Another Wild Card Weekend has passed in the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers preparing to head home after an embarrassing 24-point loss to the Houston Texans at Acrisure Stadium. In the coming hours and days, Steelers fans will wonder if they just watched Mike Tomlin’s final game as the franchise’s head coach.
Despite his mark of consistency, 19-straight non-losing seasons, Tomlin’s other consistent trait is coming up short in the playoffs. He tied ex-Bengals coach Marvin Lewis for most consecutive postseason losses without a win.
Meanwhile, Houston Texans coach DeMeco Ryans tied Tomlin’s playoff win total over the past 15 seasons with his third playoff win in as many seasons. The final ribbon on the Steelers’ latest playoff failure is that the team became the first franchise in NFL history to lose five consecutive playoff games by double-digit points.
Of course, Tomlin’s immediate reaction, despite the piling reasons for his dismissal from the organization, didn’t give Steelers fans much indication of whether or not he will be with the team for a 20th season in 2026.
Steelers HC Mike Tomlin offers no clarity on his future after another postseason collapse
After the game, Tomlin brushed off most questions about his future, turning focus to what happened during game time on Monday night, an environment that is usually much more favorable for Tomlin’s Steelers.
“I’m not even in that mindset as I sit here tonight. I’m more in the mindset of what transpired in this stadium, and certainly what we did and didn’t do,” he said.
Tomlin didn’t have much to say overall, keeping his answers short and direct, turning down questions that related to anything he mentioned in his brief opening statement. It kept with the theme in his message to Steelers fans as the 2025 season comes to a close.
"When you don’t get it done, words are cheap. It's about what you do or you don't do,” Tomlin said. “... People talk too much in our business. You either do or you don't."
Well, the Steelers didn’t. Many fans who paid to be in Acrisure Stadium, hoping to finally see the black and gold win a postseason game for the first time since the Obama administration, didn’t bother to use their words either. Most of them left instead of chanting for Tomlin’s firing again.
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It’s the collection of losses and the manner by which the Steelers have been so consistently ousted from the postseason that has Steelers fans at their breaking point with a head coach most consider Hall of Fame-bound. Tomlin, though, doesn’t see it that way.
“I don’t necessarily compare it to any other moment,” he said.
Too bad that doesn’t deter the fact that it was too comparable to past failures.
With Tomlin not offering up any direction on his future, he’s the head coach of the Steelers until he isn’t. He said he has confidence in the franchise’s ability to build a group for the 2026 season. Steelers fans will just have to wait to see if he’s a part of the group or not.