Steelers Are in No-Man's Land Organizationally
If you look up the definition of mediocrity in the dictionary, the Pittsburgh Steelers logo takes up one whole page. 9-8 every year with a middle-of-the-road draft pick eventually catches up to you.
The Steelers haven't won a playoff game since January 15, 2017. You might remember Chris Boswell going into Arrowhead Stadium and kicking his way to a six-field goal victory over the Chiefs 18-16. Since then, the Steelers have played in four playoff games and lost them all while allowing an average of 42.8 points per game in those four contests. They have won three playoff games in the past ten seasons.
If you think any organization outside of Pittsburgh wouldn't have fired their head coach two times over by now with that same resume, you're not paying attention to the world of football. However, the point of this exercise isn't to bury Mike Tomlin. He's taken his fair share of criticism and heat over the past two weeks. It is more to take a look at how the organization as a whole is in a bad spot right now.
There are a plethora of teams sitting at 7-6 at the moment. The Steelers, in a pool of league-wide mediocrity, own a playoff spot heading into Week 15. They've also lost a handful of games they shouldn't have and could arguably be 9-4 at the moment. Regardless, a lot of AFC teams are in the same boat as the Steelers currently in terms of the 2023 season. However, if you go through the teams that are 7-6 right now, there is a clear problem in Pittsburgh that the others don't have.
The Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans drafted quarterbacks this season that have their organizations on the rise. C.J. Stroud has been awesome, and Anthony Richardson was electric in a few games before he suffered a season-ending injury.
The Cincinnati Bengals lost Joe Burrow for the season but have seen Jake Browning step in with seemingly no missteps. The Buffalo Bills still have Josh Allen playing the role of Superman for them despite poor roster construction and coaching.
Even the Denver Broncos, with Russell Wilson healthy, are hanging around with a stout defense, and Wilson is playing a style of play that forces him to use less of his athletic ability as he begins to age.
The Steelers? They just lost to the two-win Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots at home in the span of two weeks. Their first-round quarterback isn't on the upward trajectory that an organization would like to see in year two. The locker room seems to be as fractured as a locker room under Mike Tomlin, as we've seen. An offensive coordinator was fired, and the defensive coordinator has tons of talent but isn't producing statistically as a defense of that caliber should.
If you add all of this up, the sum is equal to an utter mess of a franchise.
There are six teams sitting at 7-6, with the Joe Flacco-led Cleveland Browns at 8-5. Only three Wild Card spots are available for these seven teams. With the Steelers' current situation, it is easy to say that maybe they don't deserve to be in the playoffs. What if they do make it?
The likelihood that the Steelers win a playoff game is very low, provided they'd be traveling to another team's home. Even if they win one game, it is even less likely that they go on an actual run. With every playoff game they win, they will pick lower and lower in the first round of the NFL Draft. This isn't a team that can afford to go on a Cinderella run unless it results in the ultimate goal of every team in the NFL: a Lombardi Trophy.
The Steelers are already in the market for an offensive coordinator. Typically, the Steelers hire within the organization. Their interim tandem at offensive coordinator - Mike Sullivan and Eddie Faulker - would be the logical choices if the Steelers go that route. However, it would be nice to see them buck the trend and hire an outside offensive mind.
Teryl Austin's job should come into question simply because the defense isn't performing up to its standards. Yes, they're not allowing tons of points, but they aren't getting the turnovers that they've been accustomed to over the past few seasons and are allowing far too many yards for an "elite" defense's standards.
All of this goes without even mentioning the small potential of a head coach change.
What do you do at quarterback? Kenny Pickett has arguably taken a step backward after an encouraging 7-game stretch to end last season. Mitch Trubisky is the highest-paid backup in the NFL, providing nothing close to the standard of that title. They're trending towards picking low enough that they would have to pay a premium to trade up in the draft and pick a young quarterback worth building a franchise around.
You can call for Kirk Cousins, but he'll be coming off a major injury heading into his age-36 season. Maybe you want to trade for Justin Fields, but he's in a similar situation as Pickett: high potential, but the risk of trading for a flameout certainly exists.
In about a month, we'll be looking at a Steelers team that either made a late run at the playoffs to likely lose in the first round or a team that went 2-2 down the stretch, finished with a classic 9-8 record and finished in the Land of Mediocrity missing the playoffs by the skin of their teeth.
In Pittsburgh, the Standard is the Standard, and that "Standard" is winning just enough that you're not considered a loser while leaving the team dangling in the Land of Mediocrity year after year.
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