Just two weeks ago, the Pittsburgh Steelers looked to be in a great position to make the NFL postseason and potentially even contend for the AFC North championship. The team had a 7-4 record and their next two games were against two of the worst teams in the entire league, both of which were at home. But unfortunately, things took a horrible turn of events for the Steelers.
Pittsburgh likely expected to be 9-4 following these two games against the Arizona Cardinals and the New England Patriots, putting them in the thick of the NFL playoff race. But unfortunately for the Steelers, the complete opposite happened. The Steelers lost both games at home to the two 2-10 teams to bring their record to 7-6 on the season, severely hurting their playoff chances.
And as NFL analyst Ari Meirov points out, the situation is even worse than that for the Steelers as they faced two backup quarterbacks the previous two weeks.
The #Steelers were gifted a 4-game stretch against the Browns (right after Watson's injury), the Bengals (right after Burrow's injury), and then the 2-win Cardinals and 2-win Patriots.
They somehow went 1-3 during that stretch. https://t.co/q7t20eERsx
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) December 8, 2023
“The #Steelers were gifted a 4-game stretch against the Browns (right after Watson’s injury), the Bengals (right after Burrow’s injury), and then the 2-win Cardinals and 2-win Patriots. They somehow went 1-3 during that stretch,” Meirov said in a post on X, the social media website that was formerly known as Twitter.
It’s an absolutely horrible turn of events for the Steelers this season just when the team thought that they had room for optimism, and the NFL world had a lot to say about it on social media as a result.
I don't see how Tomlin survives this https://t.co/R5wKt3IxMu
— Derrick Lowery (@DLow14) December 8, 2023
The universe balanced them right on out. They won games they shouldn’t have, now record starting to reflect their lack of talent. https://t.co/oQlXqKUF8Q
— Most Ballinest Playa (@jaay_cool) December 8, 2023
Why people suprised. They never played like a good team. They are basically a 2-10 team themselves https://t.co/261bQzXA9l
— Tymon (@byTxmon) December 8, 2023
And yet you got people defending Tomlin and claiming half the league would scoop him up quick.
Tomlin has clearly lost the locker room https://t.co/dbQNw2WoAz
— CoffeeGuy32 (Best Available Burner) (@MidnightRoasted) December 8, 2023
Tomlin is gone. #NFL https://t.co/Wx5HapRpOT
— Andrew Rooney (@Slayden44) December 8, 2023
This team was never good. Lucked into multiple wins early in the season and the defense was playing well enough to hang around with an awful offense. The defense is worn down now and the offense still sucks https://t.co/Jms0aDWKBv
— Kyle Neff (@kyle_neff1) December 8, 2023
if they were to fire tomlin he would get that chargers team together in one season https://t.co/ZzvM0YvKwy
— Sosa Bryant (@longlivedarius_) December 8, 2023
It’s certainly not a good look for head coach Mike Tomlin.