The Pittsburgh Steelers again gave the fanbase false hope with a double-digit win season, AFC North title, and playoff berth. If it wasn't for a Tyler Loop missed field goal in Week 18, the Steelers would have been on the couch and sitting at 9-8.
Perhaps that scenario would have been a better overall solution for the future of the franchise? Anyway, in unsurprising, depressing fashion, the Steelers got blown out in the Wild Card Round, and that does now appear to be the standard for this team, unfortunately.
Pittsburgh's last playoff win came in the 2016 season. Since then, now former head coach, Mike Tomlin, has gone one-and-done each playoff appearance. At this point in time, there is a ton of blame to go around, but when there is this much blame and this much wrong with the team, the primary blame needs to be directed to the front office more than anyone or anything else.
GM Omar Khan and the Pittsburgh Steelers' front office is the most to blame for another horrific playoff showing
Pittsburgh has won 9 or 10 games in five-straight regular seasons, which is just unfathomable. The standard is 'painfully average,' apparently. Truth be told, the team needed to make some major coaching changes and begin a full rebuild the second Ben Roethlisberger walked out of the facility for the final time, but what we have seen since from the front office is what not to do with an NFL team.
The Steelers have put a Band-Aid on the QB situation with over-the-hill veteran passers. They've swung and missed on a ton of NFL Draft prospects and have again poured too many resources into the wrong places and wrong players, especially on defense.
This front office should have been doing the total opposite, honestly. Take a look at the rest of the AFC -- why are the best teams in the conference the best teams? Most importantly, they took to the NFL Draft and developed a first-round quarterback like Bo Nix, Josh Allen, CJ Stroud, and Drake Maye.
This isn't rocket science; until the Steelers take this exact path with the QB room, they'll continue to max out as a one-and-done team. Once a team gets the QB position right, about 70% of the other issues end up going away, and that isn't an exaggeration.
Omar Khan, the GM of the Steelers, shoulders most of the blame here. He's getting into this habit of thinking the team is close to contending and is putting Band-Aids on the QB position and others. He was also clearly trying to ensure Mike Tomlin's non-losing season streak stays alive, which is luckily no longer the case.
There is a lot wrong with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but it really boils down to some poor roster-building methods from the front office, and until that changes, nothing on the field will.