“YOU ARE THE WORSE COACH I EVER MET” Star player disparaging Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin.
The Pittsburgh Steelers were experiencing one of the greatest runs of success in football a month ago—they were doing more with fewer resources. The Steelers had a 7–4 record going into Week 13, despite having a limited (read: bad) quarterback in Kenny Pickett, an awful offensive coordinator who had recently been fired, and a defense that gave up yards in large quantities. Despite losing the yardage margin in every game, the team had already become the first in league history to sit above.500 through nine or more games.
Both that Dec. 3 game and the following week’s matchup with the New England Patriots, who also had just two victories to their record, would take place at home against the 2-10 Arizona Cardinals. In spite of Pittsburgh’s shortcomings, both opponents ought to have been fairly easy pickings for a team headed for the playoffs; however, the Steelers created additional history by becoming the first winning team to lose a run of games to teams that were eight games below.500. Last Saturday, the Indianapolis Colts, who had allowed the Steelers to take an early 13-0 lead before scoring 27 straight points, suffered yet another defeat. At 7-7 right now, head coach Mike Tomlin’s team has little chance of qualifying for the AFC playoffs.
Can the downfall of a football team be both predictable and unexpected at the same time? Yes, the Steelers respond. No one who was paying attention believed that the Steelers’ formula—be outplayed for the majority of the game but manage to win—could continue. (At least one team member stated as much while the recorders were running.) However, the Steelers’ performance in the last three games has been more than just a return to reality. Rather, there has been an unprecedented decline that accomplishes two goals: First of all, it establishes a new benchmark for the variety of ways a team can disintegrate simultaneously. And second, it takes a proud team with six Super Bowls remaining to admit that its tried-and-true formula isn’t working.
The collapse of the Steelers is a case study. It’s possible that they won’t learn from it or that they will. However, the chaos they’ve caused can be ignored by everyone on the planet. since it is astounding. Of course, this has sparked a once-sidebar debate about whether the Steelers should fire their mostly successful 17-year head coach, Mike Tomlin. But there’s wreckage to sort through in order to determine whether the Steelers should make that drastic move.
The Steelers’ on-field issues are not exclusive to them; they have many facets. They drafted second-year player Pickett in the first round out of the nearby University of Pittsburgh, and he is among the worst quarterbacks in the NFL. Although Pickett has performed horribly, he has also collaborated with Matt Canada, an incompetent offensive coordinator, for practically his whole career. A week prior to the start of this losing streak, the Steelers fired Canada, but their two appointed assistants haven’t fared much better. (The only encouraging thing was that the Steelers scored 400 yards in their first game back from Canada, ending a 58-game streak in which no team had previously accomplished that feat in the NFL.)
Pickett suffered an injury during the Arizona loss. After the most recent loss to Indianapolis, his backup, former No. 2 overall draft pick Mitchell Trubisky, was benched due to his poor play. Throughout the league, 2023 has been a year of solid backup play, with a variety of journeymen and late-round draft picks emerging to keep their teams competitive. The Cleveland Browns, who play in the AFC North opposite the Pittsburgh Steelers, have won games with players like rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson, selected in the fifth round, and Joe Flacco, a former Baltimore Raven who was out of football but is now 2–1 with Cleveland. After going undrafted in 2019 and never playing, Jake Browning has a 3-1 record for the Cincinnati Bengals.an NFL football match previously.
The Steelers lack an inventive offensive scheme and a demonstrable ability to develop offensive talent, which is why none of their quarterbacks have produced anything of the kind. The group has also done a poor job of sharing opportunities. There are two running backs in Pittsburgh. Last year, Jaylen Warren, the talented one, signed as an undrafted free agent. In 2021, Najee Harris—the bad guy—was selected in the first round. Because benching Harris would officially prove that drafting him was a waste, the Steelers frequently give Harris the ball. The Steelers have also experienced some bad breaks, just like any other team. Their middle defense has been severely damaged by injuries, losing the majority of their safeties and inside linebackers. For the remainder of the, another safety is not in.year after he was penalized for producing an excessive number of illicit hits.
Some teams manage their academic challenges and learn from them. Some contribute to the NFL’s reputation as a dominant force in entertainment by turning it into a soap opera. The latter is what the Steelers have obediently done all season. There was once a dramatic locker-room shouting match between a star safety and a receiver that made headlines throughout the entire league. Diontae Johnson, the same receiver, once set off a whole news cycle by extravagantly celebrating a pointless touchdown at the conclusion of a game. Another instance involved him observing as the opposition recovered a fumble next to him and made off with it. (Johnson expressed regret the next week.)
