Pittsburgh Steelers’ Mike Tomlin calls team ‘fundamentally poor.’ Is he right?

Though he attempted to point to specific plays following the team’s recent losses, Saturday’s 30-13 defeat at the hands of the Indianapolis Colts brought out a new reaction from head coach Mike Tomlin, and he didn’t hold back.

What did Steelers coach Mike Tomlin say about the team?

When the final whistle blew on Saturday night, it was the third consecutive loss that the Pittsburgh Steelers had conceded and with that, their path to the postseason was made all the more complicated. To be clear, the Steelers can still make it to the playoffs, but it will require no errors and favorable results in other games. To that end, head coach Mike Tomlin was expected to be less than positive when he addressed the media post-game, but few could have expected such a frank description. “Let’s be honest, right? We are a fundamentally poor football group right now,” Tomlin said. “We’re playing losing football and I take responsibility for that. By losing football I mean we’re just not doing fundamental things well enough. We’re not.” Tomlin didn’t stop there either, as he went on to give more detailed insight as to what he believed went wrong with his team and continues to do so.

“We’re turning the ball over, we’re highly penalized, we don’t play good in situations and so, I’m just acknowledging that,” Tomlin continued. “I don’t necessarily have the answers as I, we sit here today. If I had the answers we would’ve played differently today. But, I will acknowledge things won’t continue the way that they are. We’re not going to keep doing the same things that we’re doing and expect or hope for a different result. So, we got a seven-day turnaround - we’ll see what those days hold for us. But, I’m just acknowledging right now that we’re playing losing football, and I own that. Not a good day.”

Is Mike Tomlin being too harsh?

No, not really. Truly, Tomlin’s take on his team is as accurate as can be. For starters, the Steelers’ offense has failed to score at least 20 points in the last five consecutive games. Then, there is the defense which has been plagued by injuries. As for the special teams, to say it hasn’t been great would be an understatement, as Chris Boswell has missed either a field goal or an extra point in two of the team’s last three games. Last but not least, there is the issue of penalties. Indeed, in the Steelers’ most recent loss alone there were eight of them which amounted to 101 yards. There is simply no comparison with the Colts who gave up just two penalties to the tune of 10 yards.

So, what’s the conclusion about the Steelers?

We’ve got to start with Kenny Pickett. Anyone who thought that Pickett was not an important part of Pittsburgh’s puzzle, must know by now that they were wrong. Before his injury against the Arizona Cardinals, Pickett had spearheaded a 7-4 start. They are now 7-7 and haven’t won a game since the 25-year-old was under center in the Week 12 win against the Cincinnati Bengals. Yes, the same Bengals that are now above the Steelers in the AFC standings after putting down the Minnesota Vikings on Saturday, and who will play the Steelers once more next Saturday. Should Cincinnati come out on top in that contest, Pittsburgh can more or less kiss this season goodbye.