The Steelers offseason has drawn in rave reviews, but not everyone is a fan of what the team has done and what they continue to do overall. In a point that was made while he was arguing the Bills go too far in on their defense, Cowherd bashed the Steelers for their similar team building, which he believes focuses too much on defense.
"I watched that Cincinnati game. They can't get that o-line right."
— @ColinCowherd questions Bills following Leonard Floyd signing pic.twitter.com/RQo8PGy6dl
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) June 6, 2023
Cowherd went on to compare Sean McDermott and Mike Tomlin, stating that they are defensive coaches in an offensive league. The teams among the top four in defensive spending include both Buffalo and Pittsburgh, along with the Chargers and the Seahawks.
“They can’t fix their offensive line,” Cowherd said. “Same thing with Pittsburgh. You know what they have in common? A defensive coach.”
In the last five seasons, those four teams are a collective 6-12 in the playoffs, with the Bills having the only conference championship appearance. The Steelers do not have a playoff win in an even longer span, since 2016. So, to Cowherd, the roster construction at its base is inherently flawed. Among those teams, they have missed the playoffs eight times entirely.
“These teams, they have a defensive coach in an offensive league,” Cowherd said. “When I put my Super Bowl teams in a bubble, there’s a reason it’s mostly offensive coaches.”
It is clear that Cowherd has a point, though the Steelers have certainly invested in the offense through the NFL Draft. In addition, they have focused heavily on the offensive head in the past two off-seasons. So, the timing of the criticism seems a bit misguided.
Regardless, the team still has some backward thoughts on the league that would be better to flip around, but under Omar Khan and Andy Weidl, it seems that some of those metrics are being changed. Still, the criticism is valid, and with no playoff wins to show for it in recent years, the point still stands.