After the holidays end, I know a lot of people who try to do “dry January.”
Unfortunately, the Pittsburgh Steelers seem committed to really going dry in January every year.
After Monday night’s 30-6 defeat at the hand of the Houston Texans, the Steelers have now failed to win a playoff game in their past seven tries. Their playoff win drought is now nine seasons, a record-long stretch dating back to the Immaculate Reception in 1972. Thirteen of the past 15 seasons have ended without a playoff win.
Only the Broncos, Panthers, Cardinals, Jets, Raiders and Dolphins have a longer drought.
That’s why Mike Tomlin is no longer coaching the team. Whatever reason will eventually be explained as to why he resigned after 19 years — disagreement over a contract option, fatigue over criticism, frustration over not having the right players — Tomlin is out because the team was so frequently derailed before winning a playoff game.
After the defeat Monday, linebacker T.J. Watt was asked if there was any commonality between all these empty seasons.
“No clue,” a dejected Watt replied. “Going to have to take a hard look in the mirror, continue to evolve and do things differently. Take this one in, man. But this (stinks).”
Not only are the Steelers losing in the playoffs, they are often barely qualifying in the first place. And when they get in, they are getting clobbered.
You can figure out which one of these numbers is the most alarming:
• Via ESPN Insights, the Steelers’ past five playoff losses have all come by double-digits. They are the first team in NFL history to lose five straight playoff games by double-digits.
• The Steelers have been outscored in the first quarter of the past seven playoff games 73-3.
• As bad as those games were, the Steelers’ 24-point loss Monday was the franchise’s worst-ever postseason home defeat.
• Again, via ESPN Insights, the Texans outgained the Steelers by 233 yards (408-175). That is the Steelers’ worst yardage differential in a playoff game in franchise history.
• It was also the Steelers’ lowest yardage total in a playoff game since Dec. 21, 1947, when they had 145 against the Eagles in their first playoff game in team history.
I know Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith is a history buff. I didn’t know he was planning to take the Steelers’ offense back to the Truman era.
If those numbers don’t do the Steelers’ January struggles justice, maybe this photo will.
Time to check in on how the Steelers have been performing in the playoffs pic.twitter.com/7sPFtGGqtA
— NFL Memes (@NFLMemes) January 13, 2026
That’s unfit for human eyes.
Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. In this case it’s worth about a decade.
“It’s just, like … that first round exit,” bemoaned cornerback Joey Porter. “We want to take the old guys to the next round and have a good run. But it always seems to end short. We are all frustrated by it. We are all upset by it. But life continues.”
It will. It’ll just have to continue with a coach other than Tomlin in charge for the first time in almost two decades. After Monday’s loss, Tomlin was asked if these losses get any more difficult for you as the years go on?
“I don’t necessarily compare it to any other moment,” Tomlin said. “It’s the here and now, and certainly it’s difficult. But that’s what we sign up for.”
Except Tomlin didn’t want to stay for the full length of what “he signed up for.” He was under contract for another two years.
The Steelers were booed off the field Monday night, and deservedly so. Frankly, I thought the frequent contract extensions that Tomlin has signed were inked with the belief that he’d lead the team to more postseason success than what has happened.
But maybe my expectations are too high. I guess.
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More sports
• ‘It’s time’: Most Steelers fans welcome departure of coach Mike Tomlin
• Young assistants, former AFC North foes among numerous options for Steelers to replace Mike Tomlin
• Tim Benz: Mike Tomlin’s immediate change of course raises questions about his departure
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Looking back on things, it was truly silly to ever have evaluated anything about this season in big picture broad strokes until it was over.
“They started 4-1 and Aaron Rodgers looked pretty decent!” So what.
“The run defense got better and they beat the Colts and Ravens mid-season!” That never mattered.
“They finished strong including that huge regular season finale over Baltimore!” Big deal.
This was a team that lost at Cleveland (again), lost at Cincinnati and went 1-5 in the regular season against playoff teams. They were a slightly above average team that won a below average division on a missed kick.
That’s not serving the kind of notice that this roster was ever built for a postseason run.
“Sitting up here again, same story,” Watt said at one point during his postage availability.
Watt used that “same story” phrase to punctuate his thoughts on a few occasions. Who would’ve thought that two words could sum up 18 weeks of football so accurately.
The 2025 Pittsburgh Steelers were nothing more than a different version of the same-old, same old. Year in and year out. It’s been that way for nine years. If Tomlin didn’t step away, it probably would have been that way for 10 more.
If dry January doesn’t sober you up, I hope that reality check does.
