Despite being hot during the middle of the season, the Pittsburgh Steelers ended their year with a whimper. Yet again, they were trounced in the first round of the playoffs. The Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since 2016, and their string of postseason losses is beginning to become extremely frustrating. Mike Tomlin has made it clear that’s a problem he’s willing to take responsibility for, but despite that, Pat Freiermuth isn’t losing faith in his head coach.
“We all believe in the process,” Freiermuth said Saturday night after the Steelers’ 28-14 loss to the Baltimore Ravens via The Black and Gold Zone on WPXI. “We all have the utmost trust in Coach [Tomlin] as a leader, as a guy leading us. Utmost trust in Omar [Khan] and in the front office and their vision. We just gotta get it right.”
Freiermuth’s message echoes what other Steelers have said about the team’s postseason issues. Although Tomlin wants to carry the blame, many of them believe it’s a problem for which the whole team shares the burden. That’s fair. It’s not like Tomlin has been the Steelers’ only issue.
Freiermuth was asked after the franchise’s fifth straight playoff loss why he still believes in Tomlin and the Steelers’ process.
“That’s what we’re supposed to do as a person in this career,” he said. “You just gotta continue to believe and give everything you got. If you don’t believe, then you’re not gonna be quite successful. So, we’re gonna get past this and we’re gonna swing again next year.”
Despite the loss being so fresh, it sounds like Freiermuth believes the Steelers can get this monkey off their backs. He’s right to not give up hope. Only win team can win the Super Bowl every year. It’s not easy in any way. With an organization as prestigious as the Steelers, the standard is championships. Anything less can feel like a failure, even though it’s an incredibly difficult goal to achieve.
The Steelers are going to have to do something different next year to achieve different results. For the past few years, it’s felt like they’ve been chasing their own tails. They’ve continued to record the same result.
It is impressive that they’ve continued to be competitive without a franchise quarterback, but that doesn’t make this mediocrity feel any better. The Steelers still have an incredibly talented roster. Yet players like T.J. Watt and Minkah Fitzpatrick have yet to experience a playoff victory.
We’ll see what changes the Steelers make this offseason. The Steelers will have a chance to swing again next year, but if they want to actually hit the ball and not just strike out, they’re going to need to improve somewhere. Freiermuth and other players believes in Tomlin and the Steelers’ management for a reason. They need to prove that faith is well-placed.
