Did Mike Tomlin win his only Super Bowl with Bill Cowher’s defense? James Harrison thinks so

… even national media that have fawned over him are reassessing Tomlin

Mike Tomlin is under fire right now. After failing to make the NFL playoffs after losing to Denver, San Diego, and Oakland, allowing the Ravens to win the AFC North, the Steelers will be staying home and watching the game on television instead of competing for their seventh Super Bowl.

That has outraged Steeler fans, and now they are striking back. One of the arguments that Tomlin supporters have been pointing to is that he has never had a losing season in 12 years. The detractors say that he has lost control of the team and that he is overrated as a coach, particularly as a game coach.

Does his early record need some re-evaluation?

However, some Steeler fans claim that Tomlin’s early record is deceptive — he reached two Super Bowls in his first four years, winning two of them. They argue that he actually won with previous Coach Bill Cowher’s talent, particularly on the defensive end.

One of those defensive players is also making that argument. On the Fox Sports 1 show “Undisputed” prior to the Steelers final game against the Bengals, Harrison was blunt in assessing who is to blame for the Steelers’ woes. In it, he also alleged that Tomlin won with Cowher’s talent:

He has won a significant amount of games, he has won [a] Super Bowl. But, if you go back, the Super Bowl he did win was a Bill Cowher-based team. The team that went in 2010 was still a majority of Cowher. Since then, I think he has reached the AFC championship game one time, and over the course of the last two years, he lost the first game to Jacksonville [in the 2017 season] where the defense gave up 40 or 50-some points, and this year, they have a possibility of not making it. So, all that has to go on Tomlin.

Some fans still angry with Harrison

First, look at the credibility that Harrison brings to the table. An undrafted player out of Kent State in 2002, the linebacker was signed by the Steelers but cut twice before making his mark.

Harrison was named to the Pro Bowl five times, won two Super Bowls with the team, and most important, was named the Associated Press NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2008 when Tomlin won that Super Bowl. In that game, he had a fabulous interception return of more than 100 yards for a touchdown that turned the tide for the Steelers. 

He is also the all-time Steeler in sacks with 84.5.

Harrison is the only undrafted player to ever be named defensive player of the year.

And, he did it with a tremendous work ethic.

Steeler fans are upset with Harrison that he left the team last year and played with the Patriots in the Super Bowl. At 39, why would he not leave when Tomlin was not playing him. That criticism is unfair — though understandable.

Factual situation

According to information on Steelers.com, the team allowed just 13.9 points per game that season, which was first in the league. They also permitted teams to gain only 237.2 yards per game, both of which led the league that year.

The Steelers that year was second with 51 sacks, with James Harrison and Lamarr Woodley each recording 16. Inside linebacker James Farrior led the team in tackles with 133 while Harrison was second with 101.

Troy Polamalu led the team with seven interceptions. He was later another NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

Aaron Smith led the defensive linemen in tackles with 60 while Brett Keisel added 41. And you had Casey Hampton anchoring that middle.

In short, this was a tremendous defense, and it was almost all a carryover from Cowher. Lawrence Timmons was a Tomlin pick, but he had not yet become their leading tackler, though he had 43, 22 of them solo.

So, what Harrison was saying was pretty much true.

In fairness

What some Cowher detractors say, justifiably, was that his teams often underperformed in the playoffs. They notoriously lost four of five AFC championship games at home when the teams were favorites to win.

So, did Tomlin win with talent that Cowher did not?

Problems since the second Super Bowl

The Steelers defeated the Cardinals, 27-23, in 2008, but lost to Green Bay two years later. In those first four years, Tomlin was 5-2 in the playoffs, including the loss to the Packers in the Super Bowl.

Since then, however, he has been 3-5, with three of those appearances resulting in a loss in the first game. Since then, too, the Steelers’ focus has been on offense, not defense. The highest-paid players are on offense. There is no player on the current defense who could even dream of being an NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

Part of this reflects their lack of success in drafting. Harrison said this about Tomlin’s defense:

If you look at the defense that he’s actually built, I think he has six or seven first-rounders, a couple of second-rounders through either draft or trade. So, he’s put together a defense that’s capable of going out there and stopping offenses. I think that the Achilles Heel has been the defense, not able to come through in the end. So, I have to put that on Mike Tomlin.

Harrison: Steelers will not fire Tomlin

The former Steeler great does not think that Tomlin will be released despite all of their problems [this was before the Antonio Brown fiasco]:

I don’t think he should [be fired]. The worst case scenario, he will be working on the last year of his contract next year, and if things do not pan out the way they want, they’ll let him go. I don’t see the Steelers firing him. That’s not the way they [do business].

So, it looks like 2019 will be more of business as usual. The major difference is that the Ravens and Browns look like they could be major competitors in the division. Another year like this one, not making the playoffs, could lead to his being released at the end of his contract.

The real change that is needed is the release of the CEO/President, the milquetoast Art Rooney, II. He is a sad reflection of his father and grandfather. That is where the problems start, but that will not change.

Harrison not angry with Tomlin: Disappointed

Moderator Skip Bayless asked Harrison whether his opinion was sour grapes, whether or not he was still upset at the way he was treated last year. Harrison said no, that he was just disappointed that Tomlin was not up-front with him as to why he was not playing -- or even dressing. 

[Tomlin is] fun to play for, but when it came towards the end and I’m trying to get straight answers, I couldn’t get them … He said I have a plan for you, but I wanted to know what the plan was because I was sitting on the sideline. It can to the point where I’m talking to Mr. Rooney, to Art, and saying, ‘I don’t know what’s going on. Can y’all just release me?’ He says, 'No, he has a plan for you.’ But, Mr. Rooney, what’s the plan?

That is why he asked for his release and when it was granted, signed with the Patriots. I cannot blame him for that.