Mike Tomlin walked away from the Steelers in January, yet somehow he is still the loudest name in Pittsburgh. Funny how a 6-2 start can turn a farewell into a full-blown trial.

The latest to put him on the stand is The Ringer’s Bill Simmons, who asked on his podcast whether Tomlin was the very thing holding back quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers. The clip, shared on X by Steelers Depot, landed right after a 27-6 demolition of the Cleveland Browns.

“My big question for you with the Steelers was: Was Tomlin holding them back? Does this become a storyline this week? Why are they better this year when Aaron Rodgers is a year older, and it’s basically the same team?” Simmons said.

Simmons then pointed straight at new head coach Mike McCarthy, a Pittsburgh native who went 49-35 in Dallas. He is also reunited with Rodgers, 42, the quarterback he won a Super Bowl with in Green Bay. Simmons’ theory is simple.

“McCarthy has unlocked a nice little way of like, pound with the run and then, you know, try to get Rodgers deep a couple times, and it’s working.”

Simmons’ longtime co-host Sal Iacono, known as Cousin Sal, loved the formula but pumped the brakes. He leaned on running back Jaylen Warren and a defense that is playing as well as expected.

“Warren has like 90-plus yards in five of his last six games, and Rodgers isn’t screwing up. It’s a little bit early. I think they have some tough games in November, so we’ll see.”

To be fair to Tomlin, he never had a losing season in 19 years and won Super Bowl XLIII. He went 10-7 in each of his last three seasons. The problem was January, as his last playoff win came in the 2016 season and his final game was a 30-6 wild-card loss to the Houston Texans.

Here is the twist. Tomlin, now an NBC analyst, ripped this exact offense on Football Night in America after its Week 2 loss to the Patriots.

“From my perspective, they don’t have a place to hang their hat.”

He had a point then. McCarthy’s offense averaged 11.5 points through two games, while Tomlin’s 2025 group averaged 23.4. Since then, Pittsburgh has scored 24 or more in five of six games.

So what flipped? Guard Brock Hoffman pointed to the Week 3 win over the Bengals, when the line realized it could just keep running on a good run defense.

“That’s the big thing, is we have an identity in the run game.”

That identity showed up against Cleveland. Warren ran for 143 yards and a touchdown as the Steelers piled up 200 on the ground, and he leads the NFL at 5.9 yards per carry.

It even showed up at the goal line. With six seconds left in the first half and no timeouts, Rodgers talked McCarthy out of a field goal from the 1-yard line, as left tackle Troy Fautanu remembers it.

“I’m doing you guys a favor. Make sure you guys got my back and score.”

Tight end Pat Freiermuth followed center Zach Frazier into the end zone on a tush push to make it 20-6 at the break.

Rodgers has changed too, as Steelers Depot noted his time to throw has slowed from a league-quickest 2.59 seconds last year to 2.75 seconds, now 13th, as the offense works the middle of the field more.

Defensive coordinator Patrick Graham’s unit deserves a bow as well. It sacked Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson eight times and held Cleveland to 34 rushing yards.

After the bye, the schedule gets real, starting with Sunday Night Football in Cincinnati. So was Tomlin really the problem, or is McCarthy just riding a perfect run-and-defense wave? November will have the final say.