Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin says fans who booed the team during Sunday's 26-7 loss to the Buffalo Bills are right.
“I generally agree with them from that standpoint: Football is our game, we're in the entertainment business,” Tomlin said Tuesday. “And so if you're a Steelers fan, entertaining them is winning. And so when you're not winning, it's not entertaining.”
The Steelers sit atop the AFC North standings and have never suffered a losing campaign in Tomlin's 18 full seasons under Tomlin. However, they lost to the Bills by 249 yards and some fans could be heard calling for Tomlin to be fired. There are issues on the other side of the ball, too, with quarterback Aaron Rodgers saying he was “disappointed with the offensive performance” against the Bills.
“If you've been in this business, you understand that, and so I respect that,” Tomlin said. “I share the disappointment, I understand what makes this thing go, and winning is what makes this thing go.”
The Steelers also gave up careless penalties, and defensive captain Cam Heyward was involved in a confrontation with Bills cornerback Josh Allen.
“My responsibility is to make sure these guys understand that part of being a strong team that can be beaten is not beating itself,” Tomlin said. “We had some penalties and of course you'll get penalties during the game. But the 15-yard penalty, loss of composure and things like that were not for us. And so it needs to be corrected immediately.”
While the Steelers and Baltimore Ravens each have 6-6 records atop the AFC North standings, the Ravens lead the tiebreaker by point differential and have a significantly easier game. The teams will play each other twice before the end of the season – the first meeting is next Sunday – and most forecasting models have the Ravens as favorites to advance to the division. The Steelers are also 6-11 in their last 17 games dating back to last season.
“Of course, our last performance was not up to the mark. [on Sunday]but I don’t know if it diminishes our faith in ourselves or our ability to individually and collectively move forward,” Tomlin said.
Although Tomlin led the Steelers to back-to-back playoff appearances and a Super Bowl title during the 2008 season, their last postseason win came in January 2017.
