They say the teams playing thier best football tend to be the ones who have the most success in the postseason, and the Pittsburgh Steelers were doing anything but that ahead of Saturday’s AFC Wild Card showdown with Baltimore.
With a battle against their AFC South rivals standing in the way of a shot at advancing to the Divisional Round, the Steelers put up a less-than-inspired effort during an embarrassing 28-14 loss this weekend.
Russell Wilson went out and played relatively well, completing 20-of-29 for 270 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions, but it was Pittsburgh’s defense that let that game get out of hand. They seemingly had no answer for Ravens running back Derrick Henry, who put up 186 yards and two touchdowns in this one, while Lamar Jackson put up 81 yards of his own as Baltimore rushed for 299 yards and dominated the line of scrimmage.
The Ravens held the ball for nearly forty minutes and built a 21-0 first-half lead that was too big of a hole for Pittsburgh to overcome. Baltimore’s defense also made things tough, with the Steelers never reaching the red zone as the Ravens kept the pressure on all night. Their two touchdowns came in the second half on passes of 30 and 36 yards to Van Jefferson and George Pickens, respectively, but it was ultimately too little, too late.
Pittsburgh walked out of M&T Bank Stadium seeing their season come to an end, while kickstarting an offseason that appears to have plenty of questions about the future of not only their team, but also head coach, Mike Tomlin.
Fans down there aren’t happy, and it looks like Tomlin will be under the microscope in the coming months.
“Four straight losses to end the year, fifth one to cap it off in the playoffs. It’s kind of the Mike Tomlin special, is what it feels like,” said one fan after the game via CBS Pittsburgh. “The standard is the standard, the standard is just enough to games to not get fired.”
“I think he got too comfortable in there, and it’s time for a change,” said another.
The question now is whether or not ownership hears those comments and might start pondering the future of the franchise without him. Tomlin has yet to have a losing season during his tenure there, which, given the changes there in recent years, is a little crazy to think about.
Pickens Meltdown a Bad Look for Tomlin
Meanwhile, the fans are one thing, but even hearing from the players after the game, it’s clear that any message coming from leadership certainly isn’t getting through.
Pickens stood in front of the media following the loss, having already changed out of his uniform while also likely listening to whatever it was Tomlin had to say after the players came off the field.
Still, as the former Georgia receiver spoke, it absolutely felt like any encouraging words his coach might have said didn’t appear to have hit home.
When asked if he’s seen signs of growth with the offense, Pickens told reporters, “I’ve seen signs of growth for sure, from the first year I’ve been here, just way more growth, for sure.” However when asked if that makes him optimistic for the future, Pickens replied, “Uh, Nah.”
That’s definitely not a good sign.
And if you’ve watched Hard Knocks, the other side to this story is the fact that Pickens is a player who has had a tough time keeping himself in the game. One scene in the series showed Tomlin having to pull Pickens aside following a battle against the Bengals’ Cam Taylor-Britt in Week 13. On the play, Taylor-Britt hampered Pickens coming into his route, with Pickens losing his footing as Russell Wilson threw him the football.
Pickens slipped and fell, and with the Steelers wideout on the ground, Taylor-Britt stepped in front and took the ball back 51 yards the other way for a touchdown.
Pickens came off the field hanging his head, and Tomlin immediately pulled him to the side.
“I need you to stay with me,” implored Tomlin, who has his hand around the shoulder of the young receiver. “This s**t ain’t going to define the outcome for the game. It ain’t going to decide the outcome of the game.”
Pickens, kept his head down as Tomlin spoke, but Tomlin kept sending the message.
“Look at me!” said Tomlin. “You all right?” he asked, with Pickens finally saying, “Yes, sir.” Tomlin then gave him a hug, and said, “OK, let’s go.”
That moment essentially tells you a little about Pickens’ mindset. It also tells you that he clearly seems to let his emotions get the best of him and provides some additional context to Saturday’s comments.
Is Tomlin Thinking About Leaving?
At the same time, it shows that there are cracks when it comes to how the team is responding to its coach, and that’s usually the first time that a change might be necessary.
How far these issues extend certainly aren’t clear, but what is obvious is that Tomlin is clearly not in command, and it feels like the lack of success in Pittsburgh in January may start putting pressure on the club to consider moving on to what would only be their fourth coach since 1969.
Damien Woody said during a segment on ESPN that the time may finally be here for the Steelers to make a move.
“I think it’s time,” said Woody. “I think it’s time for the Pittsburgh Steelers to move in a different direction. I don’t say that lightly because I love Mike Tomlin. I love what he stands for. I love the mentality that he brings. But Mike Tomlin, who is a word magician, one of his things he always says is, ‘The standard is the standard.’ What is the standard in Pittsburgh right now? The standard right now is you’re talking about a guy in Mike Tomlin, who is the only Super Bowl winning coach to lose six-straight playoff games.”
“Six-straight one-and-dones. Is that the standard of the Pittsburgh Steelers? The Pittsburgh Steelers are one of the few blue-chip franchises we have in our league. They are about championships, not back-dooring getting into the playoffs and then losing, and you’re back home again. That’s not Pittsburgh, OK? So I don’t want to hear about quarterback, I don’t want to hear about the offensive system. There’s a bigger problem in the Steelers organization right now. And again, I can have affinity towards Mike Tomlin, but also in the same breath, understand that sometimes things run its course.”
Woody went on to cite what happened with Andy Reid, who moved on from Philadelphia and it clearly worked out. He wonders if the same might be true for Tomlin.
“We’ve seen it with Andy Reid in Philadelphia,” said Woody. “Andy Reid was tremendous. Took multiple quarterbacks to Super Bowls, had all types of success with the Philadelphia Eagles. But it ran its course, and he moved on to the Kansas City Chiefs, and the rest is history. Going to be considered one of the best coaches ever to coach in the National Football League. Right now, in my opinion, it’s time for the Pittsburgh Steelers to move on.”
Fellow analyst Tedy Bruschi agreed, and he wondered if Tomlin isn’t thinking that it might be time for him, himself, to move on.
“I’m with you in terms of the voice, and 18 years, and it’s been a while,” said Bruschi. “Mike Tomlin coached with his gut this year, talking about the quarterback position, with Justin Fields, ‘OK, I got Pickens, I got to bring in Russell Wilson.’ I wonder if his gut tells him the same thing. That, ‘It’s time for me to move on, because, are we going to get me another quarterback that I can win another championship with?'”
“Where does he want to be? That’s the thing too. Because I have to think that he thinks this could be time himself.”
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
