Sunday's 35-point blowout loss to the Buffalo Bills marked the Pittsburgh Steelers' worst defeat since Week 1, 1989 (51-0 to Cleveland). Coach Mike Tomlin placed the blame on himself for the calamitous outing.
"We were a disaster in all three phases, and we have to own that, starting with myself and I do," Tomlin said, via Brooke Pryor of ESPN. "When it's that bad across the board, it starts with me. We don't need to seek comfort, because there's enough blame to go around. We need to be solution-oriented."
The Steelers have lost four consecutive games after eking out a Week 1 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. It's the Steelers' longest losing streak since a four-gamer in Weeks 6-10, 2016 -- they finished 11-5 and made the playoffs. The last time Pittsburgh lost five straight was Weeks 10-14, 2009.
The 1-4 start is the Steelers' worst through five games since 2019 (also 1-4). That season, Pittsburgh won seven of its next eight games, then lost the last three to finish 8-8. The Steelers last started 1-5 or worse in 1988 (started 1-5, finished 5-11).
Nothing has gone well for Pittsburgh since Week 1. The Steelers have a -51 point differential, the worst in the NFL in 2022.
The defense has struggled since losing T.J. Watt to injury in Week 1. And the offense, while finding a little life throwing the ball with rookie Kenny Pickett under center last week, has been an inefficient mess.
The six offensive TDs through five weeks are tied for the fewest in the NFL (Colts, Broncos). Three of the four rushing scores were by QBs (Pickett has two, Mitchell Trubisky scored one) and zero wide receivers have caught a touchdown pass (RB Najee Harris and TE Pat Freiermuth have one each).
Calls for offensive coordinator Matt Canada's job have become louder in the Steel City, but at this point, Tomlin has resisted a change.
"I remain open to it, but I don't intend to change for the sake of changing, to shoot a hostage, if you will, or anything of that nature," he said when asked if he'd consider changing play-callers or personnel. "If changes produce better outcomes or seemingly produce better outcomes, or we feel like it puts us in position to produce better outcomes, then I'm open to it, certainly."
"They're not quick fixes," Tomlin said. "It's not going to be based on one good performance or one good plan. And I just think as we prepare and lean in for this next opportunity that we just say that we're going to be working our tails off.
"We didn't dig ourselves into this circumstance in one day. We're not going to dig ourselves out of this circumstance in one day or one performance."
