PITTSBURGH — Sometimes rock bottom is where the wakeup call happens, and make no mistake, the Mike Tomlin era hit rock bottom a mere nine months ago — before the Steelers finished their seventh consecutive season without coming anywhere near a playoff win.

This was mid-December, when even Tomlin's buddy Jay Glazer was feeding the Tomlin-could-be-done-in-Pittsburgh fire.

"Even if he's not available yet, teams should be calling trying to trade for Mike Tomlin," Glazer said Dec. 13 on FOX. "Hey Washington, he's from Virginia. Perfect. I'm at least giving it a shot. I'm trying for it ... you gotta swing away for a guy like that if he's on the hot seat."

In case you've forgotten what rock bottom looks like, a recap ...

— Steelers president Art Rooney II bucked franchise tradition and fired a coach in the middle of a season. In this case, it was overmatched offensive coordinator Matt Canada, a coach Tomlin had hired and doubled down on (and tripled down on) despite historically horrific results through two-plus seasons.

— In a related disaster, Tomlin's handpicked successor to Ben Roethlisberger, Kenny Pickett, was falling apart less than two seasons into his career.

— The Steelers opened December with back-to-back home losses to a pair of 2-10 teams (Patriots, Cardinals), becoming the first team in NFL history above .500 to drop consecutive games to teams at least eight games under .500. They followed that with a 30-13 loss to Gardner Minshew, a game in which Tomlin punted from the Indianapolis Colts' 39-yard line, trailing by 11 late in the third quarter, instead of letting the most accurate long-range kicker in NFL history, Chris Boswell, attempt an indoor field goal from 56 yards.

So yes, I don't feel like I'm overdoing it by calling all of that rock bottom.

The Steelers rebounded, sure, when Tomlin desperately went to Mason Rudolph after sticking too long with Mitch Trubisky in place of an injured Pickett. But the coach and his players knew the team wasn't going anywhere with any of those guys running the show. Veteran players lobbied to sign veteran Russell Wilson. The Steelers did.

And thus began the Tomlin revival, even though Wilson hasn't played a snap.

Tomlin has made all the right moves since mid-March or so, leading to a 3-0 start that has the Steelers sitting in the catbird seat in the AFC North with many winnable games ahead. There's a decent chance they'll be favored in their next eight games or more. The other three teams in the division have a combined 2-7 record and have combined to lose home games to the Patriots, Raiders, Commanders and Giants.

It all began with the quarterback blowup. Pickett didn't appreciate the Wilson signing and asked out. Tomlin obliged. He got rid of the hostage and soon found himself a volunteer. Very soon, as it turned out. A day later, the Steelers traded for Justin Fields, a player Tomlin had fallen for in the lead up to the 2021 draft.

General manager Omar Khan is the guy pulling the trigger on the transactions, obviously, but if you think he's telling Tomlin what to do with his quarterback room, you're nuts.

Tomlin looks right on Fields so far — and yes, there is a ton of football left. That topic will be revisited more than once.

The quarterback-room upgrade led to a training camp in which Tomlin turned up the heat. It was, by all accounts, a brutal camp by modern-day NFL standards. Some of us thought Tomlin might have gone overboard when injuries began popping up — but he looks right on that, too: His team clearly began the season with an edge others lacked.

The defense, especially, was ready to ball. And remember, that is Tomlin's defense. He has a huge hand in running it, which is why he deserves the brunt of the criticism for the unit's failures — like all the team's recent playoff games — and the bulk of the credit for a historically dominant start. The Steelers have held opponents to 10 or fewer points in three straight games to start a season for the first time since 1973. Tomlin and coordinator Teryl Austin have concocted three brilliant plans.

Now consider that the Steelers are 3-0 despite playing twice on the road and sustaining key injuries to the likes of guard Isaac Seumalo, tackle Troy Fautanu and linebacker Alex Highsmith, who missed the latter stages of the Chargers game. The Steelers are technically using their backup quarterback, too, and Tomlin looks to have made a smart hire in offensive coordinator Arthur Smith (although anybody would have been an upgrade on Canada).

It's early yet. This is not the time for a fair or final verdict on the 2024 Steelers. But it feels like a long way from rock bottom. It feels like a season that won't end, like so many others, with barely missing or barely making the playoffs and then getting blown out of the first game.

It feels like Tomlin's on the comeback trail.

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