The Pittsburgh Steelers have been on a roller coaster ride in 2023. They beat the Cleveland Browns with Deshaun Watson and the Baltimore Ravens with Lamar Jackson. They have also lost consecutive home games to 10 loss teams. The worst part for Steeler Nation is that most of the national media are defending Mike Tomlin, who has absolutely no responsibility for the current state of affairs.
The Rich Eisen Show
Steelers fans were taken to task for questioning Rich Eisen's friend, Mike Tomlin.
One of the most egregious offenders was Rich Eisen from NFL Network. Eisen chastised Steelers fans on The Rich Eisen Show before the New England Patriots game. Chris Mueller from The PM Team w/Poni & Mueller reacted harshly when Eisen unleashed his initial take and mocked him mercilessly on the episode immediately following the loss.
Eisen will be the play-by-play man when the Steelers meet the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday on NFL Network. To his credit, the host of The Rich Eisen Show agreed to appear on the 93.7 afternoon drive program. Mueller, usually the less abrasive PM Team member compared to his partner Andrew Fillipponi, listened to the obligatory apology to Steelers fans from Eisen before posing a question from a listener Eisen had singled out.
x: @steelers
Steelers' Mike Tomlin addresses questions with platitudes.
Mueller relayed the abovementioned query, asking why Steelers fans are nuts for wanting to get rid of a coach who has not won a playoff game in six years and has only had three playoff wins since Super Bowl XLVI. Mueller also asked a follow up about how long it would take before Eisen felt it appropriate to question Tomlin. The answer was astounding.
“I get it. I understand it’s been awhile for Steelers fans to be Steelers fans like the 90s and aughts when Big Ben [Ben Roethlisberger] was throwing as many yards in a game as they were struggling to get for 58 straight games. By the way, Big Ben saying the old Steelers are dead, he had a lot to do with that. Big Ben transitioned them from Jerome Bettis running people over to winging it all over the lot.”
The Steelers did undergo a transition after Jerome Bettis retired and Willie Parker's career tailed off. However, blaming Roethlisberger for the Steelers shifting their offense to accommodate a franchise quarterback is ridiculous. Pittsburgh moved on from Bruce Arians, the last offensive coordinator to win a Super Bowl for Pittsburgh, to Todd Haley. It has been widely reported that the move was specifically because Arians and Roethlisberger were too close.
Gene J. Puskar/ ap
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (left) and running back Jerome Bettis (right) embrace each other after winning Super Bowl XL.
Eisen and Roethlisberger are not done with assessing blame for the future Hall of Fame quarterback. He doubled down on his ridiculous take about Roethlisberger being responsible for the current state of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“The way his career started and then nearly got derailed,” Eisen continued. “I mean, honestly, he had a lot to do with the Steelers no longer being the Steelers of your grandparents or your parents, or uncle or aunt. So, let’s just leave that there.”
The NFL Network host seems to be referencing Roethlisberger's suspension in 2010 over allegations of sexual misconduct in the state of Georgia. He was not charged with a crime and endured endless taunts for the rest of his career. Eisen is conveniently forgetting that the Steelers appeared in Super Bowl XLVI after the suspension that Roger Goodell shortened. If he genuinely believes Roethlisberger and not his friend Tomlin is responsible, why did the head coach continue allowing bad behavior for over a decade?
Former Steelers Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger Has Harsh Criticism For Mike Tomlin
This is the pivot that many in the media have made since Roethlisberger openly criticized Tomlin during the most recent episode of Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger. It is a shameless attempt to frame the former quarterback as the villain for daring to call out his former coach. Eisen, who had already set his credibility on fire, broke out a gas can when he defended Tomlin.
“The reason why many in the media love him, if you ever met him and had time talking to him, he is transfixing. He is somebody who loves ball and just exudes the type of mentality that you’d want to run through a brick wall for. Some of the players you talk to feel that he cares about them and he lets them be themselves and things of that nature. It is intoxicating when you talk to him.”
It is hard to fathom the sheer gall it takes to correct a local media member in this fashion. Is Eisen seriously suggesting that Mueller and the other local reporters have not had the opportunity to speak with the Steelers' head coach? It is the opposite; the media members who have caught Tomlin's act for the last decade are no longer "intoxicated" by him. It is safe to say that many are sick to death of hearing the same old "Tomlinisms" to explain shortfalls.
"As I said on my show, Tomlin is a guy, go ahead and make David Tepper's day," Eisen concludes. "You don't think he wants Mike Tomlin in Carolina? This guy was part of the Steelers' ownership before he bought the Panthers. He would love that. The question is what would Tomlin want?"
David Tepper is firing coaches at an alarming rate at this point. Is that the new standard for the Steelers? The Carolina Panthers might hire Tomlin if they fire him or trade him. The idea that the franchise that drastically overpaid for Bryce Young can somehow give up the requisite draft capital to trade for Tomlin is, at best, ill-informed. The Steelers' asking price for Tomlin will be commensurate with what Sean Payton cost the Denver Broncos. Although many fans might settle for less at this point, Omar Khan and Art Rooney II will not.
Maya Giron / Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh Steelers Owner Art Rooney II (right) and GM Omar Khan (left) stand together at a press conference.
Eisen's answers are a valuable insight into how out-of-touch national commentators like Jay Glazer, Stephen A Smith, and Skip Bayless, to name just a few, are when it comes to the Steelers' head coach. They are having fun piling on Bill Belichick and speaking his termination by the New England Patriots into existence.
It boils down to the founder of Pro Football Talk, Mike Florio's observation earlier this season. The national media likes Tomlin, and they don't like Belichick. Professional football should be about results, but it is about feelings in 2023. Eisen gets a good feeling from Tomlin, so local media and fans of the team are wrong. Blame the retired quarterback. Do you remember when he was a bad guy? It is a new low for Eisen and a disgusting attempt to deflect blame.
What do you think, Steeler Nation? Are you shocked that Eisen would use Roethlisberger's history to assess blame and deflect attention from Tomlin? Please comment below or on my Twitter/X: @thebubbasq.
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