Stop apologizing for Mike Tomlin. Stop tweeting about loyalty and “he never has a losing season” like that is some kind of untouchable shield. This was supposed to be an all in year. Ownership spent big on defense. They traded and paid to overhaul the receiver room and “fix the culture.” They told everybody this was the reset and the run. Instead the Steelers have blown two prime time chances in the last few weeks and the product looks like a team that forgot what football is.

Last night against the Packers was embarrassing. Pittsburgh lost 35 to 25 and got shoved around like a rookie squad. They got out coached and out adjusted in the second half. Two weeks ago on Thursday night in Cincinnati they choked again. Lost 33 to 31 on a last second field goal. That is not bad luck. Those are coaching failures. Those are Mike Tomlin failures.

Let us get the resume crap out of the way. Yes he has a Super Bowl. Yes he has never had a losing season. Yes he is the poster boy for stability in Pittsburgh. All very cute. All very misleading. The top line numbers make him look like Mr. Consistency. The deeper stuff tells you he is great at keeping the boat floating and terrible at turning it into a championship ship. Ownership extended him through 2027. Awesome. Time does not equal results. Leadership is supposed to turn payroll into performance. Instead we are getting stalled drives, blown coverages, dumb penalties, failed adjustments, and a head coach shrugging like it is out of his hands.

Look at the Green Bay game. The Steelers had the halftime lead and then fell apart like a dollar store chair. Jordan Love lit them up for 360 yards and three touchdowns. The defense that is supposed to be the pride of the franchise turned into a Pac 12 unit getting cooked by basic concepts. Tucker Kraft looked like prime Gronk with 143 yards and two scores. When the other team’s role player becomes Thanos, that is not an accident. That is a defensive scheme that is swiss cheese and coaching that has no counter punch.

Cincinnati was the same story. Last year’s couch surfer turned miracle worker Joe Flacco marched down the field late, twice, because the Steelers defense plays prevent like it is a suggestion. Thursday night games are supposed to test real coaching brains. Short prep. Fast adjustments. Pressure. The Steelers have now lost five of their last six Thursday night games going back seasons. That is a trend. That is coaching malpractice.

Let us talk about the money because this is where it gets disgusting. The Steelers are paying out a ridiculous percentage of the cap on defense. The highest paid defense in football by money invested and expectations. When you invest like that you are saying the defense is the identity. You are saying we win games with defense. Right now they are not winning anything. They are middle of the pack in every category that matters while costing top tier money. That is not on the market. That is on Mike Tomlin and his hand picked staff.

I do not buy the excuse “players aren’t executing.” Execution matters, absolutely. But when the same mistakes keep happening, it is not execution, it is leadership. Missed turnovers, blown assignments, poor coverages. Those are fixable with coaching. You cannot blame a young receiver for a linebacker fill being missed when that linebacker has been coached the same way for years. You cannot blame a veteran pass rusher for not getting home when the protection scheme is neutralizing him with chips and quick throws that the game plan never accounted for. The coaching staff is supposed to anticipate and neutralize opponent strengths. If that does not happen the hires and game plans are failing. The head coach is accountable.

Let us be blunt. Teryl Austin is the defensive play caller. This unit is the highest paid on paper and one of the worst in execution. Austin has been public about the unit being bad after games. That tells you two things. One, he knows the unit is failing. Two, his public frustration is not translating into corrective results. If the coordinator says the group is bad and the problems persist, the head coach must act. The buck stops at Tomlin. He hired and retained this staff. That is on him.

Now the stars. Cameron Heyward got paid after whining about his contract. How is that working out. T. J. Watt was given the bank and now looks like he is moving through molasses. D. K. Metcalf was brought in as the culture savior and the better wideout than George Pickens. Guess what. He is making the same boneheaded mistakes. Drops. Penalties. Momentum killers. If your supposed leaders are underperforming, the coach either gets them right or sits them down. Tomlin does neither. He protects egos and loses games.

And do not you dare bring up the “but Tomlin has a ring” defense. That ring is Bill Cowher era fingerprints with Tomlin taking over and riding momentum. Since then his playoff record is average at best. One and done after one and done. More excuses than adjustments. More “we will learn from this” than actual learning. The postseason exposes bad coaching fast and the Steelers have been exposed year after year.

I am done with the “someone else will hire him tomorrow” nonsense. Great. Let them. Let some other franchise get fooled by the never losing season trophy. Pittsburgh needs someone who can adapt. Someone who can evolve. Someone who does not piss his pants the second the opponent tweaks their game plan.

Watch the tape. Green Bay sent crossing routes and misdirection all night and Pittsburgh just sat there. No change. No correction. Cincinnati ran the same fourth quarter drive twice and the Steelers reacted like they had never seen a two minute drill. This is not isolated. It is the identity of the Tomlin era now. Predictable. Slow to adjust. Overconfident. Underprepared.

Now the front office has a choice. Stick with Tomlin and accept stale results. Or wake the hell up and realize this team is wasting money and talent with a head coach who thinks vibes are strategy. Rip the band aid off. Evaluate everyone. Hold veterans accountable. Clean out the staff. Actually demand improvement instead of speeches.

Tomlin earned respect for what he did. But what he is doing now is falling apart. The Steelers paid for an elite defense and got an overhyped, under coached mess. They brought in a star wideout and got a penalty machine. They invested in continuity and got stagnation.

This is not a hot take. This is a factual evaluation of on field failures, cap allocation, and repeated collapses in big games. If fans want to cling to the past because it feels safe, fine. But if you actually want to win championships again, take off the nostalgia goggles. Stop pretending everything is fine. It is not.

The Steelers are not a bad bounce away from winning. They are a coaching change away from being relevant again. The Rooney family has to decide if they want to live in the past or actually compete in the future.

My answer is simple. Stop defending Tomlin. Pack his bags. It is time for Pittsburgh to demand better. Get him out of town.

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