Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney II isn’t concerned about many things despite the team’s five-game collapse, a historically bad finish that ended in a Wild Card defeat to their AFC North rivals. He’s not worried about the size of the team’s coaching staff, lessons to be learned from missing on QB Kenny Pickett, or if Mike Tomlin’s message has gone stale.
Speaking to reporters Monday, Rooney offered full faith that Tomlin’s message effectively reached players, even if a five-game losing streak isn’t a great way to show it.
“It’s fair to question that after losing five in a row,” Rooney told the media in audio provided by 93.7 The Fan this afternoon. “But when I talk to the players, I think the players still wanna play for Mike. So I’m not concerned about his message or that kind of an issue.”
It’s similar commentary he gave elsewhere during the media scrum, defending and backing Tomlin as the right coach to lead the franchise.
Pittsburgh’s five-game losing streak was the team’s first such collapse since closing out the 1998 season. But the 2024 version hurt even more, given the Steelers’ 10-3 start that had them viewed as Super Bowl contenders. Instead, they fell into the same finish, one-and-done, and have still not had a playoff win since 2016.
Offensively, the team couldn’t score. They were held at or under 17 points over those five losses, something they hadn’t done since Chuck Noll’s first season in 1969. Defensively, they couldn’t stop the run and struggled to communicate busting coverages in regular season losses to the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs. Even special teams waned as the coverage units struggled down the stretch.
Despite speculation about the team trading Mike Tomlin and at least two teams reportedly inquiring, there was no chance of the Steelers moving on. This is partially due to the $50 million extension Tomlin received last June and partially because the Steelers are as patient as any team in pro sports, often to a fault. Tomlin will be given the chance to see it through, but there are still high odds of joining Noll and Bill Cowher as head coaches who go out on their own terms.
The longer the Steelers’ drought drags on, the more heat Rooney, Tomlin, and the organization will feel. Even for a team that does their best to tune out the noise, those sounds from the outside have become deafening. How much change it creates and how much better the results get remain to be seen.
