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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Allison Koehler

Colin Cowherd admits wrongful perception of ‘tone-deaf’ Mike Tomlin, Steelers

It takes a real man to admit when he’s wrong. Despite what you think of Colin Cowherd, he’s done just that.

One of Cowherd’s biggest topics heading into the 2024 NFL season was the state of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“I think I was really wrong on Pittsburgh… We’ve always thought he’s incredible, but I think what Mike Tomlin has shown over the course of this season — and I’m wrong on this — is that I always felt he was a little tone-deaf to offense,” Cowherd said on Thursday’s Colin Cowherd Podcast. “But by pivoting off Kenny Pickett, Mason Rudolph and Justin Fields — who had a winning record — and settling on Russell Wilson, I think it shows that he is more aware than I gave him credit for.
Cowherd continued by saying that he knows defensive coaches can struggle with quarterback urgency but that Tomlin understands the weight of the situation. He gives Tomlin his just flowers for making a move that many Steelers fans and media were against.
“I think even though they were winning… it’s hard as a coach when you’re winning to make changes, right? Like you’re going to disrupt things; we’re four and two; I’m not going to disrupt the locker room. That takes a pair by Mike Tomlin at four and two to go in and say, Guys, we should be five and one. We’re a better team than this.
Cowherd knows, as Steelers Nation does, that Wilson isn’t what he once was but is capable. Though he favors the Baltimore Ravens slightly, Cowherd feels the Steelers can win the division.
While the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals aren’t who we thought they were, records are thrown out the window when rubber meets the road between division rivals.
The Steelers have a daunting task ahead to come out of the other side unscathed and playoff-bound, but with Tomlin at the helm and Wilson improving, the sky is the limit.
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