The Pittsburgh Steelers are on yet another late-season collapse, as they have lost their third game in a row yet again. This time, they fall at home to the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas Day. While the Steelers did have a brutal schedule, they responded to it about as poorly as a team could. Each of the previous two games have ended with Head Coach Mike Tomlin waiving the white flag at the end of blowouts, as he called for punts to hurry up and ice the game.
During his postgame press conference, Tomlin was reminded of the fact that he and his players outright said that this three-game stretch would show who this team really is. After getting blown out in each game, he picked a convenient time to suddenly forget that.
"You guys said before this streak, this stretch of three games, that you would learn a lot about yourselves as a team in these three games, what have you learned," ESPN's Brooke Pryor asked.
Tomlin answered in a defensive manner.
"I don't remember saying that. I'm focused on what transpired today, and as I mentioned, it was not good enough," Tomlin retorted.
Tomlin has a tendency to either make up excuses or completely ignore questions that make him look bad when he has a bad stretch. As much success as he has had as a head coach, this is not the mentality of a strong leader. His constant lack of accountability can be infuriating, especially after losing streaks like this latest one.
Even though there is no chance of Tomlin being fired after yet another failed stretch run, something clearly has to change. "The Standard" is not good enough.
Steelers Have One Glaring Issue Between Now And Their Super Bowl Runs
Early in his career, Tomlin made two Super Bowls and won one. Steeler Nation is still waiting for that version of him to return. Unfortunately, there seems to be no sign of him returning to what made the team elite.
Since 2013, the last couple years of Dick LeBeau's legendary reign as defensive coordinator, Tomlin has taken over defensive play-calling. Former "defensive coordinator" Keith Butler admitted that after he retired from the team. This is Tomlin's unit, no matter who has the label on this coaching staff.
Tomlin has some good traits, but Xs and Os is not one of them. When the Steelers were successful, Tomlin let his assistants do their thing and he did what he was good at: player relation and motivation. Since 2019, the Steelers have had many high-talented defensive units, but they don't play well when it matters most.
To make matters worse, Tomlin acknowledged that Travis Kelce of the Chiefs is a big-time zone defense killer. What did Tomlin routinely call? Zone defense. He stays stubborn to his old ways and fails to understand what works in the modern NFL. It shouldn't be a surprise that Kelce went for 8 receptions for 84 yards and a touchdown against the Steelers' zone defense.
Is Tomlin a first-ballot Hall of Famer? Yes, undoubtedly. Does he deserve blame for these consistent, bone-headed mistakes? Yes again. He has the ability to be an elite coach again, but like his team, he keeps getting in his own way. He has to adapt if he ever wants to win a playoff game again.
