JuJu’s TikTokking illustrates the problem the Steelers have winning in December and in the postseason under Tomlin: Lack of discipline

JuJu's antics led to a superb hit and a fumble that led to a Bengals' TD on Monday. 

… he has paid dearly for his disrespect

The Steelers started 11-0, and now have lost their last three. However, they have lost three of their starting linebackers along with others during this spree, so fans should understand losing three in a row, right?

Well, not if you are a Steelers fans, and particularly if you are not a fan of Coach Mike Tomlin. Fans on the team’s blogs are upset with the coaching, and they are particularly upset after losing to a Cincinnati Bengals team that had won just two games entering the Monday Night Football special. 

However, many of the complaints centered around the embarrassing TikToking that wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster has done to denigrate the opposing teams. He does it to keep raising his number of social media fans, but some fans would prefer that he end games with better stats than three catches for 15 yards. 

Tomlin may have finally laid down the law with JuJu, but the truth is that it may be too late with two key games against the Colts and Browns coming up. They could decide who wins the AFC North. 

Goes back to the discipline issues with Tomlin

Tomlin has won almost 66 percent of his regular-season games in his 16 years with the Steelers. What the younger fans dislike is that he has lost so many postseason games over the past decade. 

Is that fair? Tomlin himself has said that “the standard is the standard” for the Steelers, but the reality is this will be the first time in the past three years that they have made the playoffs. 

In addition, over this decade, the Steelers have not been close to the Super Bowl since they lost to the Green Bay Packers in 2010, game that many Steeler fans believe should have been their seventh ring. 

The Steelers have arguably had superior talent over those ten years, with many fans pointing out that the team could not win with the killer B’s: Ben, Brown, and Bell. The problems with the latter two reflect Tomlin’s major problem: Lack of discipline. 

TikToking is disrespectful, but Tomlin did not realize that?

The Steelers are struggling because of injuries, with three of their starters — Devin Bush, Bud Dupree, and Vince Williams out for the loss to the Bengals. Williams will return since his was a Covid problem, but the other two are out for the year. 

Still, it was the offense that stunk up the stadium in Cincinnati Monday night. Nevertheless, the antics of Smith-Schuster were derided by opponents, and his turnover on a vicious hit led to the Bengals 10-0 lead. 

The offense as a whole was woeful,

The Pittsburgh Steelers' woke up Tuesday morning with two major headlines. One of them involved a struggling - aging - quarterback, and the other involved TikTok. 

Any attention surrounding Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster this season has turned from Hines Ward-like play into his new personal trend. The Pittsburgh star is using his NFL platform to boost his social media business, recording TikTok dances on the logos of opposing teams.

"That is who he is," teammate James Washington said last week. "He's been that way at USC. He's always been that type of guy. When he's in the game, I feel like his play speaks for itself. As long as he's having fun, it is what it is.”

But the dancing has grown focus. First, the Buffalo Bills addressed the dancing, as safety Jordan Poyer said, it's "a second itch to play with some extra fire."

Smith-Schuster didn't stop, though. 

"One thing I'll tell you guys, I'm not going to stop being myself," Smith-Schuster said last Wednesday. "I'm going to be the JuJu I came to be: authentic. TikTok is a new platform that I use to stay in touch with my fans and grow. This is something I've been doing since the start of the season, midseason.

Noah Strackbein, “It Feels Like JuJu Smith-Schuster's TikTok Logo 

Dances Are Done,” Sports Illustrated, December 22, 2020

The antics also reflect a lack of focus on the part of the team since the coaches have obviously been ignoring them. And, the team has lost the three games since he started doing them,

The attention has grown around the TikTok dances as the team continues to struggle. The once 11-0 Steelers have fallen in their last three games, dropping to third place in the AFC, and now in a footrace to the AFC North crown. 

The viral social media movement might be coming to an end, though. Head coach Mike Tomlin, who brushed off the question just a week ago saying he wasn't aware of them, now plans to address the issue. 

"I am aware of it, and I do plan to talk to JuJu [Smith-Schuster]," Tomlin said. "We're professionals. I doubt any of those antics and things of that nature are legitimate motivating factors as you step into professional stadiums. But it's about respect and we'll have a conversation."

Noah Strackbein, Sports Illustrated, December 22, 2020

He just noticed that this was disrespectful? That is his M.O., ignoring problems until they become impossible to ignore. 

The receiver said today that he will no longer be doing this, but the team has a realistic danger of losing its next two games against good teams. It has been fortunate to have such a weak schedule this year. 

Now, facing a Colts team that is tied with the Tennessee Titans at 10-4 in the AFC South, they realize that this is a must win game for Indianapolis. If they lose and the Browns beat the Jets on Sunday, which is likely, the two teams will be tied with 11 wins, making next Sunday’s game one for the AFC North, something that the contemporary Browns have never won — and the game is in Cleveland.

Numbers declining

Schuster’s numbers have been declining since his phenomenal year two years ago when pulled in 111 passes for 1,426 yards and seven touchdowns. However, critics have pointed out that in many instances that year, teams doubled Antonio Brown, leaving JuJu open. 

This year, he will be lucky to have half that much yardage after a decline last year, when he missed four games because of injuries. 

The wideout has just 670 yards on 82 receptions, giving him his lowest yards per catch number 8.2 since he started with the Steelers. 

Why isn’t this a surprise?

The fans were thrilled as the Steelers ran out to an 11-0 start, despite realizing that their opponents had won just 38 percent of their games prior to the three-game losing streak. 

However, the woeful December collapse that has become the trademark of Tomlin teams in the final month of the season should not be surprising. Until Tomlin learns to discipline his players — and I am not certain that he did that with JuJu — they will not go anywhere in the playoffs. I have said that over and over and over again. 

When A.B. recorded Tomlin’s post-game talk after the Kansas City win a few years ago, prior to a debacle against the Patriots the next week, and then put it on Facebook Live, the coach promised ramifications for Brown. 

Two weeks later, he signed the largest WR contract in NFL history at a time when they could have kept him as a franchise player for another season. 

His failure to discipline Le’Veon Bell over the years led to a terrible embarrassment to the team. 

If they lose their last three games, will Tomlin go?

No, because their major problem is with ownership. Losing three in a row will make the minority owners angry as they were when Jacksonville eliminated them in their first game a few years ago. 

Still Art Rooney II is just a shadow of his father, and with approximately 21 players on the free-agent list this offseason, this may be the last hurrah for these Steelers. O Line is horrible, QB is aging and erratic, and even the defense has not lived up to expectations, except for Mr. Watt.

So, a win this weekend can end this speculation, but after losing to the Bungles, do not bet on it. 

This has been the ending of Steelers seasons for the past decade, and it will probably not improve this time.