Steelers owner reportedly being pressured to fire Mike Tomlin
Under coach Mike Tomlin, the Pittsburgh Steelers have almost always been considered Super Bowl contenders.
Tomlin guided the Steelers to a victory over Arizona in Super Bowl XLIII, and they represented the AFC in Super Bowl XLV, a loss to Green Bay.
In 11 seasons under Tomlin, Pittsburgh made the playoffs nine times. In each of the last four seasons, the Steelers have won 10 or more games. This season, the team won 13 games and tied with New England for the best record in the AFC.
But after an embarrassing divisional round loss to Jacksonville Sunday, some in Pittsburgh are getting restless with Tomlin and the fact the Steelers may be perennial Super Bowl contenders but they’re also perennial playoff disappointments.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported Tuesday that some of the team’s limited partners intend to lobby Steelers’ owner Art Rooney II to fire Tomlin.
“The concerns relate to the increasingly obvious issues with decision-making in key moments of the game, also known as ‘situational football,'” Florio reported. “The absence of a plan in the final seconds of the loss last month to the Patriots was one thing; the frittering away of the final 47 seconds on Sunday against the Jaguars, when Pittsburgh was five yards from the end zone and down 10 points, only made it worse.”
The reference to the final 47 seconds was one of two questionable decisions Tomlin made late in Sunday’s loss.
After a Pittsburgh touchdown cut Jacksonville’s lead to 42-35 with a little more than two minutes to play, Tomlin elected to attempt an onside kick despite the fact Pittsburgh had two timeouts and the two-minute warning remaining. The kick failed miserably, touching a Steelers player before it went the required 10 yards.
Jacksonville took possession and kicked a field goal to go ahead 45-35 with 1:45 remaining and no timeouts. A deep pass from Ben Roethlisberger to Martavis Bryant put the ball at the Jaguars 5-yard line with 47 seconds remaining.
Despite needing two scores, the Steelers all but ran out the clock trying for a touchdown, eventually scoring with just one second remaining.
The limited partners, who bought equity in the team a decade ago as members of the Rooney family sold their interest, have no authority over the management of the team, Florio reported, so their pleas have little chance of being successful.
But they do have access to Rooney, and a source told Florio they plan to use that access to voice their concerns.
Columnist Joe Starkey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette does not believe Tomlin should be fired, but he also believes Tomlin must learn and adapt from another postseason disappointment.
“Tomlin should be faced with increased scrutiny after this disaster,” Starkey wrote Sunday. “His team wasn’t ready. It looked disorganized on several occasions. His defense was laughably inept, blowing assignments all over the place. Some of his game-management decisions were borderline insane.”
Paul Zeise of the Post-Gazette believes the biggest change needed in Pittsburgh is the culture of the Steelers locker room under Tomlin. Last week, several players made bold statements about their anticipated rematch with the Patriots in the AFC championship game, seemingly overlooking a Jacksonville team that had already defeated the Steelers 30-9 in October.
“That starts at the top, and Tomlin has to set that tone,” Zeise wrote. “He has had plenty of opportunities to try to reel some of his players and coaches in but has chosen instead to let the circus go on. He needs to put his foot down. …
“There are other areas Tomlin can improve — clock management, decision-making and maybe even his overall defensive philosophy. But none of that will matter if he doesn’t set a better tone for the locker room.”
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