Steelers' Mike Tomlin Has Poor Answer On Slow Starts In 2024

The Pittsburgh Steelers have a myriad of issues as they limp into the playoffs. Over their four-game losing streak, there has been plenty of blame to go around, as no single member of the team is free from criticism. To make matters worse, the Steelers will have to face their red-hot division rival on the road. The Steelers have so many problems that they need to fix while the Baltimore Ravens are looking to continue their winning streak and have another outing like they had back in Week 16. 

During his weekly press conference, Head Coach Mike Tomlin was asked about one of those concerns: the slow starts. He doesn't seem too sure about the answer either, as he gives a very basic answer that explains nothing.

"That's a good question," Tomlin answered. "Some of it has had to do with some of the people that we've played have done a nice job. Some of it has to do with us. Rest assured that we're working extremely hard to rectify it, and I'm excited about taking another whack at it this week."

While the Steelers did have a brutal schedule to end the season, they did nothing to help themselves with it. It doesn't matter if they were playing a good or bad defense; they still could not move the football in the first quarter. Considering the Cincinnati Bengals fired their defensive coordinator right after beating Pittsburgh, it's likely not just an issue with facing great opposing units. 

The real problem is that the gameplan on both sides of the ball is highly questionable. Offensively, they've been wildly predictable. Tomlin himself wanted a basic play-sheet against the Bengals, even though they dominated that weak defense just roughly a month earlier. He purposefully made his offensive coordinator go against the Steelers' highest scoring game of the last six years.

Defensively, Tomlin has a tendency to go against his own team's strengths and play right into the hands of the opposing offense. He still prefers to run zone defense as much as he can, even though his opponents thrive off of that look. His own preferences and ideas are likely the biggest reason why they spotted the other team a two-possession lead in each of the last four games.

Steelers May Have Those Same Issues Again In Wild Card Round

Immediately after giving that statement, Tomlin was asked if those constant first-half failures set off any "alarms" in the building in terms of the gameplan. Once again, he dodged accountability to say that they would find the reason for the slow starts.

"I don't know if I'd use the term 'alarm,' but certainly," explained Tomlin. "We're analyzing all components of it in an effort to remedy it."

It should be alarming, considering the fact that starting slow has been a problem ever since Todd Haley was the offensive coordinator. Over the course of four different play-callers, the Steelers have rarely started games on the right foot. The blame can't be put on the opponents when the elite Killer B's offense had issues with scoring quickly as well.

The culprit of the crime should be the head coach. Tomlin needs to look at the facts and realize his way of doing things just doesn't work consistently enough. The defense is sloppy and over-reliant on turnovers, while the offense is stuck in quicksand. This looked like a different team when they were 10-3, but it appears to be all the same heading into the playoffs.

What do you think about Tomlin's answers for the slow starts? Let us know in the comments.

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