RANT SPORTS – Time Up on Tomlin in Pittsburgh?
Andy Reid coached the Philadelphia Eagles for 14 seasons, went to five NFC Championship Games, one Super Bowl and pretty much dominated the NFC East during his run from 1999-2012.
And then it ended.
When the Eagles followed up a misleading 8-8 2011 season with a 4-12 2012 season, Reid’s time with the Eagles was over. It wasn’t that he forgot how to coach. It was more of his message not getting through any longer.
Just about a week after Reid was fired in Philly, he landed in Kansas City, the team drafted Patrick Mahomes and a third consecutive Super Bowl is three wins away.
Mike Tomlin just finished his 18th season with the Pittsburgh Steelers. In those 18 years, he’s never had a losing record, as been to the playoffs 12 times, has been to three AFC Championship Games, two Super Bowls and won one.
Is it about to end for Tomlin?
Steelers fans from Pittsburgh to Myrtle Beach (and even some at Shock I.T. Support as I found out this week) are calling for a change.
And they are not doing it quietly.
Tomlin’s teams, after Saturday night’s loss to Baltimore, are 0-5 in their last five playoff games. The Steelers have not won a playoff game since 2017.
This season ended on a five-game losing streak. Tomlin, now 8-11 in playoff games, rivals Chuck Knox (7-11) and Marty Schottenheimer (5-13) as the only coaches with more than 10 playoff losses and less than 10 playoff wins.
Tomlin will be 53 in March. Reid was 54 when he left the Eagles. Like Reid, Tomlin didn’t forget how to coach. Maybe he just can’t coach the Steelers any longer.
There are six jobs available, with Dallas the latest to open. Perhaps as Reid did, Tomlin might need to find his Kansas City and his Mahomes and start again.
QB Thoughts
Doubts are starting to surface about Justin Herbert after the Chargers loss to the Texans last Saturday. And they should. Before you completely give up on him let’s see if the Chargers add some weapons for him this offseason.
And the same goes for Jordan Love in Green Bay
If you’re a Denver fan you should be excited about the future of Bo Nix. He looks like the second best QB in this past draft.
Of course the best is Jayden Daniels in Washington, but you already knew that.
In the do-over dept. You think Cleveland might have kept Baker Mayfield and let somebody else trade for DeShaun Watson?
Lamar Jackson vs. Josh Allen will be the best Sunday night TV since The Sopranos ended.
It took longer than expected but Sam Darnold finally turned back into Sam Darnold.
On the Road Again
If it wasn’t tough enough for No. 6 seed Washington to go to Detroit and win, consider this: It will be Washington’s third consecutive road game after trips to Dallas and Tampa.
And Washington, which won Sunday night, will also be traveling on short rest for the Saturday afternoon game.
Rematches
Three of the four games this weekend are rematches of games played earlier this season.
Kansas City beat Houston, 27-19.
Philadelphia beat Los Angeles, 37-20.
Baltimore beat Buffalo, 35-10.
Hopefully, the scores will be a little closer this time.
Bengals > Chargers, Broncos, Steelers
It’s their own fault, but the Cincinnati Bengals would have been a better playoff opponent than the three teams mentioned above.
