Though they didn’t come from Art Rooney II, brother Jim Rooney’s comments defending the Pittsburgh Steelers’ lack of playoff success are making the rounds locally. Largely, they aren’t received well and viewed as someone making excuses for a team unable to get over the hump. After hearing the commentary, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio agrees.
“He used the magic word – excuse,” Florio said on 93.7 The Fan Wednesday after hearing Rooney explain why the Steelers aren’t winning in the postseason. “It’s excuse making, that’s what it’s. They’re making excuses for their failure to win playoff games. They’re making excuses for their inability to get back to the Super Bowl since 2010.”
Part of Rooney’s commentary cited facing Hall of Fame-caliber quarterbacks in Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, and Patrick Mahomes as contributing to some of the Steelers’ playoff losses. Others like Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson could be added as high-end quarterbacks offering more potency than anything Pittsburgh’s provided.
Rooney also said the Steelers are beating the NFL “mean,” having more success than the typical team. That may be true but it is a lowering of the standard and bar that’s become common place in recent years. Pittsburgh’s hopes are now to simply win a playoff game, something it has failed to do six-straight times.
Florio respects the Steelers’ philosophy of not tanking but acknowledges the purgatory that leaves the franchise in.
“The Steelers are one of the few teams that actually try every year,” Florio told hosts Andrew Fillipponi and Chris Mueller. “And I think it gets in the way of longer-term planning and maintenance and management, because it feels like every offseason it’s about the nip and the tuck necessary to get farther instead of maybe a strategic step back, a competitive rebuild.”
Unlike most other franchises transitioning from a longtime quarterback, the Steelers didn’t hit rock bottom. They’ve maintained a level of competency that’s allowed them to have winning seasons and be in the playoff hunt. But hitting the reset button is normally organic and usually isn’t forced. Plan for a bad season and you’re telling a bunch of players and coaches they’re going to be out of a job. These rebuilds often happen under new regimes, the Houston Texans, Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, and Washington Commanders all recent examples.
Perhaps Tomlin would survive in Pittsburgh, but many others wouldn’t. And that’s a tough sell for an organization.
Still, Florio’s point is understood. The Steelers’ playoff drought is tiresome and can’t continue. Whatever path it takes, the team has to find a way to get over the hump. Either through the right kinds of tweaks or a full teardown. Being better than average as Rooney proclaims isn’t the standard in Pittsburgh. At least, it’s not supposed to be.
