We all know by now that the Pittsburgh Steelers have struggled to win in the playoffs lately. The team hasn’t had a playoff win since 2016, and OLB T.J. Watt doesn’t have any in his Steelers career and DE Cameron Heyward has played in just one playoff win. It’s a blip on the resume of a lot of veterans on this roster, and during an appearance on The Fan Morning Show, Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said the Steelers are focused on changing that.
“I’ll tell you the different type of vibe I’m getting down there this summer. I was in on an interview with T.J. Watt yesterday, and he’s coming up on some milestones in his career, 100 sacks, he’s pretty close to it. And he was asked about the importance of that, and he said, ‘The number that’s important to me is zero playoff wins.’ And that reverberates throughout the locker room,” Fittipaldo said.
Fittipaldo said the vibe during OTAs and minicamp is usually more laid back, but the fact that players are already talking about playoff success — or lack thereof — shows that this season is really “playoffs or bust.”
It’s been far too long since the Steelers have won in the postseason, and players and coaches are probably sick of it more than anyone. So it’s no surprise that changing that is an emphasis and a major focus even at this stage of the offseason. The Steelers have made win-now moves all offseason, adding Russell Wilson and Patrick Queen, and they have to show they can win in the postseason this year.
I don’t think anyone’s mistaking them for Super Bowl contenders, but they’re good enough to get in the playoffs and win a game. With their string of losses in their first playoff game, that would be progress. It’s still not ideal, and the goal and the standard for the Steelers is always to win the Super Bowl, but they have to start somewhere after so many years of being unable to win when it counts.
Mike Florio believes that Mike Tomlin is rejuvenated and extra motivated to win after signing a three-year contract extension and the moves the Steelers made this offseason, and it sounds as if the players are, too. This is the season where they have to go make it happen.
