Ever have it where you know the team you’re rooting for has no shot to win it all? Technically, anything can happen on any given Sunday and every team has a chance to pull off the greatest of upsets, but when it comes to professional sports, the top teams often separate themselves from the pack.
This leads many fan bases to plead with their favorite teams to “tank,” or essentially lose games on purpose for a better draft position to take higher-ranking prospects. The theory makes some sort of sense if you know for a fact that a certain draft prospect is going to be the next superstar in the league, but as we have seen over the years, even the best draft prospects can bust.
While some teams like the Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions have embraced the tanking philosophy at times throughout the years, other franchises have that “never say die” mentality and will compete to the very end, regardless of it they have a realistic shot at winning the title or not. One of those teams is the Pittsburgh Steelers as owner Art Rooney II has made it known that the team’s goal is to be in position to compete for a Super Bowl every season.
Thanks to this philosophy, Pittsburgh has been a model of consistency in the league for decades, finishing at or above .500 every season under HC Mike Tomlin since he arrived in 2007. In fact, Pittsburgh has the second-fewest losses in the NFL over the past 20 seasons as shown in the graphic below by CBS Sports, trailing just the New England Patriots, who won six Super Bowls thanks to QB Tom Brady and HC Bill Belichick’s historic run together.
Some fans may get upset that the Steelers will strive to be mediocre in seasons when they realistically have no shot at competing for a title. However, it’s more fun to watch your favorite team play competitive football rather than getting blown out every Sunday for a better draft pick. Pittsburgh made off with a pretty good haul regarding its recent draft class despite just missing the playoffs, selecting the likes of OT Broderick Jones and CB Joey Porter Jr. while still pursuing the playoffs.
As an NFL franchise, you want to establish as winning culture and a tradition of winning. The Patriots had that over the last two decades and the Chiefs are starting to become that new superpower in the league. The Steelers have also established this culture and expectation of winning, taking a losing season like a complete catastrophe if it were to happen. They need to end their playoff victory drought this season, but Pittsburgh is consistently in the mix and usually is a good bet to make the playoffs, if not be in the hunt for a wildcard spot every season.
