PITTSBURGH — It’s not so much that Mike Tomlin said he doesn’t expect drastic changes in terms of personnel while the Steelers try to wash away the distasteful performance of what happened in Cincinnati.
What’s more pertinent is whether he has any personnel waiting in the wings that would provide any type of upgrade.
His options are limited, if not altogether non-existent.
Nonetheless, Tomlin acknowledged some changes are in order when the Steelers will try to end their three-game winless streak on Sunday against the division-leading Baltimore Ravens.
“What you can't do is continue to do the things that you've been doing and expect a different result,” Tomlin said Tuesday at his weekly press conference.
Not after the dreadful and embarrassing 41-10 loss against the Bengals that matched the worst loss in Tomlin’s 15 years as head coach. Not after the Steelers surrendered 82 points in the past two games — the most in a two-game span in the Tomlin regime — and the offense generated just 20 points in seven of the past eight quarters.
The loss to the Bengals came on the heels of a 41-37 loss in Los Angeles in which the defense allowed 533 yards to the Chargers. And that game came on the heels of a 16-16 tie with the Detroit Lions, who remains the NFL’s lone winless team.
But it was the Bengals game that Tomlin said will be a “catalyst” for some type of change, whether schematic or with personnel. He said that performance was so bad “you don’t get that stench off you in a number of days” and “I don’t know that you get over it, I think you move on from it.”
One way they will try to move on from it: Tomlin said he might have the players practice in pads one day this week.
“We’ve got to comb through it,” Tomlin said. “We’ve got to ask the critical questions — why? We've done that. We'll continue to do that as we shape our next plan and make critical decisions regarding our next plan — the schematics that we choose to employ, the personnel that we choose to highlight or emphasize or de-emphasize.”
In terms of personnel, Tomlin doesn’t have many options, at least, none that might change the team’s fortunes. Offensively, the only potential move that would make any sense is inserting Zach Banner back into the starting lineup for one of the two tackles, rookie Dan Moore or Chuks Okorafor.
Defensively, well, there are none, especially now that inside linebacker Robert Spillane (knee) is not likely to play against the Ravens. However, if Joe Haden (mid-foot sprain) returns after missing two games, that will save Tomlin from making a decision on cornerback James Pierre, who was beaten for another long touchdown in Cincinnati — the third he has surrendered this season.
“We're open to some schematic changes,” Tomlin said. “We're open to some personnel changes, obviously. They won't be drastic in nature, probably more subtle in nature, but hopefully significant. Significant in a positive way.
“It might be the repositioning of people or it might be the leaning on depth as a strength. Last year, we went up [to Baltimore] and played those guys and it was a big football game and we felt really good about our quality depth at outside linebacker. So in that game, we played a lot of three-outside linebacker defense with T.J. Watt and Bud Dupree and Alex Highsmith.”
But the Steelers don’t have that type of depth. Not on the defensive line and not at outside linebacker, especially if Watt (COVID-19 list) cannot play.
“We don't over-complicate things, but we are open to change when change produces or has a chance to produce a desired outcome,” Tomlin said. “When you have red paint, you paint your barn red. That's what I mean when I’m saying we're open to change. Is it people and insertion of people? Yes, if it potentially makes us better, but not for the sole purpose of change.”
Scoring drop a trend
After 10 games last season, the Steelers were the only team in the league to score at least 26 points in every game. They finished the 2020 season averaging that same amount, ranking 12th in the league in scoring offense.
Now, after 11 games, they’re struggling to score more than 17 points a game.
With six games remaining, they are headed for one of their least productive seasons since Tomlin became coach.
But it’s not just the Steelers. Division mates Cleveland and Baltimore have been consistently unproductive as well.
The Steelers have scored 17 or fewer points is six of their 11 games, which is on target to eclipse the most futile seasons in Tomlin’s tenure — 2011 and 2019, when they failed to score more than 17 points in seven games. Only two teams have scored 17 or fewer points more times than the Steelers in 2021 — the Detroit Lions (9) and, somewhat surprisingly, the Browns (7).
The Ravens (8-3), who have the AFC’s best record, have been just as bad, if not worse, recently. They have scored just 42 points in their past three games and haven’t scored more than 17 in four of the past five games.
But that’s part of what happening around the NFL, where scoring is down from last season. The league average is 23.0, down nearly two points per team from 2020 (24.8). Also, 10 teams are averaging fewer than 20 points a game, compared to just four in 2020.
The Steelers under new coordinator Matt Canada are averaging 20.4 points per game, nearly six points fewer than their 2020 average (26.0) when Randy Fichtner was coordinator. That would be the third lowest average in Tomlin’s tenure, though the lowest — 18.1 points in 2019 — came when Ben Roethlisberger missed all but six quarters of the regular season.
Otherwise, the lowest came in 2011, when the Steelers averaged 20.3 points a game in a 12-4 season under Bruce Arians.
Claypool racking up penalties
Chase Claypool said he would like to see the Steelers play music while they practice, like some college teams do, to let players get energized and have more fun.
Perhaps he should be more worried about what he is doing in games.
Claypool is the most penalized wide receiver in the NFL, committing seven infractions for 68 yards despite missing two games. The next closest receiver is teammate Diontae Johnson, who has five.
Curiously, four of his penalties have come against the Bengals, including two on Sunday for grabbing the facemask and illegal formation. Three of his penalties are for offensive pass interference.
“Claypool plays wideout and I'll let him do that,” Tomlin said. “I'll formulate the practice approach. And I think that division of labor is probably appropriate.”
Defensive end and team captain Cam Heyward, appearing on the WDVE morning show on Tuesday, said Claypool is “going to be in shock, because there's not gonna be anything played during practice."
Added Heyward: "I hope he was kidding. That is not what we need right now. It’s X’s and O’s and it’s execution."
