One of the biggest criticisms of the Pittsburgh Steelers and particularly head coach Mike Tomlin is their unwillingness to change and adapt in an ever-changing NFL. Tomlin half-heartedly defends his philosophy in press conferences after this team, especially his very expensive defense gets shown up by offenses smart enough to understand nothing will change in Pittsburgh.
As if we needed another example of this, we present former New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman. Edelman talked about Tomlin and his defense on his podcast noting that what the Steelers are doing today on defense is the same things they were doing when Edelman played against them as a member of the Patriots.
“You knew exactly what they were doing,” Edelman said. “And they still do what they did. They still do the same goddamn shit as when I was playing Tomlin’s defense. I’m like, ‘We still have linebackers covering the three slot? Every time we play Steelers, I have at least nine catches. You would think that they would change it. But no, they do what they do.”
To offer some perspective on just how worrisome this is, Edelman retired in 2020. He last faced off against the Steelers in 2019.
