The conversation that immediately followed the Pittsburgh Steelers’ loss to the Baltimore Ravens was whether or not Mike Tomlin is still the right person for the job of leading the Steelers. Many made the same of tired claims and arguments, blaming the roster or the quarterback for the Steelers’ shortcomings. However, as Ben Roethlisberger points out, it is Tomlin who makes these decisions.

“I know Omar Khan is the general manager,” Roethlisberger said on Footbahlin. “Mike Tomlin makes decisions… Mike Tomlin has decisions and makes most of the decisions in Pittsburgh. He can say he doesn’t and this, that, and the other – we all know that he’s got a lot of pull. He’s been here for 18 years. You wouldn’t be here that long if you didn’t have pull and say.”

So for everyone pointing fingers and saying the roster isn’t good enough or the quarterbacks aren’t good enough, all of those things have been Mike Tomlin’s doing. They aren’t going to move on from him this offseason, and probably never will if we’re being perfectly honest. But maybe now (probably not) those who constantly race to defend Tomlin and make the claims of “Well the grass may not be greener on the other side without Tomlin,” the current grass isn’t green at all. And that comes back to the man under the headset.