Steelers coach Mike Tomlin responds to fans' calls for his job after brutal collapse against Bills

Furious Pittsburgh Steelers fans appear to have had enough of head coach Mike Tomlin after 19 seasons.

Amid a 26-7 collapse against the Buffalo Bills, Steel City faithful were heard serenading the Super Bowl winner with cries of: 'Fi-re Tom-lin!'

And Tomlin didn't blame them, either.

'I share their frustration tonight,' Tomlin told reporters when asked about the chants after the loss. 'We didn't do enough. That's just the reality of it.'

According to a long-time Steelers fan known on X as '@PghJarron,' this is new territory for Tomlin.

'I may be mistaken, but this appears to be the first time I've ever heard 'Fire Tomlin' chants,' he wrote on X.

Just the team's third head coach since 1969, Tomlin is now seen by many as a symbol of owner Art Rooney's refusal to change. Pittsburgh has not gone beyond the opening round of the NFL playoffs since 2017 and Tomlin's Super Bowl victory is now a distant memory some 17 seasons later.

'I would be stunned if Mike Tomlin is still employed after today,' read a humorous post from one football fan. 'One thing about the Steelers front office is that they don't tolerate mediocrity.'

Perhaps missing the joke, one respondent was quick to remind everyone: 'They've had only 3 coaches for the last 50+ years. He's not getting fired.'

The Steelers initially looked vastly improved this season with Aaron Rodgers under center, getting off to a 4-1 start.

Since then, Pittsburgh has lost five of seven games, culminating with Sunday's second-half collapse.

With Pittsburgh opening the second half from their own 26-yard line, Rodgers dropped back to pass but was unaware of Bills edge rusher Joey Bosa crashing the pocket from the blind side.

Bosa then launched himself onto Rodgers' shoulders, dropping the 41-year-old passer and sending his face into the turf as the ball became dislodged.

Buffalo's Christian Benford was perfectly positioned to recover the fumble and waltzed in for an easy touchdown. The ensuing PAT gave the Bills a 10-7 lead, but the bigger concern was Rodgers, who was briefly sidelined as trainers tended to the cut across the bridge of his nose.

The turnover helped Buffalo turn the game around in the second half.

After entering halftime trailing 7-3, the Bills scored 23 unanswered points due in no small part to Bosa's sack.

With Rodgers on the sideline, backup Mason Rudolph stepped in only to be picked off by Benford, celebrated to turnovers in a little over a minute of play.

Bills quarterback Josh Allen responded with an eight-play, 56-yard drive culminating with a one-yard touchdown pass to Keon Coleman for a 16-7 lead.

Allen later added an eight-yard touchdown run of his own.

There was some good news for Rodgers on an otherwise depressing day for the Steelers: The future Hall of Famer became just the fifth player in NFL history to eclipse 65,000 passing yards.

Rodgers trails only Tom brady, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning and former teammate Brett Favre in career passing yards.

But the big story on the day was a Steelers team that remains in playoff contention simply by playing in the lowly AFC North. Remarkably, Pittsburgh sits atop the division standings alongside Baltimore at 6-6.