Steelers Must Fire Mike Tomlin
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The Pittsburgh Steelers have, quite famously, had three head coaches in 50 seasons.
It’s time for four in 51.
True, it’s not a sin to lose to the New Orleans Saints on the road. The New Orleans Saints might be the best team in football and one of the few with a roster that can match Pittsburgh’s.
It’s not so much head coach Mike Tomlin’s strategic decision to attempt a fake punt late in the game on 4th and 5 from the Steelers 42-yard-line. If Pittsburgh makes it they can run out the clock (though with New Orleans having three time outs it would have been tough) and never give Drew Brees a final possession. If you don’t the field is short enough to have enough time on the clock to come back.
Logical, but wouldn’t you rather have Ben Roethlisberger attempt to pick up 4th and 5 instead of Roosevelt Nix?
No, it was Nix celebrating, thinking he has a first down after clearly being held a yard short.
That act was a microcosm of the Pittsburgh Steelers under Tomlin. They not only didn’t realize what was going on, they didn’t even suspect what was going on!
Lack of discipline has been commonplace for the Pittsburgh Steelers throughout the Tomlin regime.
Per a 2014 column by New York Post columnist Phil Mushnick:
In an irony-rich collision of circumstances, Steelers wide receiver Santonio Holmes was voted the 2009 Super Bowl MVP when he as easily could forever be known as the most infamous all-about-me stylist in Super Bowl history.
With the Cardinals up 23–20 and under a minute left, Holmes caught a pass, then ran to the Arizona 6. The clock was running; Pittsburgh had one timeout left. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger desperately waved his team to the line, perhaps to spike the ball to stop the clock …
… but then, he spotted Holmes, who was beyond the new line of scrimmage, engaged in an obligatory self-impressed routine. He was too busy me-dancing to think, know or care about anything else.
The Steelers had to use their last timeout. With 35 seconds left, Roethlisberger threw the winning touchdown pass — to Holmes.
Mike Tomlin was Pittsburgh’s coach then and now. And nothing has changed. Tomlin’s teams still regularly provide aid, comfort and 15 yards for misconduct to the enemy. No change from Holmes, either. He brought his me-first act to the Jets.
Sunday, after catching a touchdown pass from Roethlisberger, Steelers receiver Antonio Brown did his best to enable the previously 0–3 Buccaneers’ stunning upset in Pittsburgh.
Brown, who in 2012 was fined $10,000 for excessively immodest and taunting unsportsmanlike conduct, spun the ball on its tip, then, in a continuing, plain stupid performance, stood at attention, then fell like a tree, as if he still hadn’t gotten over himself.
Fifteen yards.
And Tomlin started his coaching career at Virginia Military?
Barring unforeseen circumstances the Pittsburgh Steelers will miss the playoffs this season, despite the fact they assuredly have one of the top 12 rosters in the NFL. Hall of Fame quarterback leading the NFL in passing yards who realistically could put up the third-highest mark in that statistic of all time this season. Pro Bowl running back, conference’s top pass rush, quality line, exceptional receivers and a defense ranked ninth in the NFL that is allowing less than 100 yards rushing a game.
The secondary could use some work, but it’s not such an Achilles heel that it can’t be overcome. Tom Brady and Phil Rivers were held to less than 300 yards passing against Pittsburgh in recent weeks.
Tomlin supporters point to the fact he’s never had a losing season. But the fact is Tomlin teams underachieve. Since when is winning eight games with superior talent considered quality coaching?
The Denver Broncos won the Super Bowl three seasons ago immediately after firing John Fox, who, much like Tomlin, had won a conference championship and never had a losing record in Denver.
Historically, the Oakland Raiders won the Super Bowl in 1980 after John Madden left. Madden never had a losing record.
Tomlin teams consistently play to the level of their opponent, the leading sign of a poorly coached team. Instead of beating a 2–10 team by a couple of touchdowns, they find themselves in position to lose on a late fourth down touchdown pass and then blame a kicker for slipping on wet turf for the loss.
Or an X-Ray machine. Or a bad call. Or anyone but themselves, which is the mindset of Nix when he so revealingly celebrated NOT doing his job.
How many more seasons does Roethlisberger, who was already on Pittsburgh’s roster when Tomlin arrived, have? Can the Steelers trust a former defensive coordinator who consistently greased the skids for quality backup quarterback Charlie Batch, only to see Batch repeatedly keep his job under the circumstances, or who more recently felt the likes of Landry Jones and Michael Vick were worth spots on his roster as backup to find his replacement in two to five years?
It has become time to wonder if the Steelers would have won the Super Bowl under Tomlin in 2008 if Tom Brady had not been injured for the entirety of the season.
It has become time to fire Mike Tomlin.
Marky Billson hosts Tri-Cities Sports NOW on 1420 WEMB Sports Radio 12–2 p.m. ET weekdays. Watch his show live and archived here and here.
