Mike Tomlin is a highly accomplished head coach. A Super Bowl champion, Tomlin has made a name for himself based on his reputation with players as well as his impressive win-loss record. I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but the age-old stat of never having a losing season still reigns true after 17 years with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
For Kyle Brandt, it’s more of a “what have you done for me recently” type approach with Tomlin. The NFL analyst recently appeared on The Bill Simmons Podcast, going over his “Five Favorite Coaching Storylines” this season.
Unsurprisingly, Tomlin made the list with Brandt noting his need for a playoff win this season. In fact, he goes as far to question if Tomlin is as good of a coach as he is regarded based on his recent postseason resume.
“He doesn’t win in the playoffs. He’s one of these guys that everyone likes and everyone thinks he’s one of the best coaches, but it’s like ‘Hold on,’” Brandt said. “If he’s one of the best coaches, how come he never wins playoff games? I know we like him and he’s cool and everything, but I think he has to this year…I think Tomlin has to coach his ass off another year without a playoff win and it’s like, ‘I thought we were the Pittsburgh Steelers?’”
While he may take it a step too far when questioning if Tomlin is a good coach or not, Brandt certainly voices the concerns of many Steelers fans. For those keeping track, the last time the Steelers won a playoff game was in 2017 against the Kansas City Chiefs. To paint a more colorful picture, Alex Smith was the quarterback of the Chiefs and Spencer Ware was the team’s leading running back.
Over the past 10 years, the Steelers have only won three playoff games, far from what has been expected from the “standard” Tomlin talks about.
Simmons does point to the Steelers’ quarterback situation as a reason for the recent struggles and adds that this season doesn’t figure to be any better with Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. He also says that he’s not bullish on the Steelers’ playoff chances, in part, because of their schedule, which was voted the hardest in the NFL.
While Simmons may be right about the hurdles in the Steelers’ way, time is ticking for Tomlin to win some playoff games.
