Colin Cowherd is never shy about taking a swing at Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers’ lackluster offense. He jumped on the chance Monday following the Steelers’ miserable showing over the weekend against the Buffalo Bills, putting up 3 points in a listless loss.
“They’re not the biggest spenders, but they’re not cheap and yet defensively, they’re always elite,” Cowherd said on his FS1 The Herd show. “Yet they’re completely, utterly inept on one side of the ball. That’s on the head coach. He’s run through coordinators, he’s run through quarterbacks. That’s on Mike Tomlin. They are awful.”
Pittsburgh’s offense has been below-average or worse the past three seasons, 2021 through 2023. In ’21, Ben Roethlisberger’s final season, the Steelers finished 21st in points per game. In 2022, they fell to 26th, and in 2023, they dropped again to 28th.
Saturday’s showing didn’t look promising in turning that recent history around. Russell Wilson was consistently under pressure and faced repeated 3rd-and-longs, often forced to check the ball down when he wasn’t getting hit. Justin Fields provided a bit more of a spark but mainly used his legs to pick up yards and benefitted by playing against the Bills’ reserves. Combined, Wilson and Fields threw for under 150 yards and after subtracting sack yardage lost, the Steelers as a team threw for just 113 yards. Their longest completion was 19 yards and their biggest play of the day was a 20-yard by run Fields. Combined, they were sacked four times as the Bills’ defense registered 10 QB hits.
“If you’re wondering why Justin Fields looks skittish and Russell is Captain Checkdown this weekend, they don’t wanna get hit.”
RT Broderick Jones was the worst Steeler in pass protection, responsible for giving up two sacks and a pressure/QB hit on Fields late in the first half. Jones is battling an elbow injury, wearing a bulky brace to protect him, and it seems to be hindering his technique.
But Cowherd lays the blame on how Tomlin has built the team.
“So this is Mike Tomlin’s culture. It’s his locker room, it’s his offensive coordinator, it’s his responsibility.”
Cowherd’s taken many past swipes for Tomlin and the Steelers investing and focusing too much on defense while ignoring the offensive side of the ball. It’s true most of Pittsburgh’s biggest salaries are dedicated to defense, but the team has made serious offensive investments in recent years. They’ve spent consecutive first round picks on offensive tackles, a second rounder in 2024 on a center, with multiple free agent additions in OGs Isaac Seumalo and James Daniels. They’ve re-tooled their quarterback room and upgraded the talent with Wilson and Fields.
But all that matters are results. Preseason returns aren’t always predictive but until the Steelers can show they can score like a competent offense, it’ll be hard for them to get over the hump.
