One day after the Pittsburgh Steelers fell to the Arizona Cardinals at home in ugly fashion, popular TV host Rich Eisen stated that Steelers fans are “out of your frickin’ minds” if they want to fire Mike Tomlin.
Then, Thursday night against the New England Patriots happened.
In primetime, the Steelers became the first team in NFL history to lose back-to-back games as a team over .500 to teams at least eight games below .500. Pittsburgh hit rock bottom Sunday against the Cardinals. The Steelers found out what’s underneath rock bottom Thursday night.
That’s turned the heat up on Tomlin within the media and the fan base.
Eisen, who stands by his comments Monday, doubled down on his take Friday on The Rich Eisen Show on the Roku Channel. But he also stated that he understands Steelers fans’ frustration and wonders if Tomlin himself might have Western Pennsylvania fatigue, too.
“When I say that you’re outta your frigging minds, I totally would understand why you would have Tomlin fatigue and I’m wondering if Tomlin has fatigue with Western Pennsylvania, too. I’m gonna bet when I see him in a few days, he’s the same guy. He’s the guy that says they block out the noise. You wanna see different results. I totally understand that. I totally get it,” Eisen said regarding his comments earlier in the week about Tomlin, according to the show’s YouTube page.
Coming off the loss to the Patriots, dropping the Steelers to 7-6 on the season, there certainly appears to be some Tomlin fatigue right now, at least from the fan base. There is a frustration with hearing the same message over and over again, and then seeing the same poor results, especially against inferior competition.
Then, when you have players like Jaylen Warren and Diontae Johnson stating that maybe the team took an opponent too lightly, and then star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick calling out players Thursday night for not putting in the work and just expecting to make plays because of who they play for, there’s a real culture problem there.
For Eisen, that might be the case. But if the Steelers move on from Tomlin and the fans get what they want, that would just enrich another team and another owner. Like, say, Carolina’s David Tepper?
“But if you fire him, go ahead. Make David Tepper’s day. Are you serious?” Eisen added. “They may say, ‘Rich, I understand what you’re saying, but let’s get something new in here because this ain’t anymore.’ Do you think David Tepper, who bought the Panthers after giving up his minority stake in the Steelers, that would be the guy he would generationally enrich on the spot. On the spot. Would Tomlin want that gig? I don’t know. Is this sort of stuff going through his head right now? I doubt it.
“So I guess let me downgrade my, ‘You’re outta your frigging minds,’ but he and the Steelers have been out of a sticky situation like this before. Let’s see what happens over the next final four games. But I hear you Steeler fans. I hear you.”
That’s always been the argument against when it comes to firing Tomlin, that he would be hired instantly. In previous years, it was a good argument because he was still a great coach, one who got the most out of his teams.
These last two games have raised real, tangible concerns though. Things feel incredibly stale. Maybe those fans who want Tomlin fired aren’t exactly out of their frickin’ minds. It might still be a bit crazy, but it has more weight now than it ever has. This feels like the bleakest time of the Tomlin era, and there’s no real map to get out of it right now.
Things could get really rough on the road ahead. Maybe that necessitates a change. But you don’t keep something just because someone else might covet it. That’s not how smart business is run, and if anything Art Rooney II is a smart businessman.
Let’s see what happens down the stretch with the Steelers and Tomlin before having that discussion, though.
