Does Mike Tomlin’s regular season success really matter if his team continues to flop in the postseason?
It’s time to stop praising Tomlin for never suffering through a losing season in his 18-year run as Pittsburgh’s head coach and start wondering when this team will ever be a true championship contender again. The Steelers haven’t reached the divisional round of the playoffs since 2017. Including Saturday’s 28-14 wild-card loss to Baltimore, they have been embarrassed in each of their last four playoff losses, losing by dozens 31-17 (Buffalo last season), 42-21 (Kansas City 2022) and 48-37 (Cleveland 2021). These results tell us that Tomlin may have a knack for keeping his teams afloat during the regular season, but too often they drown when the games matter most. It’s clear the Steelers still haven’t found a strong solution at quarterback, which Russell Wilsons play dropped off considerably in the last month of the season and Justin Fields has not proven sufficient to be a long-term solution. The defense — as evidenced by these playoff losses — just isn’t as dominant as it used to be, either. Look, no one is saying Tomlin has to walk in this space. He is one of the best coaches of his generation. However, the Steelers are not on the same level as the elites in the AFC (Kansas City, Baltimore and Buffalo), and the future is not nearly as bright in Pittsburgh as it is elsewhere around the conference (Los Angeles, Denver, Houston and Cincinnati). Maybe it’s not everything at Tomlin – the staff needs to improve – but something has to change.
