It’s possible that the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defeat was their worst result under Mike Tomlin
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ loss to the Arizona Cardinals is one that could go down as one of the worst in the Mike Tomlin era. Three of the Steelers’ four losses this year have seemingly been considered “the worst of the Tomlin era,” and right there lies the problem. At the time, losing to the Houston Texans seemed to be quite an embarrassment. A rookie quarterback making his fourth NFL start should’ve had the Steelers salivating. Instead, CJ Stroud hung 30 points on the Steelers with 300-plus yards and a couple of touchdowns. We now see that the Texans might just be a good football team as they sit 7-5 with the Steelers..
Then, the Cleveland Browns defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers in Cleveland a few weeks ago. During Ben Roethlisberger’s tenure, the Steelers would never consider losing to the Browns away from home. He was rightfully the owner of them.
The Browns defeated the Steelers 13–10 because to an unbelievable performance by Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who ultimately prompted the Steelers to fire Matt Canada and his dreadfully bad offensive scheme.
It should have come as a shock to every employee in the company. In season, the Steelers do not terminate their coaches. They should have sent shockwaves through the organization when they did it with Canada. They put points on the board and won 16–10 last week.
They appeared utterly unprepared against the Cardinals, and several of the players’ postgame comments and gestures suggest that they are actually shaken up after this loss. On Thursday night, the New England Patriots will take on another “cupcake” opponent—the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Look, one of the greatest regular season coaches in history is Mike Tomlin. Having no losing seasons on his record is a wonderful addition to his resume. But, it means nothing because they haven’t won the playoffs since 2017. If the Steelers consistently end up with a bad record and receive a mediocre first-round choice that isn’t considered a guy that can “alter franchises,” it doesn’t matter.
These are the kind of hires Tomlin makes, which i
s why I brought up the scandal in Canada before. He hires players that pose no challenge to his position as head coach, and as a result, he lacks a coaching tree. He’s losing ground to the younger head coaches more and more.Ryans Demeco. Gannon, Jonathan. Shanahan Kyle. Stefan Kevin. This season, Tomlin has been defeated by these four head coaches. These are four of the more well-liked younger football coaches, even though every NFL coach save Bill Belichick was hired more recently than Mike Tomlin. It’s starting to catch on.
Without stating it out loud, Tomlin feels confidently that he is superior to hires like Teryl Austin, Randy Fichtner, Mike Sullivan, Matt Canada, Eddie Faulkner, and Mike Canada. He is aware that the Pittsburgh position is his to have as long as he wants it. That is the simple truth. He takes care to be surrounded with “yes men.”
