Mike Tomlin: Steelers Coach On The Hot Seat After Shaky Start

Mike Tomlin says the Pittsburgh Steelers are their biggest enemy right now.

The team’s shaky start — nearly blown 24-point lead against Cleveland in an opening win followed by a dismantling by the Baltimore Ravens — has put Tomlin on the early hot seat, and put the Steelers in a hole in the AFC North.

The team’s early season has been marked with turnovers, sloppy play, and a lack of big plays.

Mike Tomlin said it’s been a total team failure so far.

“We have to play cleaner,” Tomlin said. “We have to play better, technically, and cleaner.”

Cornerback Ike Taylor was even more blunt.

“We got a good ole fashioned (butt) whooping,” cornerback Ike Taylor said. “We beat ourselves, and they capitalized. That’s how it is in the NFL. It’s already hard enough, and when you beat yourself, and they capitalize, it doesn’t make anything better.”

The Steelers did perform well on some facets, including the Le’Veon Bell rushing attack, but had to abandon the run after falling behind to the Ravens.

“It’s frustrating because we lost,” Roethlisberger said. “We moved the ball; we just made a mistake here and there, and we can’t do it.”

Mike Tomlin entered the season feeling the pressure of back-to-back non-winning seasons. Despite going 71-41 during his tenure and winning a Super Bowl title, Tomlin said he doesn’t feel safe in his job this season.

When the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review asked before the season what it’s like for Tomlin to have three ex-head coaches on staff, the Steelers coach implied that he could be joining the ranks of ex-coaches if the team failed again.

“Hopefully, I’m not one of them [when the season ends],” Tomlin said, adding that he does not assume that his job is ever safe.

But Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers have the chance to turn things around. They face off against the Carolina Panthers next week and then the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and two wins could put them back in the driver’s seat in the NFC North.