A Golden Tide of Change for Steelers?

Story by Yinzer Crazy Contributor Luke Ranalli

Now that the Steelers playoff hopes are basically on life support, I find myself looking back on what happened this season and whose to blame, is there blame to be placed? Of course there is, Yinzers have to blame someone, so hop on the blame train going dahn tahn with me and let's see what went wrong and what could change in the coming years.

I think the first thing that everyone will say when the Steelers inevitably don't make the playoffs, and possibly go under .500 for the first time since 2003, is to fire Mike Tomlin. I won't lie, I have been on that bandwagon for the past few years. Tomlin hasn't won a superbowl since 2008, three years after inheriting the team from Bill Cowher, a team that was primed to win no matter who the head coach was. Tomlin continued to win in the regular season and stayed over .500 for his entire career, that is very impressive, but does it matter? I have been making the argument for years that making the playoffs is fine, but if they can't win it all, then what's the point? So far, all Tomlin has proved is that he can get them to the dance, just to get dumped by the prom queen so she can make out with our rival schools quarterback behind the bleachers.

I think what irks me so much about Tomlin is that he claims to be this defensive guru and yet time and again the defense can't adapt. Not to mention the fact that when T.J. Watt is out, the entire defense goes to hell. Don't get me wrong the defense isn't abysmal, but compared to last year they look average at best. Not to mention the fact that the top three salary cap hits are Watt at a little over 24.3 mill (Which is 11% of the cap hit on one person), Cameron Hayward at 17.4 mill and Minkah Fitzpatrick at 8.1 mill, that's 23% of the cap hit, on three players. Don't get me wrong, those are some big name game changers and I love watching them make the plays to turn the tides in big moments, but what happens when they have to start paying on all the rookie contracts. 

Tomlin, if he is still here, will have to drastically shift the distribution of salary, and it's going to start with the defense taking a hit to even keep a semblance of what this team has next season. The '23 contracts expiring, just to name some notables are, Robert Spillane, Terrell Edmunds, Zach Gentry, Mason Rudolph, Tyson Alualu, Larry Ogunjobi, Derek Watt, Cameron Sutton, Devin Bush, and Yinzercrazy friend and podcaster Chris Wormley, just to name a few. With an exception of Devin Bush, pretty much every name on that list has gone up in market value, some very significantly. Right now the Steelers have a little over 5 mill in cap space, in order to stay under that they will either have to dump a lot of those players, or really switch up the current roster. And unless they draft another capable QB, Rudolph should be gone this year, and Mitch Trubisky will be up in '24. Not that I care to see them go, but the Steelers are riding a rookie QB right now with potentially no decent backup in the next two years. Money will need to be spent on a capable backup very soon.

Ok, last thing about Tomlin then we'll move on, I honestly don't think he knows how to utilize the talent he has. I blamed Todd Haley for years and now Matt Canada (I'm getting to him), but how can you take the talent they had a few years back and squander that. When the "Killer B's" were in their prime I honestly think you could have had a highschool coach take that team to the superbowl. I will never forgive that team for not winning a super bowl and I will in fact be salty about it until the day I die. 

Here's a snippet from 10 games that the "Killer B's" were all on the field together in 2014:

• In a ten game stint that every "Killer B" was active, the Steelers went 8-2 
• Ben Roethlisberger had a top 5 passer rating, threw for 3,359 yards 24 touchdowns and just 6 interceptions
• Le'Veon Bell rushed for 819 YD's, 7 TD's, and caught 55 passes for 603 YD's and 3 TD's

Did I mention that was done in just 10 games?!?!? When Roethlisberger, Bell, Martavis Bryant and Antonio Brown were on the field together it was more comforting than homemade pierogies on Christmas eve at Grandma's house. 

To put that into perspective, so far this year in 14 games:

• Kenny Pickett and Mitch Trubisky have combined for 3,049 YD's, 8 TD's and 13 INT's
• Najee Harris has run for 790 YD's, 6 TD's, 32 receptions for 162 YD's and 2 receiving TD's.

I know it's not fair to compare these numbers of an unseasoned offense, but to be honest, the numbers from '21, '20 '19 aren't much better. I know Ben was on the decline, our best running back was James Connor for a while, and not much at receiver aside from Diontae Johnson who was dropping balls left and right, and Chase Claypool who never quite panned out.

I could go on for days but what I am getting at here is that if you want to say "look at Tomlins numbers, he's never had a season under .500 (yet)", that's fine, but look at who he had to work with. He should have at least 3 super bowls under his belt. It's time to stop looking at regular season stats, and start glaring at postseason performance, or lack thereof. 

Which brings me to the next question, is this all Matt Canada's fault? I don't think so, and I think this may be unpopular but I think Canada deserves more time. Canada was thrust into an offense that was not only new to him this year, it was vastly different for the organization as a whole. The QB situation was put on Tomlin's shoulders in a "will they won't they" between starting Pickett over Trubisky, leaving Canada to adjust the offense to each one between weeks. Not to mention Kenny getting concussed throughout this season and Mitch having to step up, it couldn't be easy switching between styles, Pickett being more mobile and Trubisky being more of a pocket passer. At the start of this year I was not impressed, much like you probably weren't, but in these last few games I have finally had some confidence that the offense could produce enough points for the Steelers to be competitive, it's been a few seasons since I felt that way. I haven't seen as many 3rd down passes behind the line to gain which was so frustrating. They have been converting third downs at a much more consistent rate, and even if they can't finish in the endzone, they are seeing much more drives where the Steelers offense are at least taking some time off the clock and getting into field goal range. 

As I mentioned before I hated Todd Haley, I blamed him often and always for the Steelers offensive woes and not being able to produce, but now I think Mike Tomlin may have more influence than we previously were led to believe. Don't get me wrong, Matt Canada really started this year with some real bonehead plays, and they aren't behind us yet, but I feel like he's getting his footing. It may be too little too late for this season, but next season could be a completely different story. 

So what's next? Well, Tomlin is contracted till 2024, and he very well could have a turn around next season that changes opinions, but I think he knows he has overstayed his welcome. He was already speculated to leave years ago for a TV deal, there has been other rumors he could be primed for a college head coaching position. If he can win out and save his .500 record this year, and do the same next, I could see him exiting before things get worse, and his stats get tarnished. I don't see the Rooney's getting rid of him, they are too loyal and having only 3 head coaches since 1969, it feels unlikely that they would want to take a chance and play the carousel game that is head coaches in the NFL these days. I think Tomlin will either leave on his own or he will want more on his next contract, then claim the organization could not come to an agreement and move on amicably.

Either way, I think we have one more year of Canada and Tomlin, and one more year of hoping for a wildcard spot and the Steelers keeping their head above .500. After that who knows, but don't expect this team to look the same in the next two years.