The Pittsburgh Steelers have never had a losing season under Head Coach Mike Tomlin and have rarely been fully outside the playoff picture. The 2022 season presented a challenge to that prestigious mark and the players in the locker room felt it was important to rally for their coach to keep the streak alive. As a busy offseason comes to a close, some national media have jumped onto the Pittsburgh bandwagon, but others aren't so sure. Former New York Jets General Manager turned media analyst Mike Tannenbaum is not buying into the narrative that the Steelers have done enough to compete in a tough AFC North.
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Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett communicates with running back Najee Harris in practice.
Tannenbaum presided over the Jets franchise for seven seasons from 2006 to 2012 and reached the playoffs three times, including losing the 2010 AFC Championship game to Pittsburgh. There’s been plenty of talk from both inside and outside the locker room about the Steelers' fortunes for next season lying firmly on second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett’s shoulders. The former executive expressed his worry about the signal-caller's ability to get the ball into the hands of the team’s playmakers in a recent segment on ESPN’s Get Up discussing Pittsburgh’s playoff chances in 2023.
“Despite Mike Tomlin’s greatness, Pickett was really slow getting the ball down the field,” Tannenbaum said. “He was second worst in yards per pass attempt and they have some really good receivers. Diontae Johnson, George Pickens and they picked up Allen Robinson. But when you’re going up against Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow every week, you’ve got to be able to score points in chunks and I just don’t think Pickett has that ability.”
Tannenbaum believes that Pittsburgh will be one of the teams left without a playoff spot in the gauntlet that is the AFC this season.
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Steelers' Kenny Pickett and George Pickens celebrate a touchdown scored against the Miami Dolphins.
The team led the league in the average number of plays per drive last season with the second-highest average time per drive. Despite having the ball a lot, the team finished 17th in average yards and 23rd in points per drive. One big factor in the team’s scoring woes that they will need to work to correct is the red zone offense. Out of 52 trips to the opponents' 20-yard line, Pittsburgh only scored 27 touchdowns which ranked 23rd league-wide.
Steelers Former Safety Ryan Clark Passionately Defends 2023 Team
Ryan Clark captured a Super Bowl during his eight-year tenure in Pittsburgh before he became the media star he is now. Clark was on the segment with Tannenbaum and while he acknowledges the team faces a tough challenge in a loaded conference, he disagreed that Pittsburgh will be missing out on the 2023 postseason.
"They’re going to be really good," Clark said about the Steelers. "They probably do have the fourth best quarterback in the division. There’s an MVP, a guy [who'll] probably win one in Joe Burrow, and someone we thought was a candidate in Deshaun Watson when he finished 2020.”
Clark emphasized though that it’s not just a quarterback that makes a team, even if we’ve largely been trained to think that with all the focus on stellar quarterback play around the league.
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Steelers running back Najee Harris finds some open space during a regular season game against the Cincinnati Bengals in 2021.
The Steelers running game with Najee Harris really began to mesh together down the stretch and Clark sees that as a big part of the recipe for the team's success.
“When you think about Harris and the way this line began to jell towards the end of the season, you go out in the first round and get absolute dog on the offensive line (Broderick Jones) in the first round and then add Robinson to go with Pickens who is a monster on the outside,” he said. “Shore up the cornerback position and I think this team has a winning record this year. If you have a winning record in the AFC North, you have an opportunity to be one of the three to make the playoffs.”
Clark said he certainly doesn’t see an easy path to a playoff berth, but he is confident that Pittsburgh will secure one because of his belief in his former coach. The majority of the segment focused on offense, but co-host Kimberly Martin made sure to mention the team has a game-breaker like no other in TJ Watt.
What did you think of Tannenbaum's criticism? Did you like to see Clark sticking up for his former team? Comment below!
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