Steelers Prove That Reports of Mike Tomlin’s Demise Were Greatly Exaggerated

Don’t look now, but the Pittsburgh Steelers are running away with the AFC North.

Before the calendar had flipped to December, fans in Pennsylvania and beyond thought that Steelers coach Mike Tomlin could be falling out of favor in Pittsburgh.

After Monday night’s dominant victory against the Miami Dolphins, Tomlin proved that he is incapable of having a losing season in Pittsburgh. The Steelers had won their 23rd consecutive Monday Night Football game, dating back to 1991.

But more importantly, the Steelers improved to 8-6. Tomlin is one victory away from securing another season above .500. They are running away with the AFC North, and will only need to defeat the Baltimore Ravens in order to secure another divisional crown.

While the Aaron Rodgers led Steelers might not be Super Bowl contenders quite yet, they are peaking at the perfect time. Whether they fester out in the NFL postseason or not, Tomlin proved that he still has enough juice to get the Steelers a seat at the table.

It’s not up for debate that the Steelers capitalized on the worst division in football. But somebody had to win it. The Ravens dealt with injuries to their quarterback Lamar Jackson, and once he returned, things never clicked.

In Cincinnati, the Bengals lost too many games with Jake Browning and Joe Flacco at quarterback while Joe Burrow rehabbed his turf toe injury. Now, Burrow is questioning if he is even having fun playing football.

The Cleveland Browns are still dealing with the fallout from their $230 million mistake in Deshaun Watson. When Ben Roethlisberger retired, it looked like the Browns would finally have an avenue to contend in this division. But that never materialized.

Defensively, the Steelers are overrated. During the preseason, Tomlin proclaimed that this could be one of the top defenses that Pittsburgh has ever seen. They’ve failed to live up to those standards in their full body of work, but they are playing better lately.

Offensively, it feels like the Steelers will go as far as Rodgers can take them.

The run game headlined by Jaylen Warren is not tremendous. Outside of DK Metcalf, they don’t have many receiving threats. They’re using 300-pound tight end Darnell Washington as a receiver. It has worked over the last few weeks, but it’s fair to question if that’s a gimmick that will hold up in the postseason.

But right now, the Steelers have the luxury of crossing the bridge of winning playoff games when they get to it. A few weeks ago, it seemed like the offseason acquisitions of Rodgers and Metcalf were pointless. They can use their upcoming games against the Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns as tune-ups ahead of a pivotal Week 18 matchup with the Ravens.

Now, it feels like Tomlin somehow found a way to coach a veteran team back into the postseason, even if they aren’t as talented as other contenders in the AFC. You can just never count them out.