It’s not me, it’s you: Mike Tomlin must break up with Steelers to save his NFL legacy

What did you think was going to happen? I have been out on the Pittsburgh Steelers ever since Antonio Brown went on Facebook Live in the locker room after beating the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2016-17 AFC Divisional Round. It was the first glimpse into me fully realizing that Mike Tomlin was starting to lose control of his locker room. It has been covered up by nine-to-13-win seasons since.

In the Steelers' AFC Wild Card matchup vs. the arch rival Baltimore Ravens, John Harbaugh and Todd Monken did something you would only see in Madden. They literally ran down the field to pay dirt, capping off a 13-play scoring drive by choosing to run on every play. This is the type of stuff you do to your kid brother you do not respect in your preadolescent years. Tomlin needs to get out of town!

I am so beyond done of the Steelers franchise being beholden to this guy. What, because he won a Super Bowl over Ken Whisenhunt's Arizona Cardinals with largely Bill Cowher's players?! 2008 was a great year for many of us, but that was 16 years ago! In the meantime, Tomlin has lost his last six AFC playoff games. In the last decade, Tomlin has become more like Marvin Lewis than we want to admit.

Tomlin may have a no-trade clause, but the Steelers need to completely reset this thing without him.

Mike Tomlin has devolved into being the Marvin Lewis of the AFC Playoffs

Yes, we could chalk some of the Steelers' relatively recent struggles to the decline and eventual retirement of Ben Roethlisberger. Well, he has been out of the game for a few years now. They drafted his successor in local product Kenny Pickett, and The Fake Slide Diva failed miserably. I understand that Kevin Colbert retired and Omar Khan took over, but they are not at fault as much as Tomlin is.

I feeling like I am taking crazy pills in trying to explain the nonsense I have seen manifest out of seemingly nothing in Pittsburgh over the last eight years. Tomlin will not hire an offensive coordinator who challenges him. The day and age of Bruce Arians walking through that door are long gone. Instead, we have to settle for far worse teams' castoffs in the form of Matt Canada and Arthur Smith.

Yes, the defense has remained strong. Why would it not? It is in the Steelers' blood, one birthed out of Chuck Noll's headstrong approach to handling adversity. At its core, this should be the Steelers' biggest strength. To some degree, it still is ... well, sort of... My biggest criticism of Tomlin is I feel nearly all of the adversity they have felt for years is of their own doing, artificially created, it you will.

The self-inflicted nature of all this is the epitome of gaslighting. Tomlin feels like the type of coach who will stir up unnecessary drama in the locker room in an attempt to create a common enemy. In theory, it should be the other guys, but in reality, it is one of the 52 guys sitting among you. You cannot blame somebody else for throwing the firecracker when everybody saw you light it up first.

Overall, there are three NFL franchises that need to rebuild in the worst way possible. One of them has admitted defeat and the New Orleans Saints are starting to do that. The Dallas Cowboys need to do this, but Jerry Jones loves control more than ever winning another Super Bowl. And the third is the Steelers. Unfortunately, they have grown to decadent to realize the game has passed them by.

In time, I may gain a greater appreciation for Tomlin in the Steelers' impending collapse and eventual demise. You don't know what you got 'til it's gone, as the old adage goes. However, we have seen a franchise defined by winning Super Bowls no longer capable of winning a single playoff game. The Tomlin never having a losing season argument is no longer valid. Pittsburgh has a different standard.

The only way Tomlin can save his tarnishing legacy is to get out now, or go try to fix another franchise.