The Steelers season has been an absolute mess so far. While a 2-2 record doesn’t scream that the sky is falling, this team has been pathetically bad. From an offense that has failed to do much of anything to a defense that has struggled more than we expected, this team looks like a mess despite the okay record.
Unfortunately, this has become a trend for Steelers as of late. This team, no matter the talent on hand, has been consistently disappointing. These inconsistencies have caused middling starts, and even when this team finds some footing (as was the case in the second half of last year), it is too little, too late.
I have never been the biggest supporter or detractor of Mike Tomlin. On one hand, I recognize how hard it is to win in the NFL, and the fact that Tomlin has yet to record a losing season is impressive. On the other hand, this team has failed to live up to expectations during this span, and while winning is nice, they have failed to capitalize in the playoffs and with a Super Bowl appearance.
The Steelers are a notably loyal franchise to coaches, and that seems to work better than churning through them every couple of years. Over the past few seasons, it has become clear though. The Steelers have a Tomlin problem, and I’m not sure what the answer should be.
This has been an ongoing problem for the Steelers
We saw this problem begin to develop in the early 2010s. A lot of the elite defenders that called Pittsburgh home retired, and the team had to rebuild itself. It did that quite well on paper, establishing an elite offense headlined by the infamous “Killer Bs” that kept this team at the top of the AFC North.
That period, while fruitful on paper, yielded very little for this team. The occasional playoff run was always ended painfully, and despite the team having the best receiver, running back, and offensive line (to go along with a future Hall of Fame quarterback), this franchise has nothing to show for it.
And then that period began to decline. Ben Roethlisberger continued to age, Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell had their respective derailments, and the line retired. This team was still competitive but was falling off. Big changes needed to be made in order to adapt to the new NFL, but this team remained consistent.
Consistency can become an issue though, when it doesn't lead to any major success. The Steelers haven't been to a Super Bowl in nearly 15 years, and they haven't won a playoff game in almost 8 years. Instead, it has been consistently average to above average teams that do just enough to win but not enough to thrive.
Tomlin and the Steelers live in their fears
For a coach who famously said that he doesn’t live in his fears, the opposite seems to be true. From the top down, this is a conservative team that is adverse to change. While this is logical when you are dominating for periods of time, the same isn’t true when you aren’t. The NFL is in constant influx of change. While chasing the new hot system isn’t always wise, updating your outdated schemes and practices is, especially when the results aren’t there.
While some will argue longer, the results haven’t been there since 2016, the last year the Steelers won a playoff game. As the league shifted to more pass-happy and college-like schemes, the team continued to rally around a declining Roethlisberger. This didn’t just include the players, but also the coaching staff.
Randy Fichtner was hand-picked to allow Roethlisberger the most freedom to run this offense how he wanted to. That was a mistake. It sounds weird to say it, but the team looking through the college ranks for Matt Canada, at the time was logical. He would step in for Fitchner and help this offense modernize after Roethlisberger retired.
That hasn’t been the case. Year one was excusable, as Roethlisberger was still at the helm and there wasn’t a lot he could do. Last year was a train wreck though, and instead of firing Canada, Tomlin decided to roll with what he knew.
And then there is the defense that was so hot and cold under Keith Butler. The team promoted Teryl Austin as opposed to looking outside of the organization, and the results have been as expected. Despite a highly-paid defense, this unit has been lackluster for the most part.
I think the coaching tree is one of the worst traits of Tomlin. Akin to what this section is focused on, he keeps things safe, especially with his primary coordinators. We see elite teams have their coordinators targeted for head coaching gigs. That has never been the case with Tomlin, as he keeps to what he knows and promotes coaches. Again, this is fine when the results are there, but when they haven’t been there, things need to change.
Let's talk about the current season
This decline has been steadily happening for a while, but suddenly there was hope. Despite the rebuild not going as planned for me (I was never a fan of building around the running game and the ceiling of Kenny Pickett), everything actually looked like it was going well this offseason. Free agency saw some core names be added, a strong draft class filled out the roster, and this team looked smooth during the preseason.
Then the regular season began, and things went right back to how they have been. The offense was and continues to be horrible, and the defense has been below the bar. Even in wins against Cleveland and Las Vegas, this team still looks incompetent at times. Getting blown out by a talented 49ers team was hard, but having the same happen against the Texans is inexcusable.
While overreacting and making brash choices isn’t the best response, Tomlin has had these same issues on this team for a while now. He just doesn’t have the talent to overcome them. This team commits itself to a half of football in a conservative scheme and will only adjust it slightly if they are getting decimated at halftime. There are little to no in-game adjustments, as this team remains focused on doing just enough to scrape by.
This is equally true week to week. Despite an offense that hasn’t worked outside of arguably the Raiders game, this scheme remains constant. Part of that is on Canada, but the head coach is also in charge of setting the tone. The same can be said for the defense, as the secondary has been tough each week and the run defense is pitiful. The same players and the same concepts are the response.
Even in a week of “big changes” the only thing that has changed, according to Tomlin, is that this team is going to practice harder. That is a slap in the face for a team that has, to this point looked and played like one of the worst in the league.
I don’t anticipate a change either. This team will continue on at the lowly pace that they are accustomed to. The sky won’t fall, and this team will rebound at times. Heck, I almost expect them to do just that against the Ravens. That said, they will continue to fall short of the elite tier in the NFL and will flounder in the mid-tier of professional football.
Great coaches elevate their teams and adjust to the time. A bad season here and a bad season there are allowed due to their continued success. The Steelers don’t have that, and while they lack the bad seasons of other teams, they also lack the success. This is the Tomlin problem at its core, and I’m starting to get tired of it.