Bryan M. Bennett/Getty Images Head coach Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers looks on against the Buffalo Bills on Oct. 9, 2022.
“We got smashed as a collective today.”
That’s how Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin summed up what transpired against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday — a dispiriting 38-3 loss at Highmark Stadium that marks Pittsburgh’s largest margin of defeat since a 51-0 drubbing by the Cleveland Browns in the 1989 season opener, as per ESPN. In addition to being the worst loss of the Mike Tomlin era, it’s also the first time Pittsburgh has lost four consecutive games since 2013, when the Steelers opened 0-4 before peak Ben Roethlisberger carried the Steelers to an 8-8 finish.
Ryan Clark: ‘The Steelers Did Not Fight Today’
But what disturbs former Steelers safety Ryan Clark is that Tomlin didn’t have the team ready to play — and Kenny Pickett/James Daniels aside — didn’t show much “fight” against the Bills.
“Mike Tomlin is my favorite football coach,” tweeted Clark as the contest came to a close. “With that be(ing) said no matter what the roster looks like your team has to be prepared, be in proper positions to succeed, and dang fight! The Steelers did not fight today, and that goes back to the head coach. He gotta get ’em right,” concluded Clark, who played under Tomlin from 2006-13 and was part of the dominant Steelers defense that keyed Pittsburgh’s Super Bowl winning season in 2008.
Mike Tomlin is my favorite football coach. With that be said no matter what the roster looks like your team has to be prepared, be in proper positions to succeed, and dang fight! The Steelers did not fight today, and that goes back to the head coach. He gotta get’em right.
Clark hasn’t (yet) elaborated further on the above-referenced thoughts, but his tweet also seems implicate Tomlin’s assistant coaches — including offensive coordinator Matt Canada — for not maximizing the talent of the team’s players, while minimizing their weaknesses.
With that in mind, some Steelers beat reporters (including Brooke Pryor of ESPN) believe that Tomlin & Co. should be taking more aggressive approach, in light of the one-win start and the need to see what they have in rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett.
“Mitch Trubisky didn’t work out because the Steelers weren’t being aggressive and taking risks. Kenny Pickett won’t be successful, either, if the Steelers don’t start letting him sling it. There’s nothing to lose,” offered Pryor during Sunday’s game.
Mike Tomlin: ‘There’s Gonna Be Better Days’
It probably doesn’t help that Tomlin used the word “absorb” when talking about Sunday’s defeat.
“We got to absorb the position that we’re in, what transpired today,” Tomlin said. “We got to know that there’s gonna be better days, not to provide or to seek comfort. Knowing that there’s better days is gonna be born out of our commitment to making sure that there are better days, and that’s what I talked to the team about. But where we are today, not good,” he concluded.
Longtime Steelers beat writer Mark Kaboly of The Athletic — who repeatedly warned that Pittsburgh’s offense would look dreadful this season — certainly agrees with that assessment.
“Steelers may be the worst team in the NFL,” he tweeted as the team was getting dismantled by the Bills. “It’s hard to find something positive about them at this point. Everything is flawed,” he tweeted.
Steelers may be the worst team in the NFL. It’s hard to find something positive about them at this point. Everything is flawed.
That said, Kaboly — and other Steelers observers — appreciate the fact that Kenny Pickett was “pissed off” about what transpired on Sunday.
“Need more players/coaches pissed off,” he concluded.
Gotta love seeing Pickett pissed off. Need more players/coaches pissed off.