The Pittsburgh Steelers are in complete disarray. The wagon is falling apart. Everything is mucked. Whatever phrase or expression you want to use to sum up how the Steelers' season is going probably fits the correct mold.
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin on the sideline of Sunday's 38-3 loss at Buffalo / Credit: Jared Wickerham, Pittsburgh Steelers
I am 20 years old and for the entirety of my fandom for the Pittsburgh Steelers, there has never been an uglier time to be a fan. Leave it to the Pirates or Penguins or other NFL teams to be in such a terrible spot like this, but not the Steelers. This franchise is organizationally sound and would never stoop to those levels.
Or so we thought. It is no exaggeration. Everything looks bad.
Former players like Ryan Clark are calling out Mike Tomlin, current players chirping at Ryan Clark and the fans, Cam Heyward retweeting a fan's tweet about other players not giving their full effort, other current players chirping at players for laughing and smiling on the sideline during this past week's blowout loss to the Bills and that is just the surface of it all.
High school and college-style offensive play calling, substandard defensive play for a unit that is paid the most out of any defense in the league, a first-round running back playing partially injured that can rarely find the correct running-hole, playmakers that cannot catch the ball, a team that lacks depth (because of subpar drafting and development) and the ability to make even the most fundamental of plays.
And to top it all off, the 1-4 Steelers currently hold the second overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, which would be the first time this team has selected in the top two since drafting Terry Bradshaw in 1970.
This is rock bottom. And with the upcoming schedule and the continued absence of T.J. Watt, they could be digging into rockier bottoms.
ORCHARD PARK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 09:Head coach Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers looks on against the Buffalo Bills during the first quarter at Highmark Stadium on October 09, 2022, in Orchard Park, New York / Credit: Bryan M. Bennett, Getty Images
Mike Tomlin Is the Only One That Can Turn the Steelers Around
Ryan Clark is right. As great of a coach as Mike Tomlin is (and I see that debate is starting to arise again), this falls squarely on him. The Steelers no longer have a Hall-of-Fame quarterback to guide them out of those close 4th quarter ruts and win the game. The Steelers no longer have better players than the other team. The team can no longer rely on talent alone.
Because of that, Tomlin needs to reinstill "the standard is the standard" culture into this 2022 Steelers team. Giving up and not playing to your fullest extent for all 60 minutes of the game falls squarely on the convention of the locker room. Playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers and dawning the black and yellow is something players need to be proud of, and those ideals that are usually abundant in the locker room are clearly missing this season. Maybe if the players showed a little more heart on the field, the results would be different.
On top of that, with Tomlin suggesting that he is open to coaching or personnel changes, now is the time to get Matt Canada out of here. One reason why the Steelers' offense seems so anemic and simple is that it is fairly easy to game plan against. Most of the route concepts for the Y and Z receivers (outside receivers) are not complex enough, and the offense has failed to score because of that.
Kenny Pickett showed he can operate a little bit under it and did very well at making his reads and driving down the field against the best defense in football, but the offense stalled when they got to the red zone. Furthermore, letting Andrew Sullivan take control of the offense gives the Steelers a potential in-house candidate for next season if he succeeds.
There are surefire positives about this roster as well, which is what Tomlin needs to build on. Cam Heyward is a future Hall of Famer still playing in his prime, albeit it is closing. Pickett is already looking like he can be the Steelers' QB of the future as long as he develops into what the team believes he can be. Minkah Fitzpatrick is one of the best at his position. The offensive line is coming along way better than we expected it to be. George Pickens is looking like he can be one of the most elite receivers in the entire league with how he has been performing during his rookie season.
ORCHARD PARK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 09: Kenny Pickett #8 of the Pittsburgh Steelers passes against the Buffalo Bills during the second quarter at Highmark Stadium on October 09, 2022, in Orchard Park, New York / Credit: Bryan M. Bennett, Getty Images
But none of that works unless everyone is on board and locked in. The coaching staff as a whole has to make it their priority to get the players ready to play every week. Block out the outside noise, stay off of social media, whatever. The only thing that matters is what happens on the field, and right now that is not the focus. Players need to buy into the Pittsburgh Steelers in order for the team to be elite again, and that starts with the people up top.
What do you think, #SteelerNation? Are you still confident that Mike Tomlin can lead this team to greener pastures for the rest of this season? Is the loss of T.J. Watt going to continue to hurt this team going forward? Do you think changes to the on-the-field product are coming? Let me know in the comments or @anthonyravasio on Twitter.
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