Mike Tomlin brushed back Bradshaw, and a lack of respect

It took Antonio Brown making a daring play with the final seconds ticking away, but the Steelers on Christmas captured their second division title in three years and their third playoff appearance in a row.
Calling it validation for head coach Mike Tomlin might be a bit of a stretch, though it gave him a chance to fire back at a rather well-known detractor. Late last week, Terry Bradshaw went on the Fox Sports 1 show "Speak For Yourself” and had this to say of Pittsburgh’s current coach:

"I don't think he's a great coach at all. He's a nice coach. To me, I've said this, he's really a great cheerleader guy. I don't know what he does. I don't think he is a great coach at all. His name never even pops in my mind when we think about great coaches in the NFL."

Bradshaw is one of, if not the most recognized former player in the franchise’s history. For better or worse, he is the one with the greatest ability to air his opinions to the public. Bradshaw does have a somewhat complicated relationship with the city of Pittsburgh and the franchise itself borne out of how he was treated during his playing days. Yet his remarks about Tomlin are not entirely unique among Pittsburgh fans. Even with Tomlin’s achievements, there were calls for his job when the team was struggling in midseason this year.

The Steelers have rebounded, winning six straight after a four-game skid that dropped their record to 4-5. Earlier this month, Tomlin collected his 100th win as a head coach. He’s the third Steelers coach to reach that mark and the one to do it in the fewest amount of games. He is one of only eight head coaches to reach that mark in his first 10 seasons.

Certainly there are valid criticisms to make of Tomlin. Like any coach, he makes questionable decisions from time to time. His teams have a history of playing down to seemingly inferior opponents. He once attempted to trip an opponent on the sideline during a kick return. The knock on Tomlin early in his career was that he had immediate success coaching with the players he inherited from Bill Cowher’s tenure with the team. Tomlin’s entire head coaching career so far has benefitted from having Ben Roethlisberger under center. Many head coaches come and go in the NFL and never get to work with a quarterback that good.

Of course, Roethlisberger and James Harrison are the only remaining players from the Cowher era and have been for several years now. In terms of holdover players, a possible Hall of Fame quarterback is a nice one to have. Hell, look at the difference in Bill Belichick’s career before and after he got Tom Brady. Still, as you can see with Sean Payton and the Saints in recent years, having a great passer doesn’t guarantee success. The Saints have missed the postseason with a losing record in four of the last five seasons while Drew Brees has been almost completely healthy and playing well throughout. Sure, there are rumblings that Payton could be gone from New Orleans following this season, yet there are equally as many bouts of speculation about which team with a vacancy would jump to sign him.

The same amount of rampant speculation surrounds Jon Gruden, who hasn’t coached in nearly a decade, and seems perfectly fine riding out what is a similarly lucrative broadcasting career. If Tomlin won a Super Bowl in 2008 with Cowher’s former players, then Gruden did it in 2002 with Tony Dungy’s team. 

There are many factors that fuel the lack of appreciation for Tomlin. It’s certainly fair to point to race with some of the fans who never give him his due. Steelers fans are spoiled by consistent success, so even though it took Cowher losing four conference championship games and a Super Bowl before he finally broke through and got a title, Tomlin still gets grief even after he delivered another Super Bowl win in just his second season as coach. Tomlin got the Steelers back to the dance two years later and fell short in a competitive game against the Packers. Since then, Pittsburgh has only won one playoff game, though lots of analysts point to them as the best competition the Patriots have in the AFC this year.

Should Tomlin capture a second Lombardi trophy, he would join the 13 other head coaches who have won multiple Super Bowls, none of whom are Bill Cowher. The Chin got his title in his 14th season as head coach. This is Year 10 for Tomlin and he has a decent shot at title number two.

Were he to get it, you’d assume it would quiet the detractors, but it probably won’t much in the long run. Not entirely, at least. There will be always be fans ready to dog him as soon as there’s a misstep. For what it’s worth, Tomlin got a good clapback at Bradshaw at Tuesday’s press conference.

"Terms like 'cheerleader guy,' to me, maybe fall outside of bounds of critique or criticism. They probably fall more toward the area of disrespect and unprofessional. But what do I know? I grew up a Dallas fan. Particularly a [Thomas] 'Hollywood' Henderson fan."

Back at the height of the ‘70s Cowboys-Steelers rivalry, Henderson famously called Bradshaw so dumb that the quarterback couldn’t spell the word "cat" if you spotted him the C and the A. A quality burn, and hopefully putting an end to the last time we have to hear from Terry Bradshaw except when he’s filling time with pregame banter.

Red Zone bathroom pass

NFL watchability ratings are generally pointless. Everyone has access to the same prime time games and their quality typically corresponds to the night they’re broadcast. Sunday night is the best, Monday night is next, then there’s Thursday night and its unspeakable horrors.

Instead, here’s my expectation of how many bathroom breaks you might be able to get away with during a slate of games on Sunday. It’s generally going to be more difficult during the early slate because the NFL still insists on frontloading most of their Sunday nights into the early slot.

This is it. The last overload of football on Sunday afternoons until the second half of 2017. Week 17s are for the NFL to dump a bunch of division games and hope for the best. With all the playoff teams in the AFC secured, and only a possible switch in seedings possible, it’s a less dramatic year than most. The NFC provides the only potential drama, and that’s only because the Lions and Packers can’t reach an understanding.

Early slate: Baltimore at Cincinnati / Houston at Tennessee / Carolina at Tampa / Cleveland at Pittsburgh / Dallas at Philadelphia / Buffalo at New York Jets / Chicago at Minnesota / Jacksonville at Indianapolis / New England at Miami

Expected breaks: Three. Fantasy leagues are over. A lot of backups are playing. The only thing up in the air is Washington setting themselves up to sneak into the postseason, and another postseason date with the Seahawks, unless the Falcons screw up in the late slate. Anyway, let one go down your leg in honor of the Vikings, who truly pissed away a great start this year.

Late slate: Kansas City at San Diego / Arizona at Los Angeles / Oakland at Denver / New York Giants at Washington / Seattle at San Francisco / New Orleans at Atlanta

Expected breaks: Free and clear for as much as you need. Atlanta and Washington can screw things up for the postseason, and San Francisco can drop the no. 1 overall pick for the second straight week if the Browns beat a Steelers team with nothing to play for, and the Niners can beat the Seahawks, though don’t count on it. With the playoffs coming shortly, no need to sweat what’s going on here.