Steelers' embarrassing loss to the Ravens forces Bill Cowher to change his stance on Mike Tomlin
While Bill Cowher does a great job at being an objective analyst for CBS Sports, the Hall of Fame HC and Super Bowl champion has a soft spot for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He's usually the first to come to the defense of Mike Tomlin and the organization as a whole. But after six straight playoff […]
While Bill Cowher does a great job at being an objective analyst for CBS Sports, the Hall of Fame HC and Super Bowl champion has a soft spot for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
He's usually the first to come to the defense of Mike Tomlin and the organization as a whole.
But after six straight playoff losses, and the latest coming in embarrassing fashion yet again, even Cowher has changed his tune…
Bill Cowher says Steelers need changing
“Probably need some changes on that football team, players, coaches,” Cowher said on the CBS pregame show. “Right now, that’s going to stick with them for a long time. It’s not that they lost. It’s the manner in what they lost…
…This game was total domination by the Baltimore Ravens. One of the drives was 13 plays, and they were all runs. They ran the ball for (299) yards. That is winning at the line of scrimmage. That is imposing your will on a football team. And I’ll tell you, that is something you have to sit with now this whole offseason. So that was a complete domination, a big disappointment for the Pittsburgh Steelers showing up how they did.”
Strong statements from the rather stoic Cowher, it seems the Steelers are at a crossroads. Most NFL teams are a mess. They would die for 10-7 seasons, yearly relevance, and playoff appearances.
But the Pittsburgh Steelers aren't most teams. They are tied for the most Super Bowls in NFL history and have one of the biggest followings of any sports franchise in the world, setting a special standard.
But it now seems the team is complacent with above average, even if their owner says otherwise.
"You gave up 300 yards rushing and you ran the ball for 29 yards in the playoffs," said former Kansas City Chiefs QB Alex Smith on ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown. "There’s a total revaluation of where we’re at as a team going forward here. I know we’re getting into who’s playing QB for this team, but who’s playing D-Line or O-Line? I mean serious question marks."
The QB situation in Pittsburgh seems like the easiest problem to solve. The bigger issue is what is going on at the top. Unless and until Pittsburgh makes a run at the Super Bowl, the level of optimism surrounding the team will continue to wane under their current leadership
