Sunday was a unique opportunity for Steelers fans, as there was plenty of football to watch and no Steelers game to fret over. That said while watching Joe Flacco lead the Browns to a win and the Cowboys move the ball with relative ease, it really makes it hard to stomach being a Steelers fan right now.
The Steelers have lost back-to-back games against two of the worst teams in football at home. Their offense has failed to move the ball, and the defense has lacked any consistency, looking like an elite defense at times before getting gashed for big plays. Seeing the likes of Jake Browning and a decrepit Joe Flacco have better individual games than any Steelers quarterback has had this season is frustrating.
While the Steelers don’t have elite talent everywhere on this team, I find it hard to fault the players. The offense has multiple weapons and a continually improving line while the defense has superstars at every level and is one of the highest-paid units in the league. Yet this team can’t score and consistently allows opposing offenses to remain alive in games.
While coaching isn’t the only blame either, it is starting to look like the bigger issue. I have never been a part of the adamant “Fire Mike Tomlin Crowd” but I have become critical of his style. Despite being one of the most successful coaches in the game, he has little to show for it, especially over the past ten seasons.
What is the Steelers defense for keeping Tomlin?
While watching these games on Sunday I was left asking that question to myself. In a league where points are scored in bulk and teams have to adjust to win, what is Tomlin doing right for this organization right now?
The offense has been in shambles since the end of Ben Roethlisberger's career. Instead of trying to revamp this unit and make it a competitor to the likes of the Chiefs or Bills, the team opted for an uber-conservative route. Pound the defense into submission and win low-scoring games, all the while top offenses were putting up 30 or more points every week.
The defense has felt like a work in progress for too many seasons. This unit was firing on all cylinders in 2019 but has struggled to consistently be elite. While an underperforming unit given the build, I can’t give a lot of fault to the defense. They have held teams to 20 or fewer points in eight games this season. The offense hasn’t been able to capitalize.
Surely this was Matt Canada’s fault, as he alone was limiting this offense and causing it to struggle. Once he was fired this unit put up over 400 total yards, so everything was fixed, right? Well, the previous two losses were much of the same, as the offense struggled to move the ball and score.
This team looks like a shell of itself right now, and that has been building for a few seasons with subpar play despite talking and acting like the Steelers of old. I’ve written a few posts critiquing Tomlin and his style, and having a clear head to watch other teams this Sunday didn’t help those opinions.
The Steelers have failed to adjust to the quarterback
The modern NFL game has seemingly passed by Tomlin and the Steelers. While he had early success in a more defensive-minded world, the game has become quicker and higher-scoring in recent years. While a slight change of pace, this certainly isn’t a unique problem. Teams with the top offenses and best quarterbacks were always the true competitors in the NFL.
Tomlin had that when Roethlisberger was in his prime, but this team still fell short. As that era faded, this team switched its focus to a conservative mindset. The coaches being brought in were all “safe” options, including Canada as offensive coordinator.
In order to become a top team and consistently win, you need to take risks. If you don’t, your team will fall by the wayside. The Chiefs and Bills traded up to land their top quarterbacks, risking future drafts for the chance to get their guy. They took players with elite traits even if they needed refinement as players. They both panned out and now both of their teams are among the elite in the NFL.
What’s funny is that both teams squared away a position that had been in question for a long time. The Bills were coming off the disaster that was EJ Manuel for them. They swung and missed, but that didn’t deter them from taking another shot at a quarterback even after Tyrod Taylor found some footing as a starter.
The Chiefs had solely gone the free-agent route before landing Mahomes. From Matt Cassel to Alex Smith, the Chiefs were regulars in the playoffs but lacked the elite play from the position. Mahomes has certainly given them that.
The Steelers drafted a “safer” quarterback with the hope of being competitors again sooner. That hasn’t even transpired, but if it had, what would the upside of been? Most viewed Pickett with the ceiling of a low-end starter. The league is full of those, and while they can win, they rarely lead to sustained success.
Andy Dalton developed into a long-term starter for the Bengals, but once he was paid the team couldn’t keep elite talent around him. Derek Carr was a similar story. The main difference is that each of those players had good showings early on.
It is unclear what the Steelers will do at the position moving forward but opting to go the safe route has seemingly bit them in the butt. If not, this team will likely continue to meddle in mediocrity.
The Steelers have failed to build a competent team
In a similar vein as the quarterback position, this team has gone from one of the strongest roster constructions to one of the weaker ones. Gone are the days of an elite defense and a high-flying offense. Even the Killer B’s era was a letdown, but at least the focus was on building a dynamic offense that unfortunately couldn’t gel long-term.
This roster has completely fallen off in recent years. Part of that comes from the draft strategy. This isn’t completely Tomlin’s fault, as the draft was primarily handled by former GM Kevin Colbert, but he certainly had his hand in the pot.
Take a look at the last half dozen or so Colbert draft classes. The argument for building this team completely shifted. Instead of investing in highly coveted positions along the trenches, this team looked for complimentary pieces to fill immediate needs.
Najee Harris and Devin Bush stand out as examples here. Bush was a bust for a variety of reasons, but even if he was a better player, he would have needed a better front seven to actually shine. Harris has found some limited success, but he has failed to become an elite, first-round-worthy running back. In the meantime, the offensive line and defensive lines continued to regress but little to no investment was made.
Free agency was also an issue. This team for the longest time subscribed to the “build through the draft and retain your talent” mantra of roster construction. This is a good one when you are drafting and developing well. The Steelers haven’t been.
A team with a similar mantra ran into the same issue a few seasons ago. The Bengals had been a similar build of a team for the longest time, but with them constantly struggling and finally cutting bait with Dalton, they decided to acquire bigger-name free agents. Wisely, a lot of this money was spent along the trenches, although some flashier pieces were added as well. This was a key reason for the early success of Joe Burrow.
The Steelers have mostly kept to the same strategy though. While they are willing to spend a little more than in seasons past, they still aren’t going after elite names in free agency. They also have shown a willingness to part with their own, as was the case with Cam Sutton last year.
Again, roster construction isn’t only on the head coach, but a coach as tenured as Tomlin has a say in roster construction. Every facet has seemingly fallen off, and it has caused the talent on this roster to significantly fall off.
The Steelers standard is no longer what it was
This is my biggest complaint with Tomlin as a coach. For the longest time, this team was always building with a Super Bowl in mind. Chuck Noll did that for the longest time, and when the game passed by him, the team turned to Bill Cower. In a similar vein, this team eventually turned to Tomlin.
Initially, the fit was good. This team won a Super Bowl and was among the league's best units. As time went on, it seemed like the league had passed by Tomlin. While tenured coaches can adjust to the game (just look at Andy Reid), sometimes you have to move on. We may be getting to that point with Tomlin.
As the league was shifting to a more offensive and pass-happy unit, the Steelers stood pat. While some of that was due to still having Roethlisberger around, we got to see this team get built how Tomlin wanted in recent years. The offense was supposed to be a low-scoring, grinding unit that would slowly win games. That in comparison to the high-scoring offenses of the Chiefs, Bills, and Bengals always seemed like a mistake.
Coaching was a similar conservative story. Relatively no names were promoted from within, and while this is good for the majority of the staff, it doesn’t make sense when coaches aren’t growing. We see a slew of coordinators become coveted assets each offseason, but the Steelers neither have those assets to give away nor pursue any of those bigger coaching options when needed.
To me, that is where the standard has fallen. While the team will claim to be a Super Bowl competitor each season, that isn’t always the case, and it is easy to see through. What this team is every season is the face of mediocrity. The Steelers are sitting in mellow water. While that doesn’t yield the low of waves, it also doesn’t yield the highs.
I feel like the standard of this team has shifted to winning seasons and not Super Bowls. The playoff success has been stifled in recent years, and now defenders of Tomlin are quick to point out that he hasn’t had a losing season.
While that is a successful stat, it doesn’t mean much if this team isn’t succeeding beyond that. I will happily take a losing season or two if it also yielded some playoff or Super Bowl success. Consistently shooting for average is maddening.
Look at how this team acts in any given week. Blowout losses to teams are met with the same response as when the unit wins. Gameplans are consistent and rarely change even when they aren’t working. Look at the offense and defense. Despite constant struggles, nothing ever really changes. It has been like this for years.
This offseason will be very telling for the Steelers. No, they don’t need to fire Tomlin or move on from Pickett necessarily, but something needs to give. Let’s lock up a top-tier offensive coordinator to start and maybe even build out the coaching staff. Let's add talent at important positions as opposed to devalued ones.
This will inherently mean risks, especially if a new quarterback is added to the mix. That risk could lead to some early lackluster results, but it is all about the end game here. I’m doubtful that changes though. As this season wraps up, I’m really struggling to see the defense of why the Steelers are keeping Tomlin.