The very true fact that the Pittsburgh Steelers have not won a playoff game since the 2016 season has been said countless times in recent years. Head Coach Mike Tomlin hasn't realistically been on an internal hot seat at all throughout his career in the Steel City, but the clock may be ticking. One of the most criticized areas of the team during the playoff-win drought has been the coaching staff's inability to adjust to the modern NFL. No one is asking for a complete upheaval of strategy, but it sure would be nice to see some creativity. Messaging has appeared to have grown old and stale.
One of the consistent arguments made against the Steelers is that the staff, led by Tomlin, preaches a defensive-minded approach. The goal is to allow as few points as possible while winning the turnover margin. Theoretically, the offense will be able to do just enough to help secure wins, but that hasn't always proven to be the case for Pittsburgh in recent years.
Another fact that the fan base has become exhausted over is that the defensive decisions seem to start and end with Tomlin. There have been several coordinators in place over the course of the last decade or so, but the unit has not performed consistently enough. Some retired players have even mentioned that it was rather easy to game-plan against the Steelers.
On the latest episode of Ben Roethlisberger's podcast, Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger, the retired quarterback went on a rant comparing Pittsburgh to the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. He got to talking about the defense, and while he acknowledged that the group is talented, he gave simple, but strong remarks about the lack of creativity.
"I agree we have a good defense," Roethlisberger stated. "I'd like to see, you always want to see some uniqueness on the defense; blitzes and different things. We've got the personnel on D."
This was Roethlisberger clearly stating that the Steelers have the talent on defense, but subtly saying that more can be done from a schematics standpoint to confuse opposing offenses. This is something that has been evident for some time, but someone bringing it up that has the football intelligence that Roethlisberger possesses is worth noting.
The overwhelming majority of football minds that give input on the Steelers have said in recent years that the lack of creativity and uniqueness is a serious problem for the team. Fans share this sentiment and Roethlisberger is not going to upset many that have opinions on the topic. At the end of the day, this has to come back to Tomlin, who has a strong hand in everything that goes on with the defensive side of the ball.
There are several things that the Steelers need to fix if a Super Bowl appearance or, heck, a playoff win will happen in the near future. Bad offense is a big reason why much hasn't gone the team's way in January since the 2017 season, but incorrectly using a talented defense has also plagued the organization.
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Pittsburgh is an organization that has been built on championships. Not only has the franchise not come close in roughly a decade and a half, but no postseason victories since the 2016 campaign is alarming. Tomlin is under contract through the 2027 campaign, but another year without a playoff win could lead to a messy divorce in the Steel City.
