The Pittsburgh Steelers have been a disappointing squad with a record of just 5-7 this year, but a poll shows that fans believe Mike Tomlin is doing a good job.
I’m sure this hasn’t been the season we’ve all been hoping for. After a wild upset over the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1 this year, the Pittsburgh Steelers lost 6 of their next 7 games — including humiliating defeats against Super Bowl contenders like the Bills and Eagles.
Since their Week 9 bye, the Steelers look like they are starting to turn things around. They have won 3 of their last 4 games and have a point differential of +13 (as opposed to -77 over the first 8 games). Still, at 5-7, this is the worst start to a season that Mike Tomlin has ever had as a head coach.
Recently, Andrew Filliponi of 93.7 The Fan put out a poll on Twitter, asking Steelers fans if they thought that Tomlin was having a good season. The results spoke for themselves.
Is Mike Tomlin doing a good job this season?
— Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) December 6, 2022
There were over 5,900 fans who voted in this poll, and upwards of 60 percent of them concluded that Tomlin was indeed having a good season. So has this been the case?
Should Steelers fans be satisfied with Mike Tomlin in 2022?
Steelers fans have plenty of reason to complain about the 2022 season. Over the past several years, Kevin Colbert and the front office have dug themselves into a bit of a hole with some of the questionable choices they have made — particularly in the NFL Draft. Now we are starting to witness the results.
Since 2015, Pittsburgh has not drafted well at all on paper. They’ve missed on high draft picks like Devin Bush and Artie Burns while overvaluing guys like Terrell Edmunds and Najee Harris. Pittsburgh has also had its share of misses in the second and third rounds — Kendrick Green being among the most recent.
As a result, this Steelers team is truly lacking talent around the roster. Because of this, I do think that Mike Tomlin has more or less gotten the most out of his team so far. Obviously, I don’t love everything that he does. He has had a hand in some questionable coaching hires in recent years that really haven’t panned out.
If we were grading Tomlin before the bye week, I would say that the answer is a resounding ‘no.’ He was not doing a great job. However, we do need to give the Steelers head coach some credit. This team has a record of 3-1 since the bye week (albeit against unspectacular opponents). But Pittsburgh is at least trending in the right direction and Kenny Pickett seems to be making progress.
It will be interesting to see what type of finish the Pittsburgh Steelers have to their 2022 season. Since 2007, Tomlin has never had a losing record. Until proven otherwise, we should all at least give him the benefit of the doubt. He’s having a good season, considering the circumstances.