The majority of us believed that Mike Tomlin would never leave, and we now have proof that this is in fact the case.
The veteran head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers signed a three-year contract extension on June 10th, 2027, guaranteeing his stay in Pittsburgh until at least that point. The Steelers fan base reacted to this news in a variety of ways.
Tomlin led his team to two Super Bowls early in his tenure and returned with a Lombardi Trophy. However, things haven’t gone as smoothly as we would have all liked in recent years.
His 173-100-2 regular season record has been amazing, but the playoffs have been an entirely different story. Without a doubt, Mike Tomlin would be picked up by another club right away if he weren’t the head coach in Pittsburgh, but these five horrifying postseason numbers show he wasn’t deserving of his three-year Steelers contract extension.
5 incriminating Mike Tomlin playoff stats
1. Steelers are 3-8 in the playoffs since 2011
It is astounding to look at this amount from a distance. While playing in 11 postseason games in 13 years isn’t a bad sum, the team’s 3-8 postseason record during this time is horrifying. For far less, head coaches have lost their jobs.
2. Steelers’ 3 postseason wins in the last 13 years came against questionable QBsThis is where the unpleasant part starts. It’s terrible enough that they have only three postseason victories in 13 years, but it’s downright awful when you look at the quarterbacks they have faced in those three victories. These postseason triumphs were achieved against players like Alex Smith,
Matt Moore, and A.J. McCarron. Out of the three, two were standbys. The Steelers defeated the Chiefs with Smith and the Bengals with McCarron by a mere two points.
3. Steelers have lost 3 straight playoff games by double-digit points
As usual, the most significant sample is the most recent one, and this time it’s worse than before. Pittsburgh has lost all three of its prior postseason games by a combined total of more than ten points. Baker Mayfield was destroying the Steelers in the Browns before they fought back during garbage time. In the 2020 playoffs, this game still ended in an 11-point loss.
Pittsburgh was humiliated by Kansas City in a 21-point loss during the 2021 postseason, while Tomlin’s squad lost by 14 to Buffalo in the 2023 playoffs.
4. Steelers have allowed over 40 points per game in the playoffs in their last 4 games
This squad has been badly burned while trying to implement Mike Tomlin’s strategy of playing excellent defense and running the football in the postseason. However, it has worked admirably enough to defeat mediocre opponents during the regular season.
Since 2017, the defense, which is supposed to be Tomlin’s area of expertise, has failed in every postseason game. Strangely, T.J. Watt was picked in this year. Over their last four postseason games, the Steelers have given up an unbearable 41.5 points per game on average—a statistic that is unacceptable for any team.
5. Steelers haven’t won a playoff game in 7 years
Ultimately, it all boils down to one statistic, which everybody and their mother is aware of. The Pittsburgh Steelers haven’t won a playoff game in seven years running under Mike Tomlin.
Rather than applying pressure to Tomlin during a contract year, team president Art Rooney II gives him a three-year contract extension. What would happen if Tomlin produced eight consecutive seasons of this? Even worse, what if this postseason skid of no wins continues for ten years? Although Mike Tomlin is an excellent NFL head coach, his coaching style has become old, and these damning playoff numbers demonstrate why he wasn’t worth a contract extension.
