Mike Tomlin’s remained adamant about one thing. It’s now how you start, it’s how you finish. And sure, if you squint and twist and turn and contort, that point is true. Better to finish a season hot than starting one that way. Just look at the Buffalo Bills, winners of six straight. Or the Philadelphia Eagles, losers of six of their final seven and ultimately eliminated Monday night. Better to finish a game stronger than how you started. Win the final five minutes, make key plays late, come out on top.
Here’s a thought. And I know, it’s a radical one. Make sure you’re seated before reading on.
Maybe the Pittsburgh Steelers can also not have such terrible starts? Crazy idea, I get it. How about they finish and start strong? This doesn’t have to be either/or.
Pittsburgh’s 31-17 loss to the Buffalo Bills hurts. It sucks. The season is over. But it shouldn’t be painful. Numbness is the only sensation. Same playoff loss, different year. If there’s a team that repeats the same mistakes over and over, it’s the Pittsburgh Steelers. They’re the definition of insanity. Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
Here’s the formula:
1. Start slow.
2. Get behind.
3. Rally back.
4. Fall short.
Rinse. Repeat.
Monday’s loss against Buffalo was the same old same old. Two turnovers in the first 20 minutes doomed Pittsburgh before the game even sniffed halftime, the Steelers falling behind 14-0 to the heavily favored Bills. The Steelers’ plan was to run it well, protect the football, and take the ball away on defense. They did none of those things. Running room was hard to find, especially early, putting too much on Mason Rudolph’s shoulders. He’s played the best of any Steelers quarterback this season but asking him to throw 40 times isn’t a winning formula.
Turnovers tilted the scales in the Bills’ favor and Pittsburgh’s defense couldn’t claw anything back on its end, nor did the Steelers really ever come close, a tipped pass that fell between two defenders their best shot at a takeaway.
In their last five playoff games, all losses, the Steelers have been outscored 66-0 in the first quarter. That is…remarkable. It’s almost hard to be that flat in the first quarter of a playoff game. But Pittsburgh pulls it off. This time, down 14-0 after the first 15 minutes, down 21-0 with 11 minutes left in the half. If it wasn’t for a field goal block by Montravius Adams, and kudos to him for providing something of a spark, the half would’ve likely had Pittsburgh trailing 24-zip.
When you’re in the playoffs, when you’re facing stud quarterbacks (three of the team’s five losses have come to Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, and Allen, all future Hall of Famers and/or studs), you can’t let them run wild. They’re going to make plays, but Pittsburgh is getting absolutely dominated. Opposing passers over the team’s losing streak have thrown for 15 touchdowns, just one interception, and completed nearly 70 percent of their passes. They’re consistently getting chewed up without the slightest hint of resistance.
Then there’s the rally. And Pittsburgh’s battled back. Against Buffalo (down 21-0, made it 24-17), against Cleveland in 2020 (down 35-7, made it 35-23), against Jacksonville in 2017 (down 28-7, made it 42-35). But they all fell short. If the Steelers could’ve just started poorly instead of straight-up ugly, they probably win at least one of those. No one’s asking for a 17-0 lead to begin though no one’s going to be mad either. Just don’t get your lunch eaten in the first half hour. A blueprint built on historic comebacks isn’t sustainable. It’s insane. That clearly isn’t Pittsburgh’s goal, but it is its result. Repeatedly.
So the Steelers’ season ends in the same way it has before. A hard-fought regular season, Mike Tomlin keeps his “never had a losing season streak” for the national talking heads to parrot until August, and Pittsburgh sits at home by the Divisional Round. It’s the same start. It’s the same finish. Another long offseason awaits.
