Steelers Now
PITTSBURGH — For not the first time, the Pittsburgh Steelers were booed as they lost a critical AFC game to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, dropping a 26-7 decision in an epic third-quarter collapse that squandered a first-half lead.
But the depth of the frustration of the Steelers faithful didn’t stop there, with several chants to fire head coach Mike Tomlin. Even Renegade, the team’s fourth-quarter pump-up song for its defense, wasn’t safe.
When the scoreboard at Acrisure Stadium went black, instead of the usual anticipatory cheers ahead of the first few bars from Styx lead singer Tommy Shaw, the remaining Steelers fans in the 66,068 in attendance booed one franchise fixture after another.
Asked about the crowd being restless and frustrated as the Steelers let a lead that would have given them strong position in the AFC North slip away — the second straight first-half lead squandered — he said he felt much the same way.
“I know how restless and frustrated I was, so I assume they were in the same state we were in,” Tomlin said.
Specifically when it comes to calls for his firing, Tomlin didn’t shy away from the reality that the fanbase has largely turned against him.
“Man, I share their frustration tonight,” he said. “We didn’t do enough. That’s just the reality of it.”
The Steelers as a fanbase are notoriously loathe to fire coaches at any level, and they haven’t fired a head coach since 1968. But there have been slow changes to the way the team operates in recent years. Offensive coordinator Matt Canada was fired mid-season in 2023, the first time since World War II that the team made such a measure.
Tomlin is under contract through the end of the 2027 season.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Mike Tomlin Understands Steelers Fans Calling for His Firing: ‘I Share Their Frustration’
