PITTSBURGH (AP) – Mike Tomlin understands that change is inevitable, although the longtime head coach of Pittsburgh Steelers also knows that his organization avoided it more than most.
Probably not this time.
Tomlin, who had still lost in the playoffs at home to Cleveland, admitted on Wednesday that the upheaval could be significant over the next few months. On the surface, an 11-0 start and an AFC North title looks like a hugely successful season. In most places it is.
It’s not in Pittsburgh. And four years after the team’s last win after the season, Tomlin is feeling this more clearly than most. With a looming salary crisis looming and three fainting spells in December, the team’s practice of constantly kicking the can in order to stay competitive may need to stop.
“It’s a challenge,” said Tomlin. “The downs (of our situation) are challenging, so we still have a lot of work to do.”
Starting with the question of whether Ben Roethlisberger will return in 2021. The 38-year-old quarterback played remarkably well at times during the year following surgery on his right elbow, but was occasionally error-prone, including a four-bug performance against Cleveland.
Roethlisberger is under contract for next season and hopes the Steelers will bring him back. At the same time, he has a salary cap of $ 41 million, which means General Manager Kevin Colbert has to get pretty creative to fill out the rest of the roster, which is likely to be put together with no looming free agents. These include external linebacker Bud Dupree, wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and cornerback Mike Hilton.
When asked whether he expects to have Roethlisberger in the spotlight in 2021, Tomlin said: “We have not made any decisions about our employees in this direction.”
“I think it’s reasonable to assume there’s a chance he’ll come back,” added Tomlin.
That decision, whether Roethlisberger or the team’s, will likely have to be made before Roethlisberger receives a $ 15 million roster bonus in mid-March. It’s one of many forks the Steelers have to navigate on. This list includes information on whether to keep offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner and defensive coordinator Keith Butler.
Butler helped oversee a defense that finished third in the league in yards and sacked and led the NFL for the fourth consecutive year. The offensive became overly dependent on Roethlisberger thanks to a running game that ended in both rushing yards and yards per carry. Tomlin refused to be specific in his criticism of the scheme or the players.
“I think the last time you’re dead in anything, that’s all,” he said. “We rate it better as such. We will not accept our current position in this area. We have to attack this and we will do it.”
The Steelers have put together 17 straight seasons at .500 or better, the longest active streak in the league. Even if a long-term retrofit is imminent, regardless of whether Roethlisberger decides for 2021 or not, Tomlin remains firmly convinced that expectations will remain the same.
“It is our desire to be competitive, to fight for titles and to pursue them,” said Tomlin. “That will undoubtedly be our way of thinking.”
The reality, however, is that the Steelers have made no further progress in the postseason since the divisional round of the 2016 playoffs. They have allowed 37 points or more in their postseason with three losses in the 2016 AFC Championship, including giving up a franchise record of 48 to the Browns.
“It was a disappointment,” said Tomlin. “I will acknowledge that and not maintain the status quo and hope the outcome will change. That is the definition of insanity.”
The status quo has worked largely effectively for 50 years. No franchise has won more Super Bowls. Only the patriots played more. A decade after the team’s last appearance in the only game by which to measure the success and failure of a season – at least in Pittsburgh – the Steelers are entering a longer-than-expected off-season at an intersection.
The process of finding answers in earnest begins almost immediately. Nevertheless, the stab of fall from a franchise-best 11: 0 start to the shame of a 1: 5 end remains fresh.
“It’s the loss,” said Tomlin. “The kind of loss. Where we’ve been. How we’ve developed. The fact that we’re just not playing this week.”
And won’t play for a while.
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