Mark Madden: JuJu Smith-Schuster's dancing isn't a cause for Steelers collapse, but it's a symptom

Joe Haden, a Steeler for four seasons and NFL player for 11, summed up the state of Steelers’ leadership when he tweeted, “My dawg @TeamJuJu dancing is the least of our problems.”

The plane has crashed into the mountain. But let my dawg dance.

JuJu Smith-Schuster dancing on opposition logos before games isn’t why the Steelers have lost three straight and are abjectly collapsing for a third straight season. Cincinnati’s Vonn Bell didn’t hit Smith-Schuster any harder, thus shaking that fumble loose, because Smith-Schuster did his pregame TikTok ritual. Bell just derived more pleasure from it after the fact.

In sports, value often is assigned after the fact. If the Steelers win at Cincinnati, nobody is talking about Smith-Schuster, or that hit.

But the Steelers did lose. Smith-Schuster is being mocked as a schmuck nationwide. That can’t be good for his brand. Having just one 100-yard receiving game since Antonio Brown left in 2018 doesn’t help, either.

Smith-Schuster said Wednesday that “for the betterment of myself and my teammates, I’m going to stop dancing on the logos.” Not since the Chernobyl Three have we seen such noble and glorious self-sacrifice.

Smith-Schuster’s dancing isn’t a cause for the Steelers falling apart.

But it’s definitely a symptom.

The locker room has no leaders, only veterans. James Farrior or Troy Polamalu long since would have told Smith-Schuster to knock off that crap. Mike Tomlin should have halted it weeks ago. The situation blossomed from a small distraction into a big one. It had zero positive value for the team. Optics matter.

Smith-Schuster’s immaturity and lack of focus trickled down from the Toxic Twins era. Smith-Schuster is AB Lite. Chase Claypool (Smith-Schuster’s cameraman) is the next in line.

But, to reiterate, JuJu-gate is not why the Steelers are losing. Their problems are great, and they are many.

But if the Steelers lose out, including their first playoff game, there’s no doubt what should happen: Tomlin should be fired and Ben Roethlisberger should quit. If the Steelers go from 11-0 to 11-5 and a wild-card playoff round loss, the coach and quarterback have got to go. That’s the nature of their jobs and the horrific reality of their performances.

The Steelers probably would not get a better coach. The transition at quarterback from Roethlisberger to his successor was always going to result in a down period of some length.

But, addressing Tomlin: If the Steelers go one-and-done in the postseason, it means zero playoff wins in four seasons, three in the last 10. The Steelers will have fallen apart down the stretch in 2018, ’19 and this year. All of that despite considerable talent.

How does any coach survive those dominoes falling and his inability to stop it? If Tomlin keeps his job despite that, you might as well designate him coach for life.

Tomlin is a good coach. Perhaps he’s just been in the same job too long.

As for Roethlisberger, the ball isn’t getting there. Is it because of his surgically repaired elbow? Is it because of a creaky knee? Is his confidence shot? Is it all of the above? The Steelers’ offense has been reduced to attacking a 10-yard field. It’s popgun, flag-football nonsense.

Roethlisberger is 38. How far can he bounce back from any or all of that? Is his deep arm suddenly going to spring back to life? Will he bathe in the fountain of youth?

But Tomlin and Roethlisberger will be back no matter what. The Steelers could lose the next three games by an average margin of 50, but the coach and quarterback will return.

The Steelers could start winning again. But they won’t.

At season’s end, the Steelers will slap a butterfly stitch on a shotgun wound by firing offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner. He’s not even really the coordinator. Roethlisberger is. But sacking Fichtner is a safe, easy move that will placate the citizens. It’s a traditional go-to.

The Steelers will blame injuries on defense. It’s a legit excuse. Losing Devin Bush and Bud Dupree turned that unit from dominant into slightly above-average.

But you’ve still got to beat Washington at home. You’ve still got to win at Cincinnati.

The Steelers will proceed like they always do: They will keep being the Steelers. That used to be a good thing.

Tomlin will speak in empty platitudes and coach as long as he wants. Roethlisberger will keep indulging his (10-yard) vision of the offense and line up in the shotgun as long as he wants. Each is headed for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. So, perhaps they’ve earned that.

The Steelers were never as good as their record. I told you so.