Why the Steelers shouldn’t fire Mike Tomlin after Wild Card MNF blowout loss to Texans

The Pittsburgh Steelers entered the fourth quarter of Monday night’s Wild Card clash with the Houston Texans down 7-6. Neither team had much success moving the ball in the low scoring, defensive brawl. But the Steelers were one impactful drive away from pulling off the upset and rewriting the narrative on Mike Tomlin’s playoff woes. Or, at the very least, quieting the growing clamor for his job.

But then the Texans defense took over the game. Three drives later, Pittsburgh trailed 24-6. Aaron Rodgers, under constant siege from a relentless pass rush, heaved a desperation shot into heavy traffic. Calen Bullock intercepted the pass and returned it 51 yards for a touchdown, capping the Texans’ 23-point fourth quarter.

The pick-six sealed Pittsburgh’s 30-6 Wild Card loss to Houston. It was Rodgers’ final throw of the season and it might have been the last throw of his 21-year NFL career. And a surprising number of fans hope it also ended the Mike Tomlin era in Pittsburgh.

While frustration over the team’s playoff failures is, justifiably, reaching a fever pitch, the Steelers need to ignore the noise and refrain from making a colossal mistake.

One-and-done

Tomlin entered Pittsburgh’s Wild Card matchup against Houston a perfect 12-0 at home on Monday night. But while that impressive record was snapped by the Texans, several dubious streaks were extended with the Steelers’ 30-6 loss.

There’s no sugarcoating it, Tomlin has struggled in the postseason. Monday marked his seventh straight playoff loss, tying Marvin Lewis for the longest postseason losing streak. The Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since advancing to the AFC Championship Game in 2016.

This is Pittsburgh’s fifth straight Wild Card round loss and the team’s sixth straight one-and-done postseason appearance. Lewis had seven straight Wild Card round losses with the Bengals.

It’s never ideal to get lumped in with Marvin Lewis. And if the playoff losses told the entire story of Tomlin’s tenure in Pittsburgh – as was the case with Lewis in Cincinnati – it would be an easy call for the Steelers to move on. But Tomlin’s resume offers hope for the team’s future.

Perennial contenders

Everyone knows by now that Tomlin has never had a losing season in 19 years as Pittsburgh’s head coach, with a 193-114-2 career record. Tomlin has led the Steelers to the playoffs 13 times in 19 seasons. He has two Super Bowl appearances (one win) and he’s made three AFC Championship Games.

During his time at the helm in Pittsburgh, the Steelers have won the division title more often (eight times) than they’ve missed the playoffs (six times).

Steelers fans have had the rarest of NFL luxuries over the last two decades; their team has been a contender each and every year, playing meaningful football right up to the end of the season. Steelers fans have never experienced the pain of seeing their team become irrelevant in November.

The earliest Pittsburgh was eliminated from playoff contention in the Tomlin era was the second to last week of the season. Five of the six times Tomlin missed the playoffs, the Steelers were eliminated in the final week of the season.

This may not sound like much if you’re used to it. But it’s incredibly rare. With Tomlin running things, the Steelers are contenders every year. Even his predecessor, Bill Cowher, had a couple 6-10 clunkers.

Quarterback wasteland

Tomlin benefited from strong quarterback play early in his career. He inherited Ben Roethlisberger from the Cowher regime. And Big Ben was a mostly stable presence under center for the next 15 years.

But as he declined and, ultimately, retired, he left a void that the Steelers have been trying to fill since. Like every team that’s lacking a franchise signal caller, Pittsburgh is wandering the quarterback wasteland. But unlike most of those teams, the Steelers continue to compete without stability at the most important position in sports.

The Steelers have cycled through Mason Rudolph, Kenny Pickett, Mitchell Trubisky, Justin Fields, Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers since Roethlisberger hung up his cleats. While Rodgers performed admirably this season, he’s no longer an elite passer. And while he’s open to reuniting with the Steelers in 2026, Rodgers is not the long-term answer at quarterback.

Tomlin has done a remarkable job keeping the team competitive. But Pittsburgh needs to prioritize finding its franchise QB to build for years to come. Granted, it’s not easy when you’re always picking in the back end of the draft because you never have a losing record. But it is possible. And ultimately, it’s going to be necessary as adding an aging veteran it’s not sustainable. (Although, it should be noted that Tomlin got the most out of his veteran quarterbacks. Russell Wilson and Justin Fields went a combined 2-10 without him this season and Rodgers was 5-12 last season.)

Imagine if the Steelers drafted Jaxson Dart in 2025, or Tyler Shough. Dart was selected by the Giants four spots after Pittsburgh’s 21st overall pick. If either quarterback just completed his rookie season for the Steelers with a Wild Card loss to Houston, the conversation around Tomlin would likely be very different.

Listen to the locker room

Some fans have drawn a parallel between Tomlin and John Harbaugh. Both coaches enjoyed unusually long tenures with their AFC North teams. Both found early success and, despite remaining competitive, both were criticized for recent playoff failures.

The Baltimore Ravens fired Harbaugh after the team failed to reach the postseason. While you can certainly make the case that he deserved to keep his job, rumors of a fractured relationship between Harbaugh and Lamar Jackson persist. If ownership felt it needed to choose between the quarterback and the coach, it’s an easy call.

But unlike Harbaugh, there isn’t a hint of any discord between Tomlin and his players. In fact, several Steelers have rushed to Tomlin’s defense when his job security is questioned.

While needing a new voice to reach the players is a legitimate reason to make a coaching change, that doesn’t seem to be the case with Tomlin. There’s no indication that he’s lost the locker room.

Andy Reid also gets mentioned in Tomlin discussions when fans make the “change of scenery” argument. The Philadelphia Eagles moved on from Reid after a 14-year run. He then found even greater success as head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs.

But again, the situation doesn’t really apply to Tomlin. Reid could never get over the hump in Philadelphia, despite making five NFC Championship Games and reaching a Super Bowl. He missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons and went 4-12 in his final year with the Eagles. Reid also lost his oldest son to an overdose at the beginning of that season.

It genuinely was time for Reid to move on. But Tomlin is a different case. He still gets through to his players and the team remains competitive. That said, Tomlin could use some help.

Offensive offensive coordinators

In addition to breaking the cycle of rent-a-veteran quarterbacks, the Steelers could use an offensive shakeup. In Arthur Smith’s second season as OC, Pittsburgh finished with the league’s 25th-ranked offense, in 2024, the Steelers ranked 23rd.

Smith took over for Matt Canada, who oversaw the 23rd-, 23rd- and 25th-ranked offenses in his three seasons as coordinator. Before Canada, there was Randy Fichtner, who led the Steelers to the 25th-ranked offense. A pattern is definitely emerging.

Pairing Tomlin with an innovative young offensive coordinator will help the team break through its one-and-done hump. And the organization should have confidence that Tomlin can lead the Steelers back to the promised land. But if they choose to move on from him, he won’t be unemployed for long.

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