The media narratives that emerged during the Pittsburgh Steelers’ three-game losing streak in December 2023 were brutal, and deservingly so. Everybody, including former players, were [discussing the death of the “Steelers Way”](https://steelersdepot.com/2025/02/i-dont-know-how-that-keeps-on-ben-roethlisberger-concerned-steelers-way-will-be-lost/) and the Steelers haven’t been able to shake that question to this day. Every passing year with a late-season collapse and a one-and-done playoff appearance only amplifies the noise. The circus act of waiting for Aaron Rodgers and the drama of trading George Pickens haven’t helped.
Former Baltimore Raven Chris Canty had some thoughts on the downfall of the Steelers via [ESPN’s Unsportsmanlike](https://www.espn.com/espnradio/losangeles/podcast/archive/_/id/29552520) this morning.
“The last decade and a half they have exactly one more playoff win than the New York Jets, so this whole culture around the Pittsburgh Steelers, it’s been methodically deteriorating before our eyes,” Canty said. “Mike Tomlin has been putting lipstick on a pig in terms of making them seem more credible than they actually are. Mike Tomlin has been the ultimate deodorant for the Pittsburgh Steelers franchise.”
The Steelers have a few more playoff wins than the Jets over that span, but the fact that it’s even close isn’t a great sign for Pittsburgh.
There are very few common threads on the roster of the last decade of failures, so Tomlin deserves a healthy portion of the blame at the very least. But he’s also kept the team together and competitive. Not only has he never suffered a losing season, but he has coached just one meaningless game in his career, that coming in 2012 when the Steelers had nothing to play for in the final week of the season. In that way, the Steelers’ culture still remains to a degree.
Former GM Kevin Colbert deserves as much blame as anybody for their shortcomings over the last decade. Only 18 of his drafted players over his final 10 classes signed more than one contract with the team. A portion of those 18 were just depth players and several others didn’t last very long once they signed their second contract. Only two of the nine first-round picks panned out for the Steelers and Bud Dupree was one of them.
With Kenny Pickett and George Pickens off the roster, the 2022 draft class doesn’t look promising either. Canty thinks Art Rooney II should shoulder a lot of the blame.
“Let’s be clear about another thing. Art Rooney II, Dan Rooney he is not,” Canty said. “The proof is in the record. You aren’t what we grew up on. You are no longer that. And the proof is waiting days before minicamp for a quarterback that may or may not wanna be a part of your program.”
The Rodgers saga has the potential to end with egg on the face of the collective Steelers brass. The buck has to stop with Rooney. Colbert should have been transitioned out years earlier, and he never should have signed off on a three-month wait for one of the most polarizing figures in the NFL this offseason.
The Steelers’ culture isn’t completely lost when you have guys like Cam Heyward and T.J. Watt in the building. But there is no doubt it’s taken a big hit over the last decade.