There is only one postseason game left to play in the 2024 season, and for the 13th consecutive season, head coach Mike Tomlin’s Pittsburgh Steelers are not participating in it. Indeed, they have only made it to the game before the final game of the season once in that span.
To put a finer point on it, the Steelers have gone seven years without even winning a playoff game under Tomlin. Not just in general as an organization but as a single head coach. And they are now working on signing him to an extension beyond the 2024 season. It’s time to understand how rare that is.
During the Super Bowl era, only eight head coaches managed to go seven seasons without winning a postseason game with a single team without being fired along the way. Tomlin is now the ninth to achieve the dubious feat, and the Steelers are working on extending his contract.
The list of names is quite interesting and runs the gamut. Among them are Hall of Fame coaches like Don Shula and Paul Brown. The latter coached the Cincinnati Bengals for eight seasons from 1968-1975 without a single postseason win. Later, Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis presided over 16 consecutive seasons without a single playoff win, a genuinely astonishing feat.
| Coach | Team | Streak Start | Streak End | Length | Playoff Appearances | Year 7 Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Brown | Cincinnati Bengals | 1968 | 1975 | 8 | 3 | Retired |
| Don Shula | Miami Dolphins | 1974 | 1981 | 8 | 4 | Retained |
| Bart Starr | Green Bay Packers | 1975 | 1983 | 7 | 0 | Retained |
| Monte Clark | Detroit Lions | 1978 | 1984 | 7 | 2 | Fired |
| Chuck Knox | Seattle Seahawks | 1985 | 1991 | 7 | 2 | Resigned |
| Jim Mora | New Orleans Saints | 1986 | 1996 | 11 | 4 | Retained |
| Marvin Lewis | Cincinnati Bengals | 2003 | 2018 | 16 | 7 | Retained |
| Jeff Fisher | Tennessee Titans | 2004 | 2008 | 7 | 2 | Fired |
| Mike Tomlin | Pittsburgh Steelers | 2017 | 2023 | 7 | 4 | Retained |
Because, you see, such a distinction says as much about an organization as it does about a head coach. The New England Patriots fired Bill Belichick after four seasons without a playoff win. He has the most Super Bowl titles in NFL history. The Philadelphia Eagles fired Andy Reid after four years without a playoff win. He already had 10 by then, with a Super Bowl appearance. He’s since won two Super Bowls with the Kansas City Chiefs and is competing for another.
So it takes the backing of an organization and, more to the point, an owner to stand behind a head coach long enough to rack up seven seasons without a playoff win. Almost invariably, a head coach with that sustained lack of success gets fired before he reaches that point. Pittsburgh is just such an organization to stand by their head coach, however.
Since 2011, Tomlin’s Steelers have only played a postseason game beyond the Wild Card Round three times. And one of those times was only because they had a first-round bye. They have won three total playoff games since then in seven postseason appearances. Five times, they lost their first game in either the Wild Card or Divisional Round.
In fact, the Steelers under Tomlin have now done that an astonishing seven times. The only head coach in the Super Bowl era with more one-and-done postseason appearances is Marty Schottenheimer with nine.
At an earlier point in his career, Tomlin boasted an 8-5 postseason record. That was heading into the 2016 AFC Championship Game against the Patriots. But his Steelers have lost five straight games since then, now 8-10 under his leadership. Even owner Art Rooney II thinks it’s enough losing. Is there a point where Tomlin’s seat gets warm?
