If you ask a casual football fan their opinion on Mike Tomlin, it’s probably a positive one. And one of the first things they’d likely mention is that he’s never had a losing season through 18 seasons as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. If you were to ask a Steelers fan, though, their opinion on Tomlin would be much different. They certainly don’t think his streak is quite as impressive.
According to Tomlin himself, it’s not something he thinks about as he told NFL Network’s Kyle Brandt Saturday after practice.
“It doesn’t mean a lot as I sit here today. Let’s be honest, like most of these guys that I coach it doesn’t resonate with,” Tomlin said. “You know, 19, 18 years ago, a lot of these guys were in car seats. And so they respect it, but it’s not something that’s of value for them and so why would I put my business on this collective? I’m just focused on this collective and what we can do together. I think I owe them that. And really at the end of the day, I doubt that anybody cares. It’s just a nice cool thing for you guys to talk about or use as an intro when you’re talking about me or hope for my demise.”
Tomlin has been Pittsburgh’s head coach almost as long as some of his rookies have been alive, something he references here. That’s an extremely long time to go without a losing season. Especially considering some of the Steelers’ quarterback struggles in recent years. But that’s also a topic that’s become irritating for the fan base, in a way.
While Mike Tomlin has this impressive streak on his resume, he also has a far less impressive mark: six straight playoff losses. The Steelers have clawed their way into the playoffs quite often recently, making the dance in four of the last five years. However, they haven’t really had a chance in each of their last three playoff appearances. Those include road losses to the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, and most recently the Baltimore Ravens.
The NFL is very much a league in which recent success matters. Tomlin still gets credit for never having a losing season, but without a playoff win in nearly a decade there’s now a ton of pressure on him, and the franchise as a whole.
The Steelers’ moves this offseason reflect their efforts to end that streak. Key players on both sides of the ball left, and the Steelers have new faces across their roster. One thing they specifically targeted were older players with playoff experience. At quarterback they have Aaron Rodgers. He presents a much better chance to win in the playoffs than any other quarterback they’ve had in recent years. And on defense, Jalen Ramsey comes to town after winning a Super Bowl with the Los Angeles Rams in 2021.
Whether it will be enough to give the Steelers a chance in the playoffs, we’ll have to see. Mike Tomlin will hope so. He knows he has to do more than just avoid losing seasons, but he hasn’t been able to do so. If he can break the playoff losing streak this year, it will be a big step in the right direction. If not, the pressure continues to build.
