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Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, greeting Colts defensive end Justin Houston after Pittsburgh's 26-24 win, has his team back in playoff contention after a dreadful start. Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Mike Tomlin saves Steelers' season with steady hand

By Chris Mueller | Last updated 11/14/19

After a 24-20 loss at San Francisco in Week 3, a game in which Pittsburgh forced five turnovers, I thought the Steelers were done. At 0-3, Pittsburgh seemed rudderless without starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, lost for the season with an elbow injury. Of the 176 teams that have started the season 0-3 since 1980, only six -- 3.4 percent -- have made the playoffs.

Yet only seven weeks later, Pittsburgh (5-4), which plays at Cleveland on Thursday night, is a serious contender for a wild-card spot. This amazing resurrection has the fingerprints of head coach Mike Tomlin all over it.

The Steelers have saved their season with defense, Tomlin's area of expertise. After surrendering 61 points in its first two games, Pittsburgh has allowed 120 over the past seven, an average of 17 points per game.

Pittsburgh's defense isn’t just preventing points; it’s producing them too. Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick has scored in back-to-back games, the first Steelers defender to do so since 1984. His 96-yard pick-six against the Colts in Week 9 turned that game around and might be the most pivotal play of the Steelers' season to date.

Fitzpatrick, acquired from the Dolphins in September, has been transformative. He is tied for the league lead with five interceptions, all of them with Pittsburgh. That’s the highest season total for a Steeler since Troy Polamalu had seven in 2010, the season he was Defensive Player of the Year.

When the Steelers traded for Fitzpatrick, Tomlin initially suggested they would use him as a jack-of-all-trades, lining him up everywhere, despite the former Alabama star's unhappiness with that role in Miami. Tomlin quickly, and wisely, scrapped that plan once he saw Fitzpatrick’s impact as a true free safety.

Fitzpatrick has lined up as the deep safety on 86.3 percent of his snaps in Pittsburgh, as opposed to 22.4 percent in Miami. Before he got to the Steelers, opponents were completing 57.1 percent of their deep passes (20-plus air yards). They also had three touchdowns and no interceptions on deep throws. Since Fitzpatrick’s arrival, the completion percentage has dropped to 22.2, and opponents haven’t thrown a touchdown on a deep pass.

Former NFL scout Matt Williamson is bullish on Fitzpatrick. “The other 10 defenders are playing extra aggressive knowing they have a stud behind them,” he told me. Consistent pressure from T.J. Watt, Bud Dupree and Cam Heyward, coupled with Fitzpatrick’s ball-hawking prowess, has made the Steelers a dominant, scary defense.

That defense is Tomlin’s, to be sure, but his influence is felt everywhere. The Steelers are still a major work in progress on offense. Yet Tomlin has kept the team together; there's no intra-squad squabbling about one group not pulling its weight. JuJu Smith-Schuster (36 catches for 503 yards) has struggled, but the star wideout has bought into the team concept. Apparently every Steeler has.

Former Pittsburgh linebacker Arthur Moats, who played for Tomlin from 2014-17, isn't surprised. “In 2015, we lose Ben for a couple of games, we start Landry Jones, we start Mike Vick, we deal with multiple kickers that season as well," he said, "but when the chips are down, when your backs are against the wall, [Tomlin] is the ultimate motivator, he’s going to find a way to get the most out of you.

“The reason he is so great at that is because of his personal relationships with the players," he added. "People talk about being a player’s coach as a negative thing, but the positive is that you relate and you understand how to push a guy’s buttons and how to get him to do more than what he’s typically capable of.”

What Moats said rings true. Tomlin, who has never had a losing season since he became Steelers coach in 2007, has his warts. His game management is lacking at times. He’s atrocious at challenges. His teams, particularly his most talented ones, usually stumbled once or twice a year against inferior opponents. When presented with adversity, though, he and his team have risen to the challenge. His players never quit on him.

The star quarterback is done for the season, Mason Rudolph’s progress is incremental, and fumbles have cost Pittsburgh winnable games against the 49ers and Ravens. Through it all, Tomlin has run his team with a steady hand, never letting the season spiral out of control. Nine games in, this looks like his best coaching job yet.

You may be surprised by Pittsburgh's turnaround, but given Mike Tomlin’s track record, don't be.

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