The 2022 Pittsburgh Steelers season is off to one the shakiest starts in recent franchise history and appears trending towards Mike Tomlin experiencing his first losing season. But it is not just a bad start that has thrown Steeler Nation off, it is the level of performance. If the season ended right now, the Steelers would have the #7 overall pick in the draft. With the Philadelphia Eagles on deck, it is a very real possibility the Steelers could be 2-6 heading into the bye week.
Chuck Noll would turn in perhaps the greatest coaching season of his career in 1989 | Credit: NFL.com
The Steelers played the Buccaneers the last time they had such a dire start to the season in 1989. The Steelers opened that season with a 51-0 loss to the Cleveland Browns and a 41-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. The combined 92-10 points differential in the 0-2 start began conversations about who the Steelers would draft with the first overall pick in 1990. While speculation about his future was running rapid, Chuck Noll was as calm and philosophical as ever when he addressed the media.
Chuck Noll, per His Life’s Work by Michael MacCambridge:
“Either the Super Bowl champ comes out of the Central Division or we’re pretty bad," Noll said.
Throughout the national media and local radio shows, the Steelers were taking a beating. The organization was openly mocked and the narrative of the game was criticism felt heavily by a depressed set of players including veterans Tunch Ilkin and Craig Wolfley. In order to get the team set straight, he would address his team in a legendary fashion.
Chuck Noll addressing the Steelers players, per His Life’s Work by Michael MacCambridge:
“Nobody is coming riding in from the East. Nobody is coming in from the West. There is not some grandiose trade. We are not about to change the offense. This is what works. I know it works, and it will get done. All the answers to all your questions are in this locker room.”
“Your brain is also like a swimming pool. What do you have in a swimming pool? You’ve got water. You’ve got chlorine, you’ve got muriatic acid to lower the pH," Noll said.
Wolfley recalled being utterly confused by the message Noll was trying to convey with his analogy, and he wasn’t alone. Wolfley commented that the team did not have any “rocket scientists” on it and recalled the frustration on Noll’s face as he realized when looking at the blank stares of his players that he had lost the team with his message. That is when Noll’s fingers curled into fists at his side, and he cut through the rest of his analogy to deliver the meat of his message.
Chuck Noll, per His Life’s Work by Michael MacCambridge:
“In other words, what I’m trying to say is, don’t let anybody piss in your pool," Noll said.
Noll exited the room and gave his players something to think about. It worked, as the Steelers turned their season around starting that next Sunday by defeating the Minnesota Vikings and they rallied to position themselves with an outside chance at the playoffs by season's end. They needed to win their final three games to have a chance as they lost every tie-breaker. What ensued was a perfect storm of teams winning and losing which is unlikely to be repeated.
While the Steelers kept winning, the Miami Dolphins and Las Angeles Raiders would have clinched a playoff spot had they won either of their final two games and conveniently lost both. The Kansas City Chiefs with a tie in hand needed to win both of their games but dropped their contest in Week 15 to be eliminated, but played spoiler to hand the Dolphins a much-needed defeat in the finale. The Colts were in a similar situation, needing to win both, and began by also beating the Dolphins in Week 15 before losing to the New Orleans Saints to be eliminated.
Rod Woodson made sure the Steelers were ready to seize their playoff opportunity vs. Tampa in 1989 | Credit: NBC
The Steelers Arrive At A Freezing Tampa Florida
The Steelers arrived in Tampa with good fortune. At 39 degrees, it was the coldest game ever played in Tampa Stadium. Rod Woodson started off the game with a 72-yard kickoff return to set up a Tim Worley touchdown. In the final great individual performance of his career, Louis Lipps gave the Steelers' normally stagnant offense a boost with a four-catch, 173-yard performance that was capped off with two TDs. The 31 points scored were the second most from the team all year and after finishing off the Bucs, the team learned how every other game they needed broke their way.
Louis Lipps scores the first of his 2 Touchdowns with a 79-yard reception vs. Tampa in 189 | Credit: NBC
However, there was one more outcome they were reliant on, they needed the defending AFC Champion Bengals to lose on Monday night to the Vikings, something that seemed unlikely after the Bengals looked unstoppable in whipping the Houston Oilers 61-7 the previous week. The players might have been uncertain, but Noll was very optimistic and gave them the message to have a Merry Christmas and that he would see them back at work on Tuesday. After the Vikings held off a late Bengals rally, Noll enjoyed a bit of sarcasm as many of the players were not on time.
Chuck Noll addressing his late arriving players, per His Life’s Work by Michael MacCambridge:
“It looks like we’ve got a few non-believers," Noll said.
It might have been the finest coaching job of Noll’s career, turning the 1989 Steelers around and guiding them within a snap of the AFC Championship. Can the Steelers find a way to capture any of that magic to finish off 2023 and make believers out of Steeler Nation again? Leave a comment below.
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