“Tomlin got badly outcoached, and Browns coach Kevin Stefanski wasn’t even there … ‘the Steelers way’ isn’t working. It doesn’t exist anymore. It expired with Dan Rooney.”

"Not my fault"


… “Slap a butterfly stitch on a gunshot wound.”

Pretty bad when you are outcoached by a coach who is not even present, having to zoom in to communicate because he had Covid. 

In truth, it is pretty bad when you start 11-0 and then are eliminated in the first round of the NFL playoffs. 

However, unlike many, I will not blame the fact that the Steelers have won only three playoffs games in the past ten years on Mike Tomlin. 

Though that should sink in for Steeler fans: Only three playoff wins in ten years — and the coach still has his job. 

Mark Madden is the only writer with guts

I quit reading the Post-Gazette because their sports people were fearful of hurting the Steeler establishment, from players to coaches to CEOs. The only writer who has the guts to point out to the Steelers that their franchise is in bad shape is Mark Madden, who writes for the Tribune-Review. 

He is willing to take on the Rooneys, who are a far cry from what Dan Rooney created back in the 1960s,

But “the Steelers way” isn’t working. It doesn’t exist anymore. It expired with Dan Rooney. The franchise gets bullied by its own players. That’s the new “Steelers way.”

What has to happen before Tomlin gets fired? The Eagles went 4-11-1. Is that’s what’s needed? That probably won’t happen next season. But it’s not far off.

Can Tomlin fix 4-11-1 or 3-13 or 5-11 or 6-10? (He just flushed 11-0 down the toilet.)

Mark Madden, “Loyalty to Mike Tomlin leaves Steelers going nowhere,” Tribune-Review, January 13, 2021

Analogy to Doug Peterson and “job for life”

Philadelphia fired coach Doug Pederson. He and the Eagles won the Super Bowl three years ago.
Mike Tomlin, meanwhile, has a job for life in Pittsburgh.

Tomlin has presided over late-season collapses in each of the last three years: The Steelers went from 7-2-1 to 9-6-1 and no playoffs in 2018; from 8-5 to 8-8 and no playoffs in 2019; from 11-0 to 12-4 and a first-game playoff exit this season. In 2017, the Steelers lost their first playoff game to lower-seeded Jacksonville at Heinz Field, trailing 21-0 after less than 19 minutes.

The Steelers have three playoff victories in 10 years. That’s despite having a Hall of Fame quarterback and a host of superior talent. Their 3-6 postseason record in that span includes losses to jabroni QBs Tim Tebow and Blake Bortles.

In their latest playoff debacle, the Steelers were favored by six at home vs. Cleveland on Sunday. The Browns were crippled by covid and injury. The Steelers trailed 7-0 after one snap, 28-0 after one quarter. They lost 48-37, but it wasn’t nearly that close.

Mark Madden, Tribune-Review, January 13, 2021

This paints an accurate picture. However, the Steelers do not realize how bad things are. If Roethlisberger does not walk away this season, and he likely will not, the team will not be able to afford to keep quality players since about 20 will be free agents. 

That is mismanagement, and perhaps the next step will be losing Heyward, Dupree, and a slew of other talented players. 

Can win regular season games, not playoff games

As Madden notes, some say that Tomlin cannot be replaced. When he leaves, it will probably because the franchise sinks to new depths, like the Eagles have after winning a Super Bowl just three years ago,

“The Steelers couldn’t get a better coach than Tomlin.” That’s often said.

But the Steelers replaced Bill Cowher. They replaced Chuck Noll, who might be the best coach ever. (That was after letting Noll stick around at least a half-decade too long.) The franchise hasn’t had a problem finding talent to serve as head coach.

Look at the situation objectively. There’s no logical reason to retain Tomlin besides the idea that the Steelers never fire coaches. They’ve had three coaches since 1969.

Indulging that at the expense of ignoring reality is a slippery slope.

Mark Madden, Tribune-Review, January 13, 2021

Rooney the problem

The difficulty is that Art Rooney II will never be able to be considered in the same breath as his father. The franchise has fallen tremendously over the past ten years as Dan Rooney moved himself out of operation of the business and the son took over. 

Dan became ambassador to Ireland, and things started downhill. 

The son will not admit that Tomlin will never again win another Super Bowl.

I had noted earlier that the Steelers have entered a period similar to that from 1979 to 2005 when they won no Super Bowls. 

That is very unfortunate.

Madden’s column


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