Five Times They Bounced Back From An Ugly Week One

[Noll and Cowher teams no more]

Season’s over, right?
Obviously it isn’t, even if it feels like that to some fans. And make no mistake. Sunday night was an unmitigated disaster. But it isn’t the first time it’s happened over the years and there’s plenty of history that shows this team has bounced back. Here’s five times they did it.

2018: It wasn’t that long ago fans were frustrated over a 4th quarter collapse and eventual 21-21 tie to a Cleveland Browns team coming off an 0-16 season. A Browns team still starting Tyrod Taylor, not Baker Mayfield, and led by Hue Jackson. It was a game the Steelers should’ve won and a bad start to AFC North football.
They went on to dig themselves a 21-0 hole against the Kansas City Chiefs and their valiant comeback ultimately failed, putting themselves in a 0-1-1 spot two weeks in. Instead of caving, they went on to win seven of the next eight games. Sure, they collapsed at the end but the point is they were able to dig themselves out of that lackluster start. They can do it again.

2011: A chance to make some very similar history. Week One was just as bad as Sunday night. Even worse when you consider it came against an AFC North opponent, a 35-7 shellacking at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens. Seattle came to town the next week and Pittsburgh took out their frustration on them, shutting them out 24-0. Like 2018, they won seven of their next eight and finished the year 12-4, making the playoffs as a Wildcard team.
Who’s coming to town this week after a terrible opening loss? Yup, the Seahawks.

2002: Even more similar to what happened Sunday night. Pittsburgh traveled to Foxborough in the opener and was sent home with a 30-14 beatdown, Tom Brady throwing for three touchdowns just as he did in 2019. Things didn’t get much better the ensuing game either, falling 30-17 to Oakland. But Pittsburgh got their head on straight and cruised the rest of the way, going 10-3-1 the rest of the season and capturing the AFC North Title. They staged a monster comeback against the Browns in the Wild Card game before Joe Nedney earned an Oscar and beat them the next week.

2001: The last time the Steelers scored three points in Week One? That’d be 2001, a terrible 21-3 defeat to Jacksonville thanks to four Pittsburgh turnovers. Season probably felt over, didn’t it? Nope. 13-2 the remainder of the year and the AFC’s best record. They lost in the Title game to New England but you know…let’s forget about that part for the moment.

1997: The Steelers haven’t lost as badly in Week One as they did Sunday night since 1997 when the Dallas Cowboys obliterated them 37-7. That year, Pittsburgh began things with a rocky 1-2 start. But they went on to win their next five and end the season 11-5, falling one game short of the Super Bowl.

https://steelersdepot.com/2019/09/the-st...-week-one/

[Noll and Cowher teams no more]

Does this make me feel better? A little I suppose.

[Rollers]

Does this make me feel better? A little I suppose.

doesn't make me feel any better   That loss was a kick in the teeth.

[Chucktownsteeler]

Time to move on the next week's game but I do concur: this was as a listless, heartless, gutless, characterless outing from the coaching staff to the last F'N player that I've ever seen the Steelers field. I understand Noll and Cowher had losing seasons but their team always showed heart. That F'N Barron was jogging out there at least 3 times that I saw. Al Michels even mentioned it, he going to have to move faster that that. I had turned it off (glad I did) and just learned the center didn't even know the snap count. This team is leaderless.

This team is in complete free-fall, it will be interesting to see how they respond.

[Rollers]

We're going to start the season 0 - 2. Book it. We're not "varsity"

[Chucktownsteeler]

If it means Tomlin is canned I'm all for an 0-16 season, then draft Trevor Lawrence and hire Bill Belicheck's son as HC.

F*ck Mike Tomlin.

[Garrett Garlits]

First of all, I don't believe Trevor Lawrence is eligible for the draft until after next season. If my memory serves, he's only a sophomore this year, and you need to have at least three years of college to be drafted.

Second, it's too soon for Steve to be a head coach; he's only coaching safeties right now, not even the entire secondary. He may replace Tomlin at some point, but only if Mike sticks around at least five more years.

Third, I'm not even going to try to defend the utter garbage we saw on Sunday night, but are you really willing to sit through fifteen more weeks of similar performances just to see Tomlin fired? And how do you know that Art would actually fire him? Remember, the Browns kept Hue Jackson at the beginning of last year after they went 0-16 with him the year before. It was only because they were afraid that he'd mishandle Mayfield that they finally fired him.

[Krunch]

If it means Tomlin is canned I'm all for an 0-16 season, then draft Trevor Lawrence and hire Bill Belicheck's son as HC.

F*ck Mike Tomlin.

[bbbooger]

If it means Tomlin is canned I'm all for an 0-16 season, then draft Trevor Lawrence and hire Bill Belicheck's son as HC.

F*ck Mike Tomlin.

I'm in... So very IN  

[Chucktownsteeler]

Second, it's too soon for Steve to be a head coach; he's only coaching safeties right now, not even the entire secondary. 

Yes to all of the above and if memory serves me correctly Mikey Tomlin wasn't much more than a glorified DB coach when we hired him. He has peaked and regressed. At one time he showed promise but I see no improvement in the past 3 years. Same old song and dance, teams not prepared, no game time adjustments, play down to opponents level, poor clock management, etc. and etc.

I'm interested to see what the coaching change to the Bengals brings. They squeaked out a win against a proven Seattle team. Will be interesting this week. Some times coaching changes work wonders. I just think Art II is drunk with the fact there have only been 3 coaches since 1969. 

Time for a change.

[bbbooger]

Second, it's too soon for Steve to be a head coach; he's only coaching safeties right now, not even the entire secondary. 

Yes to all of the above and if memory serves me correctly Mikey Tomlin wasn't much more than a glorified DB coach when we hired him. He has peaked and regressed. At one time he showed promise but I see no improvement in the past 3 years. Same old song and dance, teams not prepared, no game time adjustments, play down to opponents level, poor clock management, etc. and etc.

I'm interested to see what the coaching change to the Bengals brings. They squeaked out a win against a proven Seattle team. Will be interesting this week. Some times coaching changes work wonders. I just think Art II is drunk with the fact there have only been 3 coaches since 1969. 

Time for a change.

YES... Just YES... Thats all...

[Garrett Garlits]

Not while Tomlin's still under contract it isn't. He's as safe as safe can be for at least two more years, which is the length of the extension he just signed. They've been blown out this badly before, and they probably will be again. They've lost games to bad teams before, and they probably will again, They haven't had the postseason success we all would have liked in the past, and they may not over the next two years either.

But the Steelers (at least since Dan took over) DO NOT, HAVE NOT, AND WILL NOT fire head coaches. They're willing to absorb bad individual seasons as the price of being stable, and they don't consider every year they don't win the Super Bowl as a bad season. They realize that thirty-one out of thirty-two teams have to be satisfied with "participation trophies" each and every year, and they know that the Steelers will be one of them much more often than not, like eighty seasons out of eighty-six if my count is right.

The only people who have trouble with that equation is the paying customers, who always have a choice of whether to accept the product or reject it. In other words, complain until your fingers fall off and you lose your voices; the Rooneys will still do whatever they want whether you watch or not, as will every other NFL owner.

[bbbooger]

And... The Head Apologist returns...

[Garrett Garlits]

You say that as if it were a bad thing. Criticizing a head coach that you know isn't going anywhere is a waste of time and energy. I'll continue to defend him as long as he's the coach of my favorite team. When he isn't anymore, I'll defend the next guy. It's just the way I choose to roll. If I didn't think those affiliated with the Steelers were worth defending anymore, I'd stop following the team. That doesn't mean I agree with everything they do, but I refuse to call for firings unless I think that the owner's going to do it regardless. They're easier to get behind then. Until I'm fairly sure that Art's soured on Tomlin and wants to make a change, I'll be in Mike's corner.

[bbbooger]

"I believe Art still likes him, so I will too..." That's, quite possibly, the dumbest thing I've ever heard!

[Garrett Garlits]

What will any of us attacking him change for this Sunday's game? Give me a good answer for how speaking ill of Tomlin on a board that nobody that I know of from the Steelers organization reads will help the Steelers beat the Seahawks, especially since he'll still be the head coach, and I'll try to warm up to the task. (Building up credibility on this board doesn't count. I know I have none, and I couldn't care less.)