Mike Tomlin didn’t like the performance.
But the Pittsburgh Steelers head coach had a name for it.
“Junior varsity,” Tomlin said Wednesday after a 29-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. “It’s not good enough. We got to own that.”
The Steelers can own now the deficiencies that have derailed their AFC North title hopes and produced a three-game losing streak.
Or, they can own these troubling trends after an early postseason exit. Because that’s the road the Steelers are headed down if this formula continues to repeat itself.
In three straight games against playoff-bound opponents, the Steelers have managed fewer than 20 points each game and allowed more than 27 each time. Twice, Pittsburgh has lost the turnover battle. Repeatedly, penalties and missed opportunities have doomed the offense, defense and special teams alike.
“Not the type of ball we want to play and really kinda eerily similar to our last performance in that we’re not doing the fundamental things well enough,” Tomlin said. “In terms of schematics, in terms of the division of labor, I’m open to whatever’s necessary in an effort to change the outcome.
“We’re not going to continue to do the same things and hope for a different result.”
The Steelers (10-6) have already clinched a playoff berth for the 12th time in Tomlin’s 18 seasons at the helm. Tomlin’s streak without a losing record has stretched to all 18 of those years.
But the coach who’s won that often and that consistently knows that he cannot simply dismiss losses to the Philadelphia Eagles, Baltimore Ravens and now Chiefs even if they don’t count toward postseason advancement. Because Tomlin is not simply concerned that the Steelers are losing. He’s concerned with how and why and, quite frankly, when the losses are mounting.
With one regular-season game against the Cincinnati Bengals standing between the Steelers and the wild-card round, time is running out.
It may already be too late to save the division title, which Pittsburgh lost control of Wednesday when the Baltimore Ravens beat the Houston Texans. But it’s not too late to position themselves to compete for a playoff win.
“We got to make sure we end this last game on the right footing and right belief,” quarterback Russell Wilson said. “Because we want to catch the momentum going into the playoffs in the right way.”
Without reversing turnover trends, Steelers unlikely to rebound
NFL coaches preach winning the turnover battle so excessively that it begins to sound cliché.
But the Steelers’ dropoffs in offensive ball security and defensive takeaways have cost them this month.
During the first 14 weeks of the season, the Steelers posted the league’s second-best turnover margin, averaging 1.31 more takeaways than giveaways, per TruMedia data. No defense was better at ball-hawking than Pittsburgh’s in that stretch, forcing 2.14 turnovers per game. On offense, the Steelers’ 0.85 turnovers per game tied for sixth-best.
The Steelers won 10 of 13 games during that stretch, leading the league with a 4:59 time-of-possession advantage that helped them score 24.85 points (10th best) even when some drives stalled.
The last three weeks paint a different picture.
During this losing streak, the Steelers have fallen from second in turnover margin to to 20th, their giveaways and takeaways rankings now 19th and 18th, respectively. (Most teams have not played this week yet, but all TruMedia data reflects a per-game average.)
That time of possession advantage? Pittsburgh dropped from first to 29th, holding the ball on average 7 minutes and 16 seconds fewer per game than competition. Scoring output has fallen to 28th, at 13.33 points.
Wednesday’s turnovers cost Pittsburgh.
Consider the Steelers’ second series, trailing 13-0 in the first quarter. When Wilson found George Pickens on a moon ball down the left sideline, the Steelers seemed poised to regain rhythm. Pickens’ 41-yard catch represented the juice they’d lacked during his three-game stretch sidelined with a hamstring injury. The threat of the deep ball started to take pressure off the ground game, running back Jaylen Warren ripping upfield for 22 yards the following play.
Warren kept grinding, next for 6 yards and then for 8 into the end zone. The Steelers could narrow the lead to one possession.
Or could they?
The touchdown was called back on account of a holding penalty by tight end Darnell Washington — not an official turnover but emblematic of the poor fundamentals Tomlin would later lament. The next play, Wilson targeted tight end Pat Freiermuth in double coverage in the end zone … and instead was picked off by safety Justin Reid.
Pickens doesn’t really run a route at the bottom of the screen. It leaves Justin Reid – one of the smartest players in the NFL – without a real threat as a deep half safety. pic.twitter.com/HP9200ZUMU
— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) December 25, 2024
Add in two other Steelers fumbles (one lost), a Chiefs muffed puff return that Pittsburgh did not successfully recover, and a season-high five sacks on Wilson that routinely gave the Chiefs favorable field position?
The Chiefs arrived to Pittsburgh rounding into form. The Steelers appear to be rounding out of it.
“We regressed in terms of our turnover culture,” Tomlin said. “In terms of maintaining possession of the ball. In terms of getting the ball and not giving up the ball. We’ve been a plus group in most instances and that’s really been a catalyst in terms of games unfolding the way we desire.
“Coupled with lack of situational play-making, red-zone defense, making people settle for field goals as opposed to touchdowns … you’re running on the beach when you’re performing like that.”
What’s next for reeling Steelers?
By Wednesday afternoon, the AFC North control the Steelers had held a week prior had slipped away to a toss-up with the Ravens. By Wednesday night: Baltimore moved ahead of Pittsburgh, improving to 11-5 with a 31-2 blowout win over the also-playoff-bound Houston Texans.
If the Ravens beat the currently 3-12 Browns in the regular-season finale, they’ll win the division and will host at least one playoff game. The Steelers’ only road to the division crown is beating the feisty Cincinnati Bengals and getting a Ravens loss to Cleveland.
Home playoff games are nice. But Tomlin knows his problems run deeper than location.
“I’m less concerned about control of our division and more concerned about the quality of our performance at this juncture,” he said.
What might the Steelers do?
Offensively, Wilson showed one weapon with yet untapped potential on Wednesday when he scrambled for 55 yards and a touchdown against Kansas City. The Steelers needed that mobility on a day when the offensive line allowed eight pressures and two sacks, per TruMedia. Wilson didn’t run recklessly but he was extremely productive. After never rushing for more than 27 yards in his Steelers tenure, Wilson’s 55 came via just six carries, the first a 1-yard rushing touchdown and the next five all generating first downs.
Wilson turned a third-and-7 into a 12-yard gain, a third-and-9 into a 15-yard keeper and a third-and-4 into 14 yards. He looked comfortable, even at 36 years old mere months removed from a training camp calf injury that he aggravated during the regular season.
If Wilson can continue posing that dual threat, defenses will need to respect the box more and lighten their coverage on his targets. Extending possessions, as Wilson’s legs enabled Wednesday, will also help keep an injured defensive group fresher from series to series as they aim to recapture the takeaway magic.
Perhaps with that recipe, the Steelers break their losing streak and find a performance that meets Tomlin’s definition of varsity.
But for now, as Wilson championed the strength that comes from overcoming challenges and the belief he has in his squad, Tomlin’s Christmas disposition was less rosy.
“That doesn’t feel good, it doesn’t look good,” he said. “That sucked, to be blunt.”
