No head coach within the NFL has had extra job safety than Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. He has been cemented in place for twenty years and put collectively a borderline Corridor of Fame profession. He has been to 2 Tremendous Bowls, received one and at all times has his workforce in rivalry for a playoff spot.
However these Tremendous Bowls appearances are 18 and 16 years in the past. They’ve probably not gotten shut since.
Simply being aggressive can not be sufficient. His job must be on the road of their Week 18 recreation towards the Baltimore Ravens.
It must be on the road after his workforce missed an ideal alternative to clinch the AFC North on Sunday with a surprising — and, fairly frankly, embarrassing — 13-6 loss to a Cleveland Browns workforce that entered the day with three wins.
No critical group would convey the pinnacle coach again if Steelers blow this opportunity at division title
Now the Steelers discover themselves in a win-or-go-home Week 18 recreation towards the Ravens the place the winner wins the AFC North and the loser goes dwelling and misses the playoffs.
No person in Pittsburgh will be feeling optimistic about it.
Not with prime large receiver DK Metcalf suspended and out for the sport. Not with an offense that appeared helpless with out him on Sunday. Not after the Ravens ran everywhere in the Green Bay Packers on Saturday evening to maintain their season going.
Not with the way in which the Steelers teaching employees didn’t appear to take this recreation severely. Every little thing about their offensive recreation plan and play-calling, to not point out every part about the way in which quarterback Aaron Rodgers performed, gave the impression to be extra about not permitting Myles Garrett to set the single-season sack file than really profitable the soccer recreation.
In the event that they lose subsequent weekend and miss the playoffs, it must be breaking level for the Steelers and Tomlin. There will be no getting back from that.
It isn’t that Tomlin has been a nasty coach, or that he’s even not an excellent coach. It’s the easy actuality that issues aren’t altering. Every little thing is stale. There’s a excessive ground, however a particularly low ceiling. This is a company that has not received a playoff recreation since 2016. Together with that, the Steelers have had some staggering late-season collapses once they gave the impression to be in command of the division or the playoff race and fell quick.
That is setting as much as be one other.
They entered Week 17 with a two-game lead within the division with two video games to play. All they need to do is win a kind of video games they usually get a house playoff recreation. They’d a three-win Browns workforce standing in entrance of them and a house recreation after that.
They already squandered the primary of these video games. In the event that they lose the second recreation and miss the playoffs, there will be no getting back from that for anyone on the Steelers teaching employees.
Not after so a few years with out playoff success. Not after so many late-season meltdowns.
In the event that they lose the Ravens recreation, and in the event that they stick to the established order, they’re telling you they’re content material to simply be ok and flirt with nine-or 10-wins yearly and by no means be greater than that.
If they’re critical about profitable and contending for championships, they’ll flip the web page and understand that is not working for what the precise expectation must be.
If they’re critical, Mike Tomlin must be teaching for his job subsequent weekend.
