When the Pittsburgh Steelers got off to an excellent start to begin the 2024 season, they were playing together. Not all of the wins were pretty, but the team played cohesive, sound football, which helped them to some close victories early in the year. As the season came to an end, things clearly shifted for Mike Tomlin’s roster.
During their five-game skid to end the season, players themselves noticed that the communication was off. There’s been talk about the lack of leadership at various points around the roster. However, CBS Sports’ Aditi Kinkhabwala thinks some of that comes from the top. On Tuesday, she joined CBS Sports HQ to share her feelings.
“Every great team that I’ve ever been around has very strong, authentic player leadership,” Kinkhabwala said. “And this is an area where the Steelers have been lacking… Another area where Mike Tomlin needs some help is accountability… If Mike Tomlin doesn’t want to be the bad cop, then somebody else in that building has to be the bad cop.”
For the most part, only the coaches and players who spent time in the locker room and on the field throughout the year know whether accountability is truly a problem. However, the Steelers certainly passed the eye test for a team that might lack it. Getting rolled in five straight games to end the season is tough. If there had been a stronger sense of accountability or leadership, Pittsburgh certainly would have been more competitive in their playoff loss against the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday.
As many Steelers fans think, Kinkhabwala argues that the George Pickens situation is one where Tomlin needed to hold his star receiver more accountable.
“George Pickens has been late since he arrived to the Steelers,” Kinkhabwala said. “He doesn’t show up on time to meetings. He doesn’t show up on time to games… The Christmas Day game against the Chiefs, he showed up after inactives were due. Mike Tomlin wouldn’t even answer that question straight up. At some point, just fining a player is toothless.”
The question Kinkabwala is referring to came late in Tomlin’s end-of-year press conference on Tuesday. As things were wrapping up, Tomlin was asked about Pickens being late to the Steelers game on Christmas. He seemed unprepared for the question yet defended his player, as he always does.
Tomlin’s earned a lot of respect for actions like those. Based on the lack of certainty in his answer, it seems like Pickens might have indeed been late. However, Tomlin didn’t say that in an effort to cover for his guy. It’s a thing every player wants their coach to do. With a player like Pickens, though, Tomlin could be going too far in those efforts. Kinkhabwala sure thinks so.
