Mike Tomlin and his non-losing season has extended out for another year. The Pittsburgh Steelers moved to 9-3 after knocking off the Cincinnati Bengals 44-28 on Sunday afternoon, clinching Tomlin’s 18th-straight non-losing season as the team’s head coach.
Record in-hand entering this year, Tomlin extends the longest streak for most non-losing seasons to begin a head coaching career. His streak is third-longest for any coach in NFL history and is now just one season behind former New England Patriots’ head coach for second place.
Longest Non-Losing Streaks, NFL Head Coach History
1. Tom Landry – 21 seasons (Dallas Cowboys, 1965-1985)
2. Bill Belichick – 19 seasons (New England Patriots, 2001-2019)
3. Mike Tomlin – 18 seasons (Pittsburgh Steelers, 2007-Present)
Moreover, the Steelers have now had 21-straight non-losing seasons, tying them with the Dallas Cowboys for the longest team streak in history.
Pittsburgh’s last losing season came in 2003, finishing 6-10. The Steelers drafted Miami (OH) QB Ben Roethlisberger with the 11th pick in the 2004 NFL Draft and haven’t looked back.
The job Mike Tomlin has done this season is among his most impressive. At best, Pittsburgh was considered a Wild Card contender by most in the national media with oddsmakers setting their win projection around 8.5. Thursday night’s win already surpasses that mark with six more games to go.
Tomlin’s boldest move this year came by making a mid-season quarterback switch, replacing Justin Fields with Russell Wilson in Week 7 despite the Steelers’ 4-2 record. He came under heavy criticism for the change but has been proven right, Wilson playing well and elevating the offense to the next level.
It’s true Pittsburgh’s goal is to do more than just avoid a losing season. And there’s been valid critiques of the team becoming stagnant, a frequent playoff qualifier, but a team that hasn’t won a postseason game since 2016. That’s the Steelers’ longest drought since the 1970 merger. But the model of consistency to this degree is impressive and puts him in obviously rare territory and alongside some of the greatest coaches in NFL history. He’s now a favorite to win Coach of the Year, an award he’s never taken home before.
In past years, Mike Tomlin’s nearly lost his streak. In 2012, the Steelers won their regular season finale 24-10 over the Cleveland Browns to finish 8-8 for the year, avoiding a 7-9 record. In 2013, they turned around an 0-4 start to win six of their last eight and finish 8-8. Despite losing QB Ben Roethlisberger for the season in 2019 and facing a 1-3 start, Pittsburgh again wound up .500. Bottoming out at 2-6 and 5-8 after Week 14, Tomlin’s streak seemed certain to end in 2022. But the team rallied to win their final four games to finish 9-8.
With the non-losing streak extended another year, the Steelers will set their sights on a far bigger prize. They remain in contention to be the AFC’s No. 1 seed and are searching to win their first playoff game since the 2016 Divisional Round against the Kansas City Chiefs.
