For those not happy with Mike Tomlin’s contract extension, you might find some comfort in Colin Cowherd’s reaction. While Cowherd didn’t crush the Pittsburgh Steelers for extending Tomlin through the 2027, he certainly questioned their reasoning.
“I know what happens when you just say,’ Really an extension?’ A little heat,” Cowherd said on Tuesday’s The Herd of the blowback when questioning Tomlin and the team. “It is what it is. But it does tell me a lot about the Steelers, who are probably more fearful of failure, right? Sometimes you miss on a head coach. Then they are willing to elevate, potentially offensively, at least at a league minimum. Steelers have been on quite a roll of bad offensive play for some time. Fear drives a lot of decisions in this league.”
Essentially, Cowherd’s point is the Steelers are going the “safe” route with Tomlin. The man who will likely never turn Pittsburgh into one of the worst teams in football with a top-five draft pick. A coach who seems to get the most out of his team in the worst situations. In 2019, holding things together after losing QB Ben Roethlisberger and being in the playoff race until nearly the very end with Mason Rudolph and Duck Hodges under center. In 2022, avoiding a losing season and winning their last four games to finish 9-8. Last year, bottoming out to 7-7 before rallying and ripping off three straight wins to make the playoffs.
Pittsburgh prefers the steadiness over the risk and reward of a new hire and the unknown that comes with it. But the pain point is the lack of postseason success. Until the Steelers get over that hump, their drought will follow them.
“Mike Tomlin. Last three playoff wins 2016. He beat Matt Moore and the Dolphins. He also beat Alex Smith but they had no touchdowns and six field goals,” Cowherd said. “The year before they beat Cincinnati and AJ McCarron.”
Cowherd leaned back on his premise that Tomlin is a lost defensive coach in an offensive world. The team is built backwards, focusing on defense rather than finding offensive superstars to light up the scoreboard.
“Have they figured out their offensive line yet? It’s been like six years,” Cowherd said. “Do they have the right offensive coordinator finally? It feels like it’s been forever.”
There’s a longer and separate debate to be had about those topics. The Steelers have invested heavily in their offensive line and overall offensive identity the last two seasons, hopefully producing better results. They also have an established coordinator in Arthur Smith, a clear upgrade over the mess that was the Matt Canada era. All changes hopefully result in finding a quarterback, winning a playoff game, and becoming Super Bowl contenders again.
