Despite the Pittsburgh Steelers’ success over the last decade – they have yet to finish a season with a losing record — the elephant in the room is always that their last playoff win came in 2016, eight years ago now. The Steelers have fielded many teams with enough talent and regular-season success to win at least one playoff game in the last eight years. The 2017 Steelers, who finished 13-3 and first in the AFC North, and the 2020 Steelers, who finished 12-4 and first in the division, are the two best examples. The 2024 Steelers have the talent and experience that could bring the team a playoff win, and finally get the monkey off coach Mike Tomlin’s back.
Ray Fittipaldo, Steelers beat writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, was asked if he believes that Tomlin should be blamed for the lack of postseason success or if he’s done the most with the talent on his rosters. Fittipaldo did not excuse Tomlin from blame.
“Those Steelers teams were stacked with great talent,” Fittipaldo said regarding the 2014-18 Steelers. “You had Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell in their primes. You had a terrific offensive line. Yes, the defense struggled at times, but those teams underachieved given the talent Tomlin had at his disposal. In Pittsburgh, you’re judged on your postseason success. I refuse to grade on a curve for any perceived issues in talent in recent years. And mind you, he’s had Cam Heyward, T.J. Watt and Minkah Fitzpatrick in their primes and hasn’t won a playoff game with them. Lots of teams would love to have a core three on their defense like that trio.”
These are pretty harsh words from Fittipaldo. It’s true that most of those teams underachieved when it came to playoff success, but they did also endure some devastating, untimely injuries heading into those playoffs. The 2015 Steelers lost their entire offensive corps, with Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown suffering injuries in the Wild Card round win against the Bengals, derailing the team’s hopes at a deep playoff run. The 2017 season was hindered but Ryan Shazier’s devastating injury in December. The Steelers lost their irreplaceable defensive leader, which showed when they allowed 45 points to the Blake Bortles-led Jaguars in the playoffs. Every playoff team has to fight through injuries, but the timing of some of these key injuries made them especially difficult to overcome.
There’s no more room for excuses. The Steelers have a brutal schedule this year, but they’ve done more with less in the past few seasons. Adding Russell Wilson and Justin Fields gives them their best quarterback situation since prime Ben Roethlisberger. Signing Patrick Queen gives the Steelers a game-changing player at inside linebacker, which has been a team weakness for the past seven years. T.J. Watt and Minkah Fitzpatrick are still in their prime, and Cam Heyward is still hungry for another playoff run. The AFC is only getting deeper and younger, and each year that the Steelers fail to win a playoff game only adds to the fans’ impatience with Tomlin.
The Rooneys don’t seem to feel the same frustration that some fans feel as the organization signed Tomlin to a three-year contract extension a few weeks ago. Tomlin has deservedly earned his reputation as the player-coach who gets the most out of his players and commands the locker room. His 17-year streak without a losing record is still mind-blowing. But even if the Rooneys don’t agree, the Steelers are overdue for another playoff win, and Tomlin has to deliver sooner rather than later. The 2024 team has what it takes, so we’ll see if it can finally make that happen.
