Steelers' Home Crowd Calls for Mike Tomlin's Firing

The Acrisure Stadium crowd made clear what they wanted early Sunday evening, and it wasn't a miraculous comeback win by the hometown Pittsburgh Steelers over the Buffalo Bills.

Many of the 66,068 in attendance chanted that the Steelers should fire coach Mike Tomlin. The sentiment was understandable as the Steelers played awfully in their 26-7 loss.

The Steelers (6-6) were dominated while losing for the fifth time in their last seven games. The Bills (8-4) outscored the Steelers 23-0 in the second half, outgained them in total yardage 372-166, and possessed the ball for 41:59 to the Steelers' 18:01 despite missing both starting offensive tackles due to injury.

The Steelers also received three unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, lost a fumble, and threw an interception.

Tomlin was asked after the game about the fans' frustrations rising to the surface as the Steelers failed to move ahead of the Baltimore Ravens for first place in the AFC North. The Ravens are also 6-6 and hold the tiebreaker as they host the Steelers next Sunday in Baltimore.

"Man, I share their frustration tonight," Tomlin said. "We didn't do enough. That's just the reality of it."

It is fair to wonder if Tomlin has outlived his usefulness after 19 years on the job. The Steelers look old and tired, with an unimaginative offense helmed by 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers and a veteran defense that is slow and struggles to make key stops.

Tomlin has a 189-113-2 career record and led the Steelers to two Super Bowl appearances in 2008 and 2010, winning the first and losing the second. The Steelers haven't been back since, and Tomlin's postseason record is now 8-11 after six straight losses.

Tomlin read off a list of the Steelers' woes during his opening statement to the media following the game.

"Not a lot needs to be said," he said. "That's an awful performance by us. But it's us. We didn't do a lot well tonight, obviously. We didn't possess the ball or maintain ball security on offense. We were highly penalized. We allowed those guys to run the ball. Didn't play 60 minutes of action. Didn't play complementary football. So, we've got to absorb that result. We're certainly not going to feel sorry for ourselves. That's just the business we're in."

A significant number of fans, though, believe the Steelers should start conducting business with a new coach. They made their feelings clear on Sunday.