Pittsburgh Steelers: The five worst losses of the Mike Tomlin era

2. 2017 AFC Divisional Game: Jaguars 45, Steelers 42

There are many reasons this game makes it on the list. There could even be a strong argument for this being the worst loss under Mike Tomlin.

The Steelers had come off a very successful 13-3 season and were one Jesse James catch away from 14-2 and the number one seed in the AFC. Many were already penciling in Steelers vs. Patriots for the AFC Championship Game, but Jacksonville had other plans.

Jacksonville had beaten up on Pittsburgh in week 5 earlier that season by a score of 30-9, where Big Ben threw five interceptions. And for Jacksonville, it was trying to duplicate what they did previously.

Jacksonville punched Pittsburgh in the mouth with Leonard Fournette and used play-action to have Blake Bortles attack a weakened secondary. The Steelers did not have Ryan Shazier and had other banged up players up front, where stopping even a quarterback as bad as Blake Bortles was a tall task.

Despite that, Ben Roethlisberger, who threw one interception and had a costly fumble that was returned for a touchdown, the Steelers still were within seven points three separate times throughout the game. The game was in reach because of the star power of the offense.

Mike Tomlin had some questionable moments in this game. Two came on 4th-and-1 situations. One was a toss sweep to the right with Le’Veon Bell and the other was a low-percentage pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster. Those are two horrid play calls.

Then came the controversial decision to go for an onside kick while possessing two timeouts with 2:19 remaining. The Steelers were down 42-35, and if they kicked off and forced Jacksonville 3-and-out, they would’ve gotten the ball back with just under two minutes remaining, if the clock was managed properly.

Tomlin elected to go for the onside kick because of the defense’s inability to stop the Jaguars’ offense throughout the game. The Steelers got the necessary stop, but because of the field position off of the onside kick, a Jaguars field goal made it a two-possession game and left Pittsburgh with no timeouts.

The 2017 season was the best chance the Steelers had to win their seventh Lombardi trophy since their loss in Super Bowl XLV to Green Bay. The combination of bad coaching decisions, timely turnovers, and atrocious defensive play led to one of the most disappointing losses under Mike Tomlin.