The Pittsburgh Steelers tried and failed in the playoffs once again. While fans have grown accustomed to it at this point, that doesn't mean it hurts any less. To go seven straight playoff games and nearly a decade without a playoff win is painful and one thing has become crystal clear - Mike Tomlin's seat has never been hotter.
Tomlin was obviously asked how he felt about his future with the Steelers franchise moving forward and gave the most typical Tomlin response you could imagine.
"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 or didn't do," Tomlin said. "I'm not in the big-picture mindset."
Mike Tomlin era feels broken after another Steelers postseason letdown
For all of the talk about how the Steelers haven't had a losing record while Tomlin has been running the show, we also need to talk about how this team has not been a threat in the playoffs whatsoever for nearly a decade. When that becomes the case, it's time to hit the reset button and start fresh.
Unfortunately, this franchise doesn't like to make crazy changes, which is the only reason Tomlin has held onto his job this long in the first place. But, it's simply time for a change to be made. This isn't working anymore.
Sure, the Steelers could go on to suffer losing seasons if they part ways with Tomlin but maybe that wouldn't be the end of the world for them. A losing season, especially a really bad one, could get them to the top of the draft board where they could finally find their franchise quarterback, something they haven't had since Ben Roethlisberger retired following the 2021 season.
Tomlin might not be thinking about his future with the team but perhaps he should be. It feels like all of this could finally come to an end soon and that's the decision that needs to be made, once and for all.