After a 27-24 loss to the Cleveland Browns on “Thursday Night Football,” the Pittsburgh Steelers find themselves with a 2-2 record, at the bottom of the AFC North Division. Pittsburgh’s never finished in last place in the AFC North since the division was created in 2002.
The organization and fans wanted Mike Tomlin out and now they are headed toward the worst season in decades with Mike McCarthy at the helm.
Pittsburgh Steelers In Last Place In AFC North First Time Ever
The last time they finished in last place in any division was 1988, when they played in the AFC Central. This active streak without a last-place division finish is the longest current streak in the NFL. That run of success coincides with the term of former head coach Mike Tomlin, who finished his 19-year tenure with the Pittsburgh Steelers with a record 19 consecutive non-losing seasons to begin his head-coaching career.
Hard to finish last when you’re winning games.
When Tomlin was pushed out for a fresh leader, most thought the team would replace him with a younger head coach with some new innovative ideas. Instead they chose veteran head coach Mike McCarthy, who underachieved during his five seasons in Dallas. Tomlin’s 8-12 playoff record was often pushed as the reason why he had to go in Pittsburgh. McCarthy hasn’t been that much better since winning that one Super Bowl with Aaron Rodgers in the 2010 season, going 1-3 in the playoffs with Dallas and 11-11 for his 19-year career.
Steelers fans were willing to take a couple of steps backward to go forward. They just didn’t expect to be dead last in the division. The forward is a Super Bowl championship, because the fan base didn’t know much losing under Tomlin. He just couldn’t deliver the brass ring as much as fans wanted. But who really can? As far as consistent, elite coaching and organization management Tomlin rates among the best to ever do it. Two-decade runs with one team are uncommon in coaching. Steelers fans were delusional to think McCarthy would come in and elevate the team past a point that Tomlin consistently had them at. Especially with 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers at quarterback, who took a five-sack beating against the Browns’ pass rush and looked visibly frustrated throughout the game.
Now just four games into the regular season, the Steelers are in a position they have never been in under Tomlin, doormats of the AFC North.
‘You Can’t Blame Mike Tomlin’
It’s a long season and the Steelers can definitely run off a string of games and get back into contention, but CBS Sports’ Ryan Wilson thinks it’s unlikely after what we have seen from them so far this season.
He took to the airwaves on Friday, Oct. 2, and called the Steelers the worst team in the AFC North.
“They’re not a good football team,” Wilson said. “The problem now is you can’t blame Mike Tomlin. Because Steelers fans didn’t run him out, he decided to retire. But that was the old diatribe we’d hear every single year since 2016, the last time they won a playoff game, ‘Winning nine games is great, but we don’t want to get blown out in the playoffs.’ I think they have been a victim of their own success in that they’ve never had an opportunity to reset and get that franchise quarterback. They’re not a good team. They are the worst team in the division. I don’t even think you can argue that point.”
So far, the absence of Mike Tomlin is giving worst case scenario vibes.
Several fans agreed with Wilson’s assessment. Whenever the Steelers don’t excel this season, Tomlin’s name will inevitably be brought up.
“Mike Tomlin is loving retirement watching this debacle in Pittsburgh,” one user commented.
There are those Steelers fans still living in a fantasy land and choosing to try to blame the departed head coach or the losses this season.
“Tomlin’s team for most part. Tomlin’s culture for sure. It will take time to cleanse the culture and mess he left behind. But unfortunately, Art and Omar remain,” one user commented.
“If Tomlin was on the sideline last night, Pittsburgh would have been burned to the ground,” another quipped.
“You can blame him for the roster for sure. He knew it was coming and had no answers. He left the organization worse than he found it for sure. You dont think he had a big say in the players that were drafted? Terrible take,” another McCarthy supporter tweeted.
The Tomlin bashing continued:
“Tomlin can be blamed for at least 2 more years. He set the team back by influencing bad draft picks, trades, and free agent signings and then gave them money the team can’t part with without destroying the cap.”
Tomlin, finished his Steelers career with 193 wins, ranking him 10th in NFL history. The future first-ballot Hall of Famer gave the Steelers fans what they wanted and rode off into the sunset to join NBC Sports as a studio analyst for “Football Night in America.” This season’s rocky start has the fan base is struggling and are so used to blaming Tomlin that they continue to do it even when he’s not in the stadium.
