Mike Tomlin set himself up for a colossal wave of negativity and media bashing in Week 7 when he benched the 4-2 Justin Fields in favor of Russell Wilson. That risk has paid off, and instead the media are the ones left eating crow. Colin Cowherd has been a longtime critic of the Pittsburgh Steelers and their defense-first approach to team building.
After what he has seen the last two weeks with Wilson, he is admitting that he was wrong about this team.
“We’ve always thought he’s credible, but I think what Mike Tomlin has shown over the course of this season, and I’m wrong on this, is that I always felt he was a little tone deaf to offense,” Cowherd said of the Steelers via The Colin Cowherd Podcast. “But by pivoting off Kenny Pickett, Mason Rudolph, and Justin Fields, who had a winning record, and settling on Russell Wilson, I think it shows that he is more aware than I gave him credit for.
“I think I was really wrong on Pittsburgh.”
It’s okay, Colin. You aren’t the first and you won’t be the last to make this statement about being wrong on the Steelers. Far too many credible analysts and television personalities projected the Steelers to have their first losing season in the Mike Tomlin era during the preseason. Too many projection models had the Steelers struggling to get seven wins. They have six after eight weeks.
It never really made sense to me. They managed to go 10-7 with a playoff berth in 2023 and they got better or stayed the same in pretty much every aspect during the offseason. The defense was very clearly going to continue to be a top unit, and the offense had new offensive linemen, a new offensive coordinator, and two new quarterbacks who all offered much more than what they had last season.
Just look at these charts I pulled from TruMedia, showing the offense’s improvement with Wilson versus with Fields. The success rate on offense has remained stagnant, but the Steelers have gained the sixth-most yards per play in the league over the last two weeks. It is a small sample size, but the arrow is clearly pointing up.
“I think I’ve been wrong on Pittsburgh. That’s a real team. Could Pittsburgh win that division? Absolutely,” Cowherd said. “I’m gonna favor Baltimore, but they can win that division.”
If the Steelers come out of their bye week and beat the NFL’s darling team in the Washington Commanders, then the apologies are really going to start trickling in. Even more so if they beat the Baltimore Ravens the following week in the friendly confines of Acrisure Stadium.
