Welcome to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; a low key blue collar city on the East coast. Legendary players and coaches have donned the black and yellow. Six time Super Bowl champions with plenty of stories to tell. Steelers fans of young and old relish waving the “terrible towel” in a battle cry. For this version of Pittsburgh there have been nothing but questions and no answers. Where do we begin with dissecting this concerning issue?
Firing offensive coordinator Matt Canada was the first step in shifting the play calling for quarterback Kenny Pickett. Pushing the ball downfield to wide receivers Diontae Johnson and George Pickens. Power run game with Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren. Defensive star power with TJ Watt and Cam Heyward with a great supporting cast. But…here's the outlining issue: winning games with subpar offense and defense isn’t the new NFL.
In a sport with high powered offenses, Head Coach Mike Tomlin has failed to evolve as a coach and adapt with how the game is played. Yes, the blame is enough to go around, and it starts with Coach Tomlin. The objective is having an offense to score 30+ points on a weekly basis. Playing to hold opponents to under 20 points is a thing of the past. But the truth is bigger than the offense; the scheme and lack of Kenny Pickett’s play trickles down to everyone. As we witnessed in a span of four days, Pittsburgh became the first team to lose (2) games with teams being well below .500 Those teams were Arizona and New England. Not the Steelers we’re accustomed to seeing. The friction is beyond repair with four games left in 2023.
Mike Tomlin never had a losing season in his tenure; but that will work against him as Pittsburgh looks to regroup for a final playoff push. Coach Tomlin is a defensive minded guy; but the offensive staff is lackadaisical. Fans haven’t seen a deep playoff run since 2016; when they reached the AFC title game against New England. Since then, little is desired as far as being a Super Bowl contender. The standard is competing for championships; not keeping a streak of winning seasons going.
With four weeks left in the season, there’s not much time to fix this issue. As I’ve studied the team, Pittsburgh needs a strong offensive coordinator to mold Kenny Pickett. Build his confidence and open the potential he possesses. You can’t keep playing short fields with a makeshift offense who can’t score points. Making the same mistakes week in and out has caught up with everyone. This is obvious with Diontae Johnson; whose frustrations are boiling over with each loss. Nobody will feel sorry for your lack of production, but a player needs to hold himself accountable as well. Coaches need to have a heart to heart talk about how they can improve this team and try to right the ship. Coach Tomlin needs to be held accountable for this team’s underperforming efforts.
Pittsburgh doesn’t fire head coaches in any magnitude. Three head coaches in franchise history: Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin have all been very successful. But this feels like a change will occur upon the conclusion of 2023. IF the Steelers can figure it out and go beyond the wild card round, fans would be acceptable to at least see a playoff game. For this to happen, it starts on offense and moving the ball downfield. Playing to the strengths of your quarterback and running the football; getting the receivers involved as well.
Defense has held their own, but even they must be flawless to help the offense win. It’s a double edge sword and the Steel melts rather quickly when things go AWOL early and get out of hand. Added pressure to heat and melt everything in sight. The Steelers will have to turn up and play these last four games like a playoff. A sense of urgency and the odds stacked against them. If Mike Tomlin is coaching for his job… Good luck and hope for the best.
Stai tuned….
