It was only a year ago that the Pittsburgh Steelers were in the middle of a three-week freefall from 7-4 to 7-7. The Steelers appeared to be fully in control of their playoff destiny at 7-4 with matchups against two-win teams in the New England Patriots and the Arizona Cardinals. They dropped both and a game against the Indianapolis Colts to boot. The calls for head coach Mike Tomlin to be run out of town were thunderous.
When the Steelers’ schedule came out this year, it wasn’t rosy. There was plenty of speculation that 2024 would be Tomlin’s last in Pittsburgh. It would be the end of his non-losing season streak, anyway.
What a difference a year makes. Now the Steelers are 8-2, fresh off a win over the Baltimore Ravens. The Steelers have a chance to secure another non-losing season for Tomlin tonight, and they’re in the driver’s seat for the AFC North title.
“Most of the media, the football world, all that has realized, Mike Tomlin’s a special coach,” said Chris Simms on Thursday’s episode of Chris Simms Unbuttoned. “I feel like it turned, like late last year and now into this year, where there was the haters of Mike Tomlin and how dare they don’t do better and all that, to where I think like smart minds have finally realized, wait, they weren’t all that good some of these years, and he was dragging them to the finish line to look good. And I feel like he’s getting a little more respect finally. And it’s long overdue.”
Tomlin’s detractors (and simply frustrated Steelers fans) point to his lack of playoff success. But what Simms is saying is that Tomlin has taken bad Steelers teams and won. So the lack of playoff success isn’t a Tomlin problem, he’s elevating bad teams.
Now you can argue that Tomlin had a hand in creating those less-than-ideal teams. And you can certainly argue that Tomlin should have done more with the Killer B’s.
But what you can’t argue is that the Steelers are 8-2 and are among the best teams in the AFC. Pundits expected the Steelers to be at the bottom of the AFC North, not the top. That’s why former NFL lineman Damien Woody says Tomlin is his pick for the Coach of the Year.
Even current Las Vegas Raiders DE Maxx Crosby thinks Tomlin is the Coach of the Year if the Steelers keep getting results. It isn’t just the media giving Tomlin respect, it’s the current players, too.
It really is crazy how big of a difference a year can be. But Mike Tomlin isn’t focused on that. He’s just focused on the next game.
