On November 11th, 2024, ESPN NFL analyst Dan Graziano made the following statement: “[Mike Tomlin] is doing things very few people expected…it’s an under reaction to say Tomlin could end up as the Coach of the Year.”
Yikes. That comment backfired tremendously.
Despite many Pittsburgh locals being upset at Tomlin and the Steelers organization collectively, they should’ve seen this coming. This is the identity of the Steelers for nearly the past decade.
Why would anyone be shocked by the Steelers starting the season 10-3, only to surrender 5 straight games to actual playoff-caliber teams. How close are the Steelers to being a Super Bowl team? Just look at the games they played against the two teams in the Super Bowl: The Eagles manhandled them 27-13 and the Chiefs came to Pittsburgh and gave the Steelers a 29-10 loss for Christmas.
They did the exact same thing in the 2020 season, despite starting the season 11-0, they finished 12-4 and then lost to the Browns in the Wild Card round at the stadium formerly known as Heinz Field.
Tomlin has shown us year in and year out he is able to win divisional games in the regular season, able to will his team through less than ideal matchups, and look like a top NFL coach, but always within the regular season. He gets praised and glorified, and yet when it comes to the playoffs, he under performs and underachieves.
Since 2016, which is the last playoff win the Steelers had, the Steelers are 0-5 in the playoffs, giving up 42 points and 462 total yards per game, while only averaging 21 points themselves. During this stretch, they lost to a Blake Bortles-led Jaguars team, a Browns team whose head coach and best offensive lineman missed the game because of COVID, as well as losses in non-competitive games on the road against the Bills, Chiefs, and Ravens.
Some say it’s hard to win a playoff game. Since the Steelers last playoff win in January of 2017, 24 NFL teams have won at least one playoff game and that list includes teams such as the Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Giants, Cleveland Browns and Tennessee Titans.
Despite all these signs, we believe they’re a Super Bowl contender every year. We believe they can beat the top-tier teams. We believe they can win the division. We believe they can win a playoff game. I believe we are delusional.
We might as well believe the Pittsburgh Pirates will are going to spend money on players to make the team better, make the playoffs and have a run at the World Series.
Not only can the Steelers not win a playoff game, manage to effectively run the ball, and actually score in the first quarter (they’ve been outscored 73-0 in first quarter of the 0-5 playoff skid), but they also can’t seem to get away from their steadfast belief that Tomlin is their saving grace and will lead them back to the promised land.
Tomlin has done nothing in playoffs, he hasn’t helped facilitate a big trade or move to benefit the team, and he’s managed to lower the expectations for the Steelers to “having a winning record and make the playoffs” instead of “winning the Super Bowl”.
The Steelers organization has settled for mediocrity, and they’ll keep getting passed up by teams who make surprising, shocking, but effective decisions. Take the Detroit Lions, for example. They traded their franchise quarterback Matthew Stafford for a plummeting Jared Goff. They hired a guy as head coach whom we laughed at when he talked about biting kneecaps. Today they are one of the best teams in the NFL.
The Steelers made a surprising move in January of 2007 when they hired Mike Tomlin. It’s time to be equally bold and make the decision to move on.
When the narrative flips, the trajectory of a team flips too – changes need to be made to the staff, philosophy, and style of play. Assistant coaching changes have been made, but since the results are unchanged, then the head honcho needs to be let go.
Mike Tomlin, I appreciate all you’ve done for the Steelers and Pittsburgh for the past 17 years, but the writing is on the wall – you and the Steelers just have to read and accept it.
