One thing that is for certain about professional sports is that it is very in the now. Reactions are visceral, immediate, and time-bound, rarely looking at the bigger picture. Every losing streak is a crisis in the moment, as we saw with the Pittsburgh Steelers after dropping three games in a row to fall to 7-7.
Suddenly there were very serious contemplations about the Steelers parting ways with head coach Mike Tomlin from people who’d never given it a thought before. And the more you hear that on the outside, the more you might wonder if it reflects the thinking on the inside.
Nothing we’ve heard that strives to intimate any kind of inside knowledge, however, has given an indication of that impulse. Rather, it’s been the opposite, with some talking about the team wanting to get him extended. Ryan Clark said he’s been told by someone in the building that they can’t see Tomlin ever coaching elsewhere. And that seems to be where the public thinking is turning.
“I don’t think he was in danger at all, even though we were talking about it in the media, and rightfully so, because Steelers fans kind of mandated that being a topic of discussion”, Rich Eisen said yesterday on his show. “But you even heard [Pro Football Talk’s Mike] Florio say on NBC that they’re already talking about maybe a contract extension for the guy”.
Assuming these things are true, it does speak to the lineage of the franchise under the Rooney family. At least since Dan Rooney took over operations, the Steelers have been a patient, big-picture team willing to build something over time if they believe they have the right pieces in place.
Tomlin, of course, has been in place for 17 years now. He’s brought home a Super Bowl and two conference championships, but it’s been quite a while since the last of either. Indeed, even the last playoff win feels like a distant memory. And even while confidence in Tomlin remains strong after their rebound win, it is less so for their playoff chances this year.
“I think they’ve got too many problems with tiebreaks right now”, Eisen said. “But you never know. Because I don’t know if there’s a Seattle conversation coming up soon. We thought they were finished with that four-game losing streak, and now look at them. They’re in the seventh seed and looking terrific right now”.
The Seahawks authored comeback wins in the past two weeks with two different quarterbacks, now with Geno Smith back under center. And they happen to be Pittsburgh’s upcoming opponent, on the road. These are two teams fighting tooth and nail for their playoff lives.
Only the Steelers are the ones on the outside looking in. The Seahawks need only to win out to make the playoffs. Pittsburgh needs to win out and get help. But help is useless if you don’t help yourself first, so job one is beating the Seahawks. As long as they win, Week 18 will be relevant.
