullied in the process.
There’s a lack of effort from key guys offensively, too, like wide receiver George Pickens.
Pickens was seen loafing on a Jaylen Warren run, much like fellow wide receiver Diontae Johnson a few weeks earlier. That lack of effort comes on the heels of some concerning comments coming out of the locker room in recent weeks from running back Najee Harris regarding me-first attitudes as well as safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.
“I think the biggest disappointment for me is this: [Tomlin’s] the guy with a reputation for keeping that locker room together, right? And I’m starting to think it was ’cause they had good players, they had good veteran leadership, and now they don’t have good players,” Long said.
The Steelers are pretty much the epitome of the Port Authority bus that fell into a sinkhole in Pittsburgh a few years ago. They’ve fallen in backwards and don’t seem to have a way to get out of it. Maybe that leads to changes moving forward between Tomlin and the franchise.
Tomlin is a Hall of Fame head coach, one of the most successful in NFL history. The numbers bear that out.
But that last half decade or so in Pittsburgh has been rather discouraging. Things have gotten stale. Granted, the Steelers don’t have an answer at quarterback right now. But maybe a mutual departure is best. Chances of that happening seem rather unlikely, but it’s something to consider with the Steelers considering the state of the franchise.
