Steelers fans should praise Mike Tomlin’s continued magic touch

What in the world is going on in Pittsburgh this season?

The Steelers are 7-4 entering Sunday’s game against the Cardinals and have been outgained on offense in all but one of their games this season — last week’s win over the Bengals.

Pittsburgh has been outscored by a total of 23 points in its 11 games and have scored 142 fewer points than the Ravens, who have a two-game lead over Pittsburgh in the AFC Central. The Steelers have scored 20 or more points in just five games and haven’t eclipsed 30 points yet this season.

Mike Tomlin is doing it with mirrors.

The Steelers head coach, too, has been seamlessly handling adversity, two weeks ago firing embattled offensive coordinator Matt Canada and managing second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett through his growing pains.

Tomlin’s middle name should be “Turbulence’’ because of how well he handles issues and shoves aside distractions.

That’s why the lack of appreciation for Tomlin on the part of many football fans in Pittsburgh has always left me curious. All he’s done in his 16-plus seasons in Pittsburgh is put his team in contention. Every year.

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Under Tomlin’s watch, the Steelers have been in the playoffs 10 of his 16 years and advanced to two Super Bowls, winning one. Yet, there always seems to be an undercurrent amongst the Steelers faithful that Tomlin leaves fans wanting more.

Ask the fans of the Jets, Lions, Cardinals and Browns (to name a few) if they would sign up for that kind of consistency right now.

The man has never had a losing record in 16 years, and he won’t have one this year, either. If you look at what’s ahead on the Steelers’ schedule, it will be a surprise if they’re not in the playoffs in January. They play the 2-10 Cardinals on Sunday at home followed by a home game next week against the 2-9 Patriots.

That is followed by games against the Colts (6-5) then the Bengals (5-6), who are without their franchise quarterback for the rest of the season.

So, it’s possible that Tomlin’s Steelers can be 11-4 entering their final two games, at Seattle and at Baltimore. It’s possible that finale against the Ravens could be for the division title. That should have Tomlin at the forefront of the NFL Coach of the Year conversation.

Given the middling talent on his roster — Pickett has thrown just six TD passes this season — and the adversity of firing Canada, you can make an argument this is one of Tomlin’s best coaching jobs. And that’s saying something, because he has had a lot of them in his 16 seasons.

The Steelers enter Sunday’s game ranked top five in scoring defense, allowing 18.6 points per game, and they’re tied for fourth in takeaways with 20.

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The Pittsburgh defense, however, has had some issues stopping the run, allowing an average of 131 yards per game and a 4.5-yard average. It has been better the past two games, holding the Browns and Bengals to 60 rushing yards per game and 3.0-yards per carry.

The challenge for Tomlin’s team Sunday will be facing their former running back James Connor, who enjoyed his best NFL seasons playing for Pittsburgh from 2017-20, making the Pro Bowl in 2018 with 973 rushing yards and 12 TDs.

“We can’t allow James Conner to do what James does,” Tomlin said this week. “[We] know and love and got a lot of respect for James. He is a legitimate tough guy, a big-time competitor. Expecting nothing but his absolute best coming back into Pittsburgh, because I know him.”

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Tomlin was a 35-year-old NFL assistant coach when the Steelers hired him as their head coach in 2007, and he has fallen perfectly in line with his predecessors, Bill Cowher and Chuck Noll, as a consistent winner. Only New England’s Bill Belichick has been in charge of the same team longer than Tomlin among NFL head coaches.

Has Tomlin won as many Super Bowls as Steelers fans would have liked, particularly when having the benefit of Ben Roethlisberger as his quarterback until he retired in 2022? Cowher and Noll combined to win five Lombardi Trophies between them.

Every fan base wants more.

Nevertheless, if you look around at so many other places around the league where fans are starved for success, Steelers fans should count their blessings that they have a head coach as good as Tomlin and appreciate him.