The face Mike Tomlin makes in the photo above is similar to the one he sports during every disappointing Pittsburgh Steelers’ loss. On Thursday, they lost to Joe Flacco and the Cincinnati Bengals in an extremely frustrating game. That loss now makes him 0-7 in road Thursday night games against divisional opponents, a trend that Evan Cohen thinks is a sign the Steelers and Tomlin could part ways after the season.
“This was a golden opportunity,” Cohen said Friday on ESPN’s Unsportsmanlike. “A losing season? On the table. Mike Tomlin and the Steelers breaking up after this season? On the table. Rodgers not playing after this season? On the table. This was a, literally, shoot yourself in the foot kind of game. It’s ridiculous that they lost this game.”
It’s a quick change of mind for Cohen. He praised Tomlin for the job he’s doing so far this season less than two weeks ago. And to be clear, this is more speculation from him than anything else as he doesn’t have any sources in the Steelers’ building. But his issue stems from consistent struggles under Tomlin, which have been there.
Mike Tomlin can’t win these AFC North road Thursday night games, but that’s not the only struggle he’s had. During the game, he tied an NFL record for going 56 consecutive games without scoring more than seven points in the first quarter. Genuinely, that is a hard stat to wrap your head around. Seven points isn’t terrible, but you’d expect to at least have a touchdown and a field goal one time in the first quarter in the past three seasons.
Another thing fans are frustrated with regarding Tomlin is the lack of adjustments throughout a game. Blame should be assigned to Teryl Austin, and it has, but we know Tomlin has influence on the defense. And that defense was terrible Thursday. The Bengals came into the game as one of the worst rushing teams of all time through six games, and they managed to run for 142 yards, with Chase Brown averaging 9.8 yards per carry.
That’s just not acceptable, and neither was the effort against the pass. The Steelers made no adjustments there, despite Ja’Marr Chase and the rest of the offense beating them over the middle time and time again. The loss is frustrating, but it’s more frustrating for fans when the team doesn’t try to do anything different.
That said, the most likely answer is that Tomlin isn’t going anywhere. He’s under contract through 2027, and it would be very unlike the Steelers to move on from him two years before his contract ends.
Mike Tomlin will still be around and he has plenty of season left. As much doom and gloom as there is, the Steelers still hold first place in the division at 4-2. They let an opportunity slip but control their own destiny in the AFC North. Tomlin can still break these norms, but until he does, the questions about his future two years from now only grow louder.
