For the first 30 minutes, it appeared Mike Tomlin’s Pittsburgh Steelers put the embarrassing defeat against Joe Flacco and the Cincinnati Bengals behind them. The Steelers led the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night by nine at halftime and played strong defensively in the first two quarters.
But then things fell apart for Tomlin’s defense, and thus the Steelers, in the second half.
The Packers scored 25 of the first 28 points after halftime. Quarterback Jordan Love completed 20 consecutive passes, and Tucker Kraft ran for the most yards after the catch for a tight end in eight years.
The result was a runaway victory for Green Bay, who knocked off the Steelers at Acrisure Stadium 35-25.
Late in the fourth quarter of the loss, the term “Tomlin” was trending on X, and not because Steelers Nation was pleased with the team’s head coach.
“Out-adjusted in the second half. Lack of discipline. Glaring miscues. The inability to get stops,” The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Jason Mackey posted. “With the area of the team you boasted you improved.
“All comes back to Mike Tomlin.”
“Pretty sure there’s no one else left to blame but Mike Tomlin,” wrote NFL analyst Dave Dameshek.
“Well at least the Steelers are skipping that annual tradition where they’re 6-2 & Mike Tomlin is getting coach of the year shouts before collapsing in epic fashion,” wrote The Score’s Daniel Valente.
“Justin Fields — 32 points. Sam Darnold — 31 points. Joe Flacco — 33 points. Jordan Love — 35 points,” wrote a Steelers fan on X.
“Historical defense.”
“Steelers just falling apart,” wrote Steelers Depot’s Alex Kozora. “Personal fouls on both sides.
“Completely undisciplined football in every sense.”
Steelers Defense Reaches New Low Under Mike Tomlin
There have been previous rough defensive patches during Mike Tomlin’s 18 years as head coach. But one could argue the Steelers defense is in the midst of the worst seven-game stretch of Tomlin’s tenure.
To begin this season, the Steelers have allowed at least 30 points in four of their first seven contests. It’s the first time opponents have tallied that many 30-point performances to begin a season against Pittsburgh since 2003.
Bill Cowher’s Steelers posted a 6-10 record that year. It’s the last time the franchise had a losing record.
That only begins to tell how rare it is for a Steelers defense to give up that many points at the start of a season. Before 2003, the last time the team gave up more than 30 points in four of its first seven games in a campaign was under Chuck Noll in 1988.
Steelers Fans Call for Accountability, Tomlin’s Job
Most Steelers pundits gave Tomlin constructive criticized. But not all of them did. After Sunday’s loss, some analysts and reporters called for the Steelers to make a change at head coach.
“Alright Mike Tomlin needs to go,” wrote football analyst Landon Tengwall. “I can’t continue to live in this purgatory.”
“Most overrated Steelers defense in my lifetime,” wrote freelancer reporter Eric Bowser. “Mike Tomlin and Teryl Austin own that.”
The average fan on social media was extremely angry with Tomlin and voiced it on their personal X accounts.
“Please fire Tomlin man,” wrote J*B. “Him and Austin have to go. Every week they get killed with the same MOF slant.”
“Time to can Mike Tomlin and Teryl Austin,” wrote Jim Racalto. “Undisciplined penalties, worst defense in the NFL, insanely unprepared.”
“You had ten days to get this team ready to be a little better than [expletive] and this is how you show up?” HeisenBurgh wrote.
Things could only get tougher for the Steelers defense. While they play at home again next week, they only have six days to prepare for the 7-1 Indianapolis Colts.
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