Chris Hoke isn’t guaranteeing the Pittsburgh Steelers having their first losing season under Mike Tomlin. But he thinks it’s a real possibility. Joining 93.7 The Fan Thursday, Hoke was asked for his season record prediction that surprised those listening.
“8-9,” he told the show. “I told Pomp before the show started and marked win loss, win loss.
If so, it would not only be the team’s first losing season under Tomlin, it would be the franchise’s first since the Steelers went 6-10 in 2003. Breaking the streak this year would prevent Tomlin from catching Bill Belichick (19) or Tom Landry for the longest non-losing streaks in NFL history.
Hoke cited a tough schedule and “average” offensive line impacted by injuries as reasons for showing more pessimism than other fans and pundits. Still, he cautioned that the NFL is unpredictable and said September record predictions don’t carry much weight.
“So many things can change, guys. We can come out and be blown away by the way Russell Wilson plays… I think right now looking at it, I think 8-9 with understanding that the NFL journey in a regular season is so unique. It’s so crazy that a lot of things can change,” Hoke said.
Pittsburgh has come dangerously close to finishing below .500 before. In 2013, the Steelers started 0-4 before rallying to go 6-2 down the stretch and winding up 8-8. Their 2019 season looked doomed before it barely began, losing QB Ben Roethlisberger two weeks into the year. But the Steelers stayed in the playoff hunt before running out of gas the last three weeks, another .500 finish. In 2022, they bottomed out at 2-6 before another hot ending, and last year, they dropped from 7-4 to 7-7 in an ugly spiral of upset losses. Mason Rudolph came off the bench to win their final three games.
All that suggests Tomlin can make the most out of a difficult situation. He’s been at his best when Pittsburgh’s needed to overachieve. But will the team’s luck eventually run out? In three of their last five seasons, the Steelers have been on the razor’s edge of dipping below .500. With a schedule that appears unforgiving, the 2024 unit doesn’t have much margin for error.
