The Pittsburgh Steelers dropped to 6-6 on the season after a brutal loss to the Buffalo Bills at home, and it turned out to be one of the worst defensive performances in the Mike Tomlin era. Overall, this season has simply turned upside down.
After an encouraging 4-1 start, things have simply collapsed, and it seems like the shortcomings of the Pittsburgh Steelers as a roster and franchise overall are beginning to boil over here in 2025. For years now, the Steelers have patch-worked things on both sides of the ball, delayed the inevitable, and have tried to push this window open.
Well, the problem here is that the Steelers have done precisely the opposite of what a winning organization should be doing. They have neglected the QB position ever since Ben Roethlisberger retired, have invested in the wrong positions, and simply need to rip this thing down to the studs and rebuild. Perhaps a losing season, which would be the first in the Mike Tomlin era, is what this team needs to get back on track.
Pittsburgh Steelers need major, franchise-altering change, and a losing season could bring that change
Steelers fans have been given false hope for years - the winning seasons are nice and all, and Tomlin's useless streak of no losing seasons keeps going, but what is this accomplishing? The team has not won a playoff game since the 2016 NFL Season, so we're now approaching a decade since then.
In each season since 2021, Pittsburgh has won either nine or 10 games. Now in 2025, the team sits at 6-6, tied with the Baltimore Ravens atop the AFC North, but it's because of the Ravens' regression this year that Pittsburgh has been able to hang around.
The Steelers finish up the 2025 NFL Season with games against the Ravens, Dolphins, Lions, Browns, and Ravens, and there is a legitimate chance that the Steelers only win one of these remaining games, as the Ravens, Dolphins, and Lions are better than Pittsburgh at this point in time.
And after the years of patchwork roster moves, over-the-hill veteran QBs, and bad drafting, maybe the first losing season in two decades is what this franchise needs? Yes, in fact, that is the case. This team needs to have a dose of reality smack them in the face, as this is no way to go about business as a once-proud NFL franchise.
While Mike Tomlin has done a lot of great things for the Steelers' franchise, it's probably time for a chance, and while the Steelers' top brass are clearly stubborn, a losing season could do the trick.
What good is it going to do the franchise if they win 10 games this year and again lose in the Wild Card Round? That shouldn't be what the standard is, period. A losing season is simply what needs to hit the Pittsburgh Steelers, as it could bring the necessary change.