Mike Tomlin - Under Pressure

Not when Ridder was at the helm.

with Tannehill, absolutely.

There’s no successful coach attacking the middle of the field with below average QBs. There just isn’t.

Even the successful version of Darnold rarely attacks MOF. And if he does it’s deep.

 

Ok.

But if it is JUST a Tomlin thing then:
Why was Rudolph the same in Tennessee under a different coaching staff?
Why did Smith do it in Atlanta in 2023 and 2022?
Why did Rodgers do it as a Jet and his last season or two in Green Bay?
Why did Fields do it as a Jet? Wilson as a Giant and a Bronco?
Why is Daniel Jones not doing it in his Indy revival show?
Why is Bo Nix staying out of the MOF?
Why does Penix avoid it like the plague?

I can go on. The passing charts and graphs are all on the internet. Bad QBs don't screw around with the middle of the field. And Since Ben's elbow disintegrated, the Steelers have had bad QBs. Further, go look at the best QBs in the business. Pick your favorite. They are not peppering the area between the hashes with passes.

 

With the exception of a stud defensive tackle who is out for the year, the Ravens have far closer to their full complement of players right now. It's not even close. If Metcalf and Washington were playing, no I do not think they would be underdogs.

 

Lots of people trying to put a sqare peg into a round hole. Insanity reins in this organization.

 

Looks like a mix of good/bad QBs throwing to the middle. All comes back to offensive scheme and play designs.

 

I do not know where to find the numbers you seem to have access to. I can just go by looking at nextgen colored dots and what I remember seeing on TVB.

But I think that the idea that Tomlin is somehow holding his QBs back from going over the middle is a false narrative. We see every coach and QB that has been in a Steelers uniform "neglecting" the middle of the field to the same degree (or more) before and/or after they were associated with Mike Tomlin. Unless Tomlin is coaching other teams as well as the Steelers....it isn't coming from him.

And for Aaron Rodgers (as an example) to move to the top of the the chart you provided, is a difference of about 2 passes per game.

What the passing game is lacking is explosive plays from anywhere on the field. The Steelers are just not capable of gaining yards quickly on any consistent basis. Teams only feel the need to defend about 10-15 yards of space instead of the entire field. When the Steelers have had success running the ball in 2025, it is when defenses have walked their safeties out of the box and not played 9 or 10 guys in run defense.

 

For compare and contrast:

This is the only pre elbow injury Ben season Next Gen has the colored dots for: https://nextgenstats.nfl.com/charts/player/ben-roethlisberger/ROE750381/2018
Ben in 2020: https://nextgenstats.nfl.com/charts/player/ben-roethlisberger/ROE750381/2020

This is Rodgers in 2025: https://nextgenstats.nfl.com/charts/player/aaron-rodgers/ROD339293/2025
Rodgers in his 2021 MVP season at GB: https://nextgenstats.nfl.com/charts/player/aaron-rodgers/ROD339293/2021

Wilson in his final season in Seattle where he went to a PB: https://nextgenstats.nfl.com/charts/player/russell-wilson/WIL777781/2021
Wilson for the Steelers: https://nextgenstats.nfl.com/charts/player/russell-wilson/WIL777781/2024

Just looking at those. Not counting or anything else...Rodgers is not much different in distribution that he was in GB...just less at everything. Wilson is avoiding MOF in Seattle as well. And Ben went to the middle more than the other two...or maybe I am not seeing it properly?

 

Two passes per game can be the explosive plays you are referring to. Steelers most prolific scoring game came when they heavily utilized the MOF (vs CIN). Fans were applauding but Tomlin spoke after that game about disliking it.

 

Remember when Washington fans , and the media swore Shanahan, and his father couldn't coach??? They just knew for a fact. Cost them their jobs, and t
the 49er, and Atlanta thank them. LoL

 

If a there routes run into the middle of the field, the only person you can blame for not throwing there is the Qb. This is the whole reason I made that other thread, and people said , who don't know this. Apparently a lot of people.

 

I do not dispute that the plays could come from the MOF.

I do not dispute that gouging a team over the middle feels great as a fan. Makes me leap up off my couch.

I dispute that this a Tomlin mandate.

Everyone involved was doing it before they met Mike Tomlin.

Mike Tomlin was NOT doing it when he had a HOF QB in his prime and some of the best route running skill position players in the league.

The 2020's Pittsburgh Steelers do not attack the middle of the field at a high rate because they lack the talent to do so at both the QB and skill positions.