The fan base is finally starting to catch up to where a lot of us have been on Tomlin for years now.
How many guys would still have a job if they only have 4 seasons out of 19 with a playoff win? Or 8+ years without a playoff win? Or 3 playoff wins in 15 years?
Ownership has been comfortable because the national media loves him and enough of the fan base supports him that 8, 9, or 10 wins has been enough. Now the national media has started picking up on it and the fans are getting more and more tired of the lack of discipline, declining performance, and lack of adjustments. It's been this way since 2011 after his run with Cowher's team, not just since Ben retired. The goodwill built from 2007 to 2010 is finally starting to wear out.
Losing 3 or 4 of the next 5 would finally start to put some real pressure on the team to change.
When Tomlin took over he did not take over a 3-13 team starting a rebuild.
When he took over they had all the pieces in place including
a young franchise QB, and give credit he won with those pieces. That was 16 years ago.
Steelers remind me of the Detroit Red Wings after they won a few Stanley Cups and were on the decline, but still squeaked into the playoffs ever year. All we heard is 25 years in a row making the playoffs. Team did not say the last 10 they were knocked out in the first or second round.
I am sure Tomlin is a good coach but even he looks like he has lost the fire in his belly in Pitt. They will never fire him so he would have to resign. End up in the booth for a year then some team will pay him big to come back.
Really, ^
this^ is all that matters. I said it many times... you either have
THE quarterback, or you don't... and it's a crap shoot.
Fortunate to have had Big Ben, but also a little unfortunate that there were two
better QBs (in the same division) during his entire career. I would put Ben on the tier with Philip Rivers (how many Super Bowls did Rivers get to?).
These guys don't grow on trees and for every five (5) "generational talents" coming out of college, it feels like... 2 bust, 2 are good (not great), and 1 actually lives up to the hype. Oh, and you have to be drafting top 10 to get a sniff at one (preferably top 5).
Look at MIN, CLE, and maybe LVR (the latter probably having a QB situation that the other 2 envy)... they have no hope... none. MIN self-inflicted (missed on the QB), CLE feels like they are paying 5-6 QBs on other rosters (or out of football), and LVR have an outdated HC that trusted his old buddy QB.
I would rank the Steelers QB room 4th worst behind these 3 teams. And I don't want to hear about "PIT has failed to develop any QBs" when we all know they haven't been in a position to draft one. If Rogers/Rudolph was part of the "Steelers are ALL IN" plan this off-season? Well, pretty easy to see how that was going to end up. Rudolph is a professional clipboard-holder and Rogers hasn't been
Aaron Roger in maybe... 5 years? Combine that with a bunch of old dudes on defense... that's a 0.500 club at best.
If Tomlin gets fired, he's NYG's HC 2 minutes later and PIT is still the same mid-pack, no-QB-having team... like all the others in the NFL looking for the same thing.