After a 25-10 beatdown against the Chargers, the Steelers suddenly feel the Ravens breathing down their necks in the division race. And while most of the attention has (rightfully) gone to the offense’s struggles, the defense didn’t exactly have its cleanest night either, especially on the play that earned Mike Tomlin’s linebacker Nick Herbig a fine.

Herbig was docked $6,656 for a hip-drop tackle on Justin Herbert, a penalty filed under “unnecessary roughness.” It could’ve easily been higher, but as a first-time offender, he avoided the steeper end of the fine structure.

The hit came midway through the first quarter, when Herbig looped behind Herbert as he tried to escape the pocket. He wrapped him from behind, pulled him down, and Herbert’s legs got caught underneath just enough to make L.A. fans hold their breath.

Herbert came up limping, and for a moment it looked like the Chargers might have to turn to the backup. But he stayed in, and after the game, brushed off the scare.

“I just got rolled up. A little bit of pain, but I thought we did a good job of talking about it on the sideline. I came off and felt like I was safe and comfortable to go back out there,” Herbert said after the game.

The Chargers settled for a field goal on that drive, and in a small way, Herbig’s sack probably prevented seven points. But it didn’t end up mattering much, not when the Steelers offense managed all of 10 points against Jim Harbaugh’s defense.

Pittsburgh’s decision to stand pat at the trade deadline and not add a receiver is aging poorly, and it’s opening the door for Baltimore to climb into first. Right now, the defense is the only thing keeping this season from unraveling completely. Just like it has always been.

And now, with the division lead suddenly looking fragile, the next uncomfortable question starts creeping in: if the Steelers cough up the AFC North, do you entertain the idea of trading Mike Tomlin? We have an update.

Mike Tomlin gets an update on his future

Baltimore has the softer path coming out of the bye, with the Browns and Jets up next, two games that they’re pretty much guaranteed to win. Pittsburgh, meanwhile, gets the Bengals, Bears, and Bills before they see the Ravens twice down the stretch. That’s a tough ask for any team, let alone one that can’t score more than ten against LA. Mike Tomlin needs to figure it out.

And if it bottoms out? Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ray Fittipaldo went on The Fan Morning Show this week and peeled back the curtain a bit on how the organization views its head coach. Historically, they wouldn’t even pick up the phone on a Tomlin trade. You don’t fire the man who’s part of a lineage that dates back to 1969 with just three head coaches.

But patience isn’t infinite.

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“I don’t think they’ve lost faith in that building just because of a rough month here. I think something really bad would have to transpire in the last two months of the season for them to even consider that. From the Steelers’ perspective, I still don’t think that would be in play,” Fittipaldo said.

That’s the key line. Not “never.” Not anymore. The door is cracked open in a way it hasn’t been before. It would still take a full-on collapse for ownership to even mull the idea. But for the first time in a long time, the thought is out there.