Steelers Daily News & Links: Tomlin Conundrum, Steelers Struggles in Seattle

Steelers Daily News & Links: Your daily stop for all of the news and links from the Pittsburgh Steelers, NFL and around the Sports Now Group.

🏈 Benjamin Solak of The Ringer examined what’s right, and wrong, in Pittsburgh. He feels that the Steelers are facing a conundrum with Mike Tomlin and are at a tipping point. The 2024 Steelers offense will be the fulcrum.

“The problem: In the past six seasons, the Steelers haven’t won a playoff game. You know that thing that good coaches are supposed to do? Yeah. None of that,” Solak wrote.

“There’s a lot of evidence that Tomlin is a great head coach—but if you want to build the case that he isn’t, you can do that, too. And as the Steelers look likely to add a seventh season to that unfortunate streak, more and more people are starting to wonder whether Tomlin is as good of a coach as he has long seemed.

“A six-year drought is a substantial drought. Each of the nine NFL teams that have gone just as long without a playoff victory have hired a new coach sometime since 2020. In fact, every team without a playoff victory in the past four seasons has hired a new coach save for the Steelers and the Patriots—and Bill Belichick’s time might be up any day now.”

🏈 The Steelers are 1-7 when playing in Seattle. Pittsburgh’s only win over the Seahawks in Seattle was in 1983. Franco Harris rushed for 132 yards and a touchdown in the Steelers’ 27-21 victory over the Seahawks at the Kingdome.

New customers to ESPN Bet can get a free $250 bet with any new signup. Click the link and use promo code STEEL to get an extra $50 off, exclusively for Steelers Now readers.

🏈 Browns fans in Cleveland were chanting “Pittsburgh Sucks” during the game against the New York Jets on Thursday night. For the first time since 1989, the Browns will finish with a better record than the Steelers.

They’re chanting “Pittsburgh Sucks” in Cleveland 😂 pic.twitter.com/6zw5MPqJEx

— Pittsburgh Clothing Company (@PGHClothingCo) December 29, 2023

🏈 Among players with a minimum of 350 coverage snaps, two Steelers are in the top 10 for the lowest completion percentage allowed: No. 4 Joey Porter Jr. – 46.8% and No. 9 Patrick Peterson – 52.5%, according to Pro Football Focus. 

🏈 Steelers legend Jerome Bettis said on the Dan Patrick Show that former Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher is still upset about getting run over by him for a touchdown in 2005. With the snow falling at Heinz Field, it was one of Bettis’ most iconic plays of his Hall of Fame career.

“Yeah, he is p***ed off about that to this day. But we exchanged shoes after the game, so he has the shoes that actually ran him over. How many guys in the history of the game have the actual shoes from the guy that ran them over?” Bettis told Patrick, via Steelernation.com.

Bettis said that it was a bit hard for him to get out of his jersey, so he took his shoes, plus jersey exchanging wasn’t as common back then as it is now.

“The shoes were the right thing to do. I thought so much of Brian that I went into their locker room afterward, out of respect for him, and wanted to exchange the shoes because I just felt there was some things that are special. I wanted to do something a little different, so I exchanged different things with different people.”

🏈  Steelers All-Pro outside linebacker T.J. Watt spoke with Peter King of NBC Sports about his relationship with teammate Cam Heyward, sharing how he sets the example on and off the field through leadership and community service.

🎂 Happy Birthday to former Steelers kicker Shaun Suisham, born on December 29, 1981 in Wallaceberg, Ontario. Suisham initially signed with the Steelers as an undrafted free agent out of Bowling Green in 2005, but he was waived in late August after not being able to surpass Jeff Reed on the depth chart. After stints with multiple teams over the years, Suisham signed with the Steelers on Nov. 16, 2010 after a tryout, as Reed was struggling. Suisham held the position until a career-ending ACL injury in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game against the Minnesota Vikings n 2015. Several Steelers players blamed the field turf at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium for Suisham’s injury.

🎥 Defensive line pass rush coach Aaron Day broke down Alex Highsmith’s ghost/rip move for a sack against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Alex Highsmith with the ghost/rip. Flashes the inside hand, dips, rips & leans to get to the QB. Great leverage & body control. Has a cross chop look to it! #PassRush #Steelers pic.twitter.com/iDTwd3Jl3F

— DLineVids (@dlinevids1) December 28, 2023

NEWS FROM AROUND THE SPORTS NOW NETWORK

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: The Pittsburgh Penguins are feeling good after. 7-0 romp over the New York Islanders.

Pittsburgh Baseball Now: The Pittsburgh Pirates are still in the mix for a free-agent Cuban pitcher.

Pittsburgh Sports Now: A Pitt football transfer linebacker has found a new home in the portal.

West Virginia Sports Now: Neal Brown believes West Virginia football deserves a national ranking.

Nittany Sports Now: Penn State star Adisa Isaac has declared for the 2024 NFL Draft.

Pittsburgh Soccer Now: The USL has announced the 2024 Pittsburgh Riverhounds schedule.