After two losses in four days to the bottom-feeding Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots, the Mike Tomlin discourse has gotten out of control.
While anyone who follows the NFL or the Steelers in particular knows how knee-jerky the fire the coach takes can be after a bad loss, this is the worst it has been for Tomlin in recent memory, maybe ever.
And while record-wise the Steelers are still very much in the playoff race, this couldn’t feel less like a playoff team. It seems hard to imagine this team winning a game right now, never mind heading to Kansas City or Miami to pick up a playoff victory.
However, is Mike Tomlin to blame here? While many have argued yes, some, like former NFL star RB LeSean McCoy are defending him. He had this to say about the Steelers’ situation on FS1’s SPEAK after Thursday’s loss to the Patriots.
“Should a coach get more praise for winning games when you don’t have good quarterback play? It’s hard to win in this league without a quarterback. We look at every other coach in this league that doesn’t have a quarterback and they lose.” McCoy noted. “I think coach Tomlin should be praised for the stuff he is doing. In 2020 and 2021, this team made the playoffs. I couldn’t believe it! The Steelers are in the playoffs with that type of team?… When we talk about Mike Tomlin we gotta put some respect on his name.”
The point that McCoy is making here is a solid one. You don’t have to look far to see an example of what he is saying either. Bill Belichick has struggled more in the post-Brady era than Tomlin has in the post-Roethlisberger era. That feels like it should count for something. As McCoy points out, similar logic can be applied to someone like Ron Rivera after he lost Cam Newton.
But, should we care? Yeah, he’s been better than Belichick this season, but let’s not start passing out medals for being better than a 3-10 team whose best offensive weapon by far has been a 6th-round rookie. I agree that it’s somewhat impressive what Tomlin is doing, but it’s starting to feel a little bit like this franchise is stuck in purgatory.
At the end of the day, two things can be true. What Tomlin has done, even over the past few years, is impressive. Not a lot of coaches in the league could have led some of those rosters to winning records. But, it’s also true that this level of performance is not up to the Pittsburgh Steeler standard. We aren’t the Texans, it shouldn’t be an accomplishment to go 9-8, or sneak into the playoffs and get blasted in the first round. That needs to change soon.
