ClutchPoints
The Pittsburgh Steelers entered the fourth quarter of Monday night’s Wild Card clash with the Houston Texans down 7-6. Neither team had much success moving the ball in the low scoring, defensive brawl. But the Steelers were one impactful drive away from pulling off the upset and rewriting the narrative on Mike Tomlin’s playoff woes. Or, at the very least, quieting the growing clamor for his job.
But then the Texans defense took over the game. Three drives later, Pittsburgh trailed 24-6. Aaron Rodgers, under constant siege from a relentless pass rush, heaved a desperation shot into heavy traffic. Calen Bullock intercepted the pass and returned it 51 yards for a touchdown, capping the Texans’ 23-point fourth quarter.
The pick-six sealed Pittsburgh’s 30-6 Wild Card loss to Houston. It was Rodgers’ final throw of the season and it might have been the last throw of his 21-year NFL career. And a surprising number of fans hope it also ended the Mike Tomlin era in Pittsburgh.
While frustration over the team’s playoff failures is, justifiably, reaching a fever pitch, the Steelers need to ignore the noise and refrain from making a colossal mistake.
Tomlin entered Pittsburgh’s Wild Card matchup against Houston a perfect 12-0 at home on Monday night. But while that impressive record was snapped by the Texans, several dubious streaks were extended with the Steelers’ 30-6 loss.
There’s no sugarcoating it, Tomlin has struggled in the postseason. Monday marked his seventh straight playoff loss, tying Marvin Lewis for the longest postseason losing streak. The Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since advancing to the AFC Championship Game in 2016.
This is Pittsburgh’s fifth straight Wild Card round loss and the team’s sixth straight one-and-done postseason appearance. Lewis had seven straight Wild Card round losses with the Bengals.
It’s never ideal to get lumped in with Marvin Lewis. And if the playoff losses told the entire story of Tomlin’s tenure in Pittsburgh – as was the case with Lewis in Cincinnati – it would be an easy call for the Steelers to move on. But Tomlin’s resume offers hope for the team’s future.
Everyone knows by now that Tomlin has never had a losing season in 19 years as Pittsburgh’s head coach, with a 193-114-2 career record. Tomlin has led the Steelers to the playoffs 13 times in 19 seasons. He has two Super Bowl appearances (one win) and he’s made three AFC Championship Games.
During his time at the helm in Pittsburgh, the Steelers have won the division title more often (eight times) than they’ve missed the playoffs (six times).
Steelers fans have had the rarest of NFL luxuries over the last two decades; their team has been a contender each and every year, playing meaningful football right up to the end of the season. Steelers fans have never experienced the pain of seeing their team become irrelevant in November.
The earliest Pittsburgh was eliminated from playoff contention in the Tomlin era was the...
