The Washington Commanders have been bad news for the Pittsburgh Steelers this postseason. Although they beat them in the regular season, Washington is making the Steelers’ playoff failures look worse. That is only because the Commanders, of course, were so bad for so long, long before the name change.
But it does point out how far the Steelers have fallen behind their own standards. Organizationally, they only view a Super Bowl trophy as a success, and they are going on a long losing streak. But more practically, their current streak of lost playoff games is turning them into a joke in the NFL.
Last week, with the Commanders’ Wild Card Round win, they left only seven teams that have not won a playoff game more recently than the Steelers. With another win, now a full half of the league has been in the conference finals since the Steelers have. Pittsburgh’s last appearance was in 2016; the Commanders are the 16th different team to make it since 2017.
Half of the NFL has reached the conference finals since 2017, the Steelers now in the other half. Now on an eight-year streak without, they are in dangerous territory. In 2025, they could tie their longest stretch without a conference finals appearance in franchise history.
And it took two head coaches to manage that. After Chuck Noll’s Steelers lost in the conference finals in 1984, they didn’t make it back until Bill Cowher’s third season in 1994. That’s a full nine years from 1985 through 1993 with no conference finals appearances.
But Mike Tomlin’s Steelers, from 2017 through 2024 and counting, are just one year behind. And they are also behind half of the league, despite the Kansas City Chiefs dominating the spotlight. They have been in every AFC Championship Game since 2018, facing five different teams along the way. They have played the Bengals twice, and next week will mark their second against the Bills.
The NFC has seen more variety than in the Steelers’ conference, accounting for nine different teams since 2017. The Eagles are appearing in their third conference finals in that stretch, the San Francisco 49ers with four appearances. The Los Angeles Rams and Green Bay Packers have also made multiple appearances.
Prior to this current run, the Steelers hadn’t had a stretch like this in decades. Between 1994 and 2016, they hadn’t gone more than five seasons without a conference finals appearance. And only once during that span did they go more than three seasons.
Of course, from 1972 through 1979, the Steelers reached the conference finals six out of eight seasons. That’s pretty good, but far from a record. The Chiefs are on a seven-year run currently, but the New England Patriots hit eight years in a row. In all, the Steelers have appeared in 16 conference finals games, going 8-8. That’s still the most appearances—and most losses—in the history of the AFC. But they haven’t even had a chance to lose in far too long now.
