The Pittsburgh Steelers are currently playing like the worst team in football. You can’t lose to back-to-back 2-10 teams in the NFL, especially as a team in the playoff picture, but that’s exactly what the Steelers just did. There’s a lot of blame to go around, and NFL analyst Kyle Brandt said on Good Morning Football this morning that he’s putting the blame directly on Mike Tomlin.
“The Steelers are one of the worst offenses ever for a team that matters. And they’re rapidly not mattering. I’m looking so directly at Mike Tomlin,” Brandt said. “You can do the cool Tomlin tough guy act, and ‘that’s who we are.’ Your team captain is in the locker room saying people need to start working harder, the offense is terrible, as Jason [McCourty] pointed out, the defense didn’t show up. The last two weeks I think were the worst two weeks in Mike Tomlin’s time there. This is that bad.”
Brandt is referencing S Minkah Fitzpatrick calling the Steelers out for their mentality and how a lot of guys just expect to win, which sounds like a giant failure on the part of the coaching staff and Tomlin. How they allow that sort of mentality to permeate around the team when we’re in Week 14 and they lost to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 13 is absolutely baffling and inexcusable.
It’s a serious issue that this team continually falls short under Tomlin against inferior competition and an even bigger issue that the Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since 2016. After losing to two of the worst teams in football in back-to-back weeks, they might not even have the opportunity to break that streak this year, which is really pathetic given the talent on this roster.
The Steelers aren’t completely out of the playoff picture, but in the AFC, it’s going to be really hard for them to get to the postseason if they don’t win at least 10 games. That’s going to entail winning three out of their last four, and three of those games are on the road. Of course, the Steelers’ last two losses came at Acrisure Stadium, which makes them even worse, so maybe getting on the road might be better for this team.
Brandt is right to point the finger at Tomlin. He seems to be losing the locker room, and between players admitting they took Arizona lightly and then coming out five days later and losing to a team that’s been worse this season is just horrible. It could be season-ending for the Steelers.
There’s just not much hope with this team anymore. It’s been too long since the Steelers have done something meaningful and losing to back-to-back 2-10 teams is a new low. There’s not much to look forward to with this team over the remaining four games.
