Stop us if you’ve heard this one before. Mike Tomlin has shepherded a flawed Steelers team into the playoffs, maximizing their talent to finish above .500, only to face a tall task when it comes to advancing deep into the postseason.
Much has been made of the coach’s incredible record of 19 straight non-losing seasons. Much of the luster is off the accomplishment as evidenced by how easily Tomlin was placed on the hot seat before the Steelers played excellent ball down the stretch. That’s because there’s been precious little playoff success built on the backs of all those seasons.
Mike Tomlin All-Time Playoff Record
Mike Tomlin is 8-11 in the playoffs during his tenure coaching the Steelers. Most of those wins came early in his career and his inability to replicate those deep runs has been an ongoing problem.
Mike Tomlin Playoff Results By Year
Season
Record
2007
0-1, lost in wild-card round
2008
3-0, won Super Bowl XLIII
2010
2-1, lost in Super Bowl XLV
2011
0-1, lost in wild-card round
2014
0-1, lost in wild-card round
2015
1-1, lost in divisional round
2016
2-1, lost in AFC championship game
2017
0-1, lost in divisional round
2020
0-1, lost in wild-card round
2021
0-1, lost in wild-card round
2023
0-1, lost in wild-card round
2024
0-1, lost in wild-card round
Pittsburgh hosts the Texans on Monday night to close out what has been a particularly wild wild-card weekend. The Steelers are three-point underdogs as there remains some skepticism about Aaron Rodgers’s ability to elevate his team against such a staunch defense.
Tomlin would love to win his first playoff game in a decade and break a five-game postseason losing streak. But even then it feels like speculation about his future in Pittsburgh will continue. Put together a few victories, though, and suddenly two decades straight of playoff contention—and some recent success—doesn’t look so bad.
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