The Pittsburgh Steelers have had a rough start to their season with a 1-2 record at the end of Week 3, but Mike Tomlin assures patience pays off.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have had a rough start to their season with a 1-2 record at the end of Week 3. This reflects the concerns fans and analysts have had about Pittsburgh lacking the strength to become a legitimate playoff contender, but coach Mike Tomlin says he’s seeing improvements in the Steelers offense that fans aren’t seeing.
The Steelers started the season with a 23-20 overtime win against the Cincinnati Bengals, but they haven’t been able to win a game since then. However, it’s still early in the season, and Tomlin seems hopeful that the team is progressing in the right direction.
“Largely I’m seeing improvements at all areas, whether it’s individuals or whether it’s the collective, and so it’s our job to tune out the noise and remain committed to the path that we’re on,” Tomlin said, per AP News.
He’s also keeping quarterback Mitch Trubisky in and said he’s “improving each week in all areas.”
“I expect our guys not to blink and to continue to work,” Tomlin said. “And so I’m here to display that as a leader and I intend to.”
“Sometimes you just got to show steely resolve and smile in the face of adversity,” he continued.
Mike Tomlin and the Steelers are steeling themselves for a rough season ahead
The good thing about Mike Tomlin is that because he’s been the Steelers head coach since 2007, he doesn’t get pressured into making bold moves for his team.
That being said, Tomlin has spent all these years with a Hall of Fame talent at the helm, making his most crucial decision on offense — who to start at quarterback — a given. Facing a genuine quarterback battle in 2022, Tomlin has taken the safe route thus far and played veteran Trubisky over rookie Kenny Pickett.
But Trubisky is already demonstrating the same mediocrity that got him bumped from Chicago in the first place, which is why Steelers fans aren’t too keen to wait on Trubisky’s improvements in the sixth year of his NFL career.
Tomlin may smile in the face of adversity, but having steely resolve with a passer whose quarterback rating ranks 29th among active starters and whose yards per pass attempt ranks last in the NFL is a big ask from Steelers fans. Tomlin assures that patience will pay off, but the calls to put in Pickett only seem to grow louder.
“The ‘noise’ Mike Tomlin is tuning out will soon become deafening,” wrote Ron Cook for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Tomlin is firm with where he stands, and with that, fans can only wonder how long it will take for Tomlin’s “improvements” to materialize in a resounding win.
