The Pittsburgh Steelers spent $73.6 million dollars on Minkah Fitzpatrick on Wednesday to lock up his services for the next four seasons. Steeler Nation has reacted in an overwhelmingly positive fashion to the news. Outside of Pittsburgh reactions have been a little different as evidenced by Colin Cowherd addressing the signing on his national radio program Thursday afternoon.
Cowherd in general can come off a bit smarmy and generally has no respect for the defensive side of the football. He is consistently praising offensive coaches like the Los Angeles Rams' Sean McVay and consistently criticizes defensive coaches like Pete Carroll. He is based in Los Angeles, so I get the left coast favoritism, but today he turned his disdain for defensive philosophy on Mike Tomlin and the Steelers.
“A defensive coach in a clearly offensive league, and after the Minkah Fitzpatrick signing, the Steelers now have the most expensive defense in the NFL. Number 1 and the least money in the NFL invested in offense, number 32. That ain’t great in 2022.”
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Cowherd has been critical of Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers offense recently. He has called them everything from a soap opera and reality show when Antonio Brown and Le'Veon Bell were running wild for the Steelers, to saying that Roethlisberger was done, and the Steelers were not very good last year. Although after the Monday Night Football game specifically, he praised Roethlisberger’s valiant comeback as one last gasp from a great player.
What Cowherd is missing when he criticizes defensive coaches like Tomlin, Carroll and even Bill Belichick is that if you do not have an elite quarterback under center leading your offense, you must do something different to win football games. Investing in mediocre offense to compete with elite offensive teams like the Kansas City Chiefs for example is a recipe to lose consistently. I hope Mitch Trubisky and Kenny Pickett are wildly successful in the Steelers new offense, but realistically that success would be defined in my mind with a middle of the pack offense. If the Steelers are league average on offense and elite on defense, you can win playoff games and be a Super Bowl contender even in 2022. Cowherd continued:
"The standard in Pittsburgh used to be winning Super Bowls. You know what they brag about now, uh Mike Tomlin’s never had a losing season. I mean that’s not negative, but that’s something like the Browns would be happy with, I mean seriously take it to college football. Would Ohio State ever brag about you know our coaches have never had a losing season?"
The Steelers have not won a playoff game in since beating Alex Smith and Andy Reid 18-16 in Kansas City on January 15, 2017. The New England Patriots soundly beat the Steelers the next week and they have lost four consecutive playoff games at this point. They have been outscored 171 to 117 and have not given up less than 42 points in the last three playoff games. It is a good point by Cowherd, I am not calling for Tomlin’s job but if the Steelers are pivoting to ball control and defense, they must keep the opposing offenses off the field with long drives that result in touchdowns. Tomlin deserves some patience while the team pivots, but the Steelers have to have playoff success in the near future, or his coaching seat is going to get warm.
"I mean I am all for giving T.J. Watt as much as he wants. He is insane and there is a handful of defensive players, Aaron Donald you show the bag. But a star safety? The Steelers defense last year was ranked 24th. Pass rush anchored by T.J. Watt exceptional, but it was uh, it was 24th. I’d scale back on the big raises for the defensive guys not named T.J. Watt."
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Fitzpatrick along with Watt has clearly demonstrated he is an impact player. Watt is superhuman, but if they do not trade for Fitzpatrick in 2019, they do not sniff the playoffs that year. $18.4 million per year is a lot of money for a safety, but the salary cap keeps going up, and thanks to Omar Khan’s first big move as general manager, the Steelers actually increased their cap space with the deal. No one thought Christian Kirk was worth $18 million a year, but the Jacksonville Jaguars paid him that. With a salary cap likely to increase to $300 million dollars over the next couple of years, Steeler fans may need to get used to huge contracts for elite players. Fitzpatrick is elite. Cowherd concluded:
"Ask yourself as a Steeler fan, when they got to the Super Bowl and lost to Green Bay, did you go out and party that night? No. Steelers don’t just do Super Bowls, they get to them against Arizona and win, they get to them all sorts of times with Terry Bradshaw, when they got to one with Big Ben against Seattle, they won. What’s the Standard? I don’t know, it feels to me a defensive coach, 32nd in offensive spending and 1st in defensive spending that is not a place I want to be in 2022."
The most famous Tomlinism is “The standard is the standard.” Cowherd is choosing his language carefully by questioning if the standard has changed. The Steelers have had some bad luck in their recent playoff appearances, but they have started four playoff games in a row falling into deep holes that even Roethlisberger’s insane ability to storm back could not dig out of against Jacksonville, Cleveland and Kansas City. I believe in the Steelers new direction, and Najee Harris, like Derrick Henry, is the type of back who can help you control the football and win games. If it does not work, then Khan and Tomlin will have to reload not rebuild, fast.
What do you think, Steeler Nation? Cowherd is questioning the Steelers new standard. Is he off base? Isn't he? Please comment below or on my Twitter @thebubbasq.
