For many, January 22, 2007 seems like a lifetime ago. For others, it actually was. 19 years is a long time period. It was too long to be a head coach for the same team. Especially a coach as stubborn to change as an Irish Mule.
Tomlin was my preference over Ken Whisenhunt and Russ Grimm. Mostly for the reason that I wanted a complete change and not a promotion from within. The Steelers, it seems, made the right choice. 2007 was a good season, The Steelers finished 10-6 and won their division. They were rewarded with a home playoff game. I think Steeler fans were just happy that they were back in the playoffs after a down year. Jacksonville came to town with a 12-5 record but this didn’t matter. Steeler fans were excited to have a home playoff game for the first time in 3 years. Before you knew it though, the Steelers were down 21-7 and then 28-10 entering the 4th. How could this be on our home turf? But we still had Ben. Throw out the game plan, let Ben be Ben. Ben first pulled the Steelers to a 28-23 deficit pending the extra point. There was 10:25 left and Tomlin went for 2 which was the correct call. The Steelers 2 point try was good! However, Hines Ward was called for a penalty. With 10:25 left and all your timeouts, most coaches would kick the extra point to make it 28-24. I believe the announcers saw the predestined doom when they said you don’t want to leave points out there. The two point try from the 12 yard line was not even close. 28-23. More Ben magic was to come. With 6:21 left the Steelers scored a TD making it 29-28, a one point Steeler lead. Now, it was an obvious 2 point try. And it failed. Yes, hindsight tells you that if you kicked the extra point from the 12 on the previous TD and then you automatically go for the kick on this TD, you’d be up by 3 (remember extra points then were almost automatic). Going for the 2 point try from the 12 when it was NOT absolutely necessary seemed to be a harbinger of doom, not just for this game…but for a coach’s future. The Jags got the ball back and instead of kicking a game tying FG, the kick was a winner. When asked about why he went for 2 from the 12 after the penalty, Tomlin said these words, “You can’t live in your fears”. For the next 18 years, Steeler fans had to live with their own fears.
Fast forward to Monday night. CnP: The Steelers finished 10-7 and won their division. They were rewarded with a home playoff game. I think Steeler fans were just happy that they were back in the playoffs after another failed year. Houston came to town with a 12-5 record but this didn’t matter. Steeler fans were excited to have a home playoff game for the first time in 5 years. While the CnP ends there, this game was actually a reverse of Tomlin’s first playoff game…with no Ben to save him. It was perfect symmetry to his prolonged career. He lost it going away…”Living in his fears”.
Tomlin enjoyed success in 2008. In 2009, the disturbing trend was born. One that somehow was nurtured and allowed to survive until Tomlin’s run came to an end. In 2009 the Steelers finished 9-7, but 3rd in the division. The 3rd year of his “dubious” non losing seasons. I think I just threw up in my mouth a bit. But unlike the national sports media, Steeler fans witnessed something that eventually got its own name, the “Tomlin Special”. This would be losing to teams that would finish the season with somewhere between 2-5 wins, and this happened almost EVERY season. The reigning Superbowl champs were on their way, but the “special” was born. At 6-3, over the next four weeks, they lost to the 2-7 Chiefs on the road, the 3-8 Raiders at home and the 1-11 Browns on the road. 6-3 quickly became 6-7. The Steelers, effectively out of the playoff race, recovered and won the last 3 weeks. That would keep alive what would be the early stages of Tomlin’s “streak”. With ALL this national sports media Canonizing Tomlin this week, no one decided to break down this trend against the weak that ultimately left Steeler fans wanting.
2012 could be seen as a transition year. Fans were still reeling from losing to Tebow, and I won’t bother breaking down yet another failed Tomlin playoff game against a weaker opponent. I will stick to losing to weaker opponents during the season. Once again a Tomlin team lost to the eventual 5-11 Raiders and to the 4-12 Browns both on the road. With those 2 wins the Steelers could have been 10-6 and tied for the division lead. In reality the Steelers stood at 7-8 after 15 games with nothing to play for. They played at home against Cleveland who also had nothing to play for. Cleveland started future HOF’er at QB Thaddeus Lewis (that’s sarcasm son!) against Ben. The Steelers won this “meaningless” game (eventually it would turn out to be not so meaningless) and they went 8-8. But hey, year 6 of the “streak” was in the books!
Steeler fans, still optimistic, were ready for 2013. Tomlin and the Steelers were not. Tomlin somehow got a team with Ben, AB and Bell to drop their first 4 game and stood at 0-4 at the bye. This season saw a loss once again at the Raiders who would wind up 4-12 and the Vikings in London who would finish 5-10-1. The Steelers stood at 5-8 with 3 games to play. The “streak” was not quite the “streak” yet, but it had a pulse. At 7-8 the Steelers once again faced the Browns for a meaningless game on the last week of the season. This time the Browns rolled out All Pro QB Jason Campbell (is there a sarcasm font?). The Steelers won and went 8-8. But hey, year 7 of the “streak” was in the books!
2014 saw shades of 2013 as the Steelers floundered around .500 at the midway point. But going 6-2 down the stretch led the Steelers to their first Division title since 2010. A success you say? Well, I am sure the national media was loading up the Tomlin bandwagon! But wait, what about that disturbing trend? 11-5 is good right. Well, this is where that trend crushes any chance at true post season success. 11-5 got us a wildcard playoff game at home against, of all teams, the Ravens. Well, 20-9 in the 3rd and we know how the rest went. Ben tried to rally us but being in a hole against the Ravens D is never a pleasant experience. But let’s go back a bit to the season. Oh look! Tomlin lost to the 2-14 Bucs and the 4-12 Jets. One of these wins could have given us a bye week. A chance to rest players, perhaps get a few back and get a lesser opponent. But hey, the national sports media was full on in love with Tomlin at this point.
2015 there was some optimism since the Steelers had finally made the playoffs the season before. Once again the Steelers floundered around .500 at the midway point. The Steelers played better in the 2nd half going 5-2 to stand at 9-6. I think the schedule makers are lazy at this point because we are playing Cleveland again on the last game of the season. Steelers win and they are in. Cleveland is 3-12 so this looks like it could be a Tomlin Special. Fans hold their breath as the Browns roll out generational talent Austin Davis at QB (I might be out of sarcasm). Steeler win easily to finish 10-6 and have to go on the road to play the 12-4 Bengals. Hey, no “Tomlin Special” that last game. But wait, there were other games that season. Tomlin lost both games to the 5-11 Ravens (obviously meaning that almost half their wins were against the Steelers) but the Bengals made sure to take care of business and win both games. Had the Steelers done the same, the matchups would have been easier for the Steelers. I won’t rehash the Cincy playoff game. By all rights Tomlin should have lost to AJ McCarron adding him to the Tim Tebow list. But the Bungles are called the Bungles for a reason. Well before the Burfict and Pacman personal fouls was a fumble while trying to run out the clock. Ben came off the bench to save the day. Turns out the Bungles would do the job for him. While we may not know the outcome of the first playoff game had the Steelers went 12-4, we did know at 10-6 we would have to go on the road again…this time to Denver, and we know how that turned out. Home field is huge in the playoffs and the disturbing trend of losing games you should win continued, this time costing seeding once again.
2016 brought even more optimism. However once again, the Steelers floundered around .500 at the midway point. The Steelers however rolled off 7 wins to finish 11-5 and win the Division. This was the last best chance we had. The disturbing trend was finally missing. It wouldn’t have mattered if it did as the Patriots finished 14-2. The Steelers finally made the AFC Championship game for the first time since the 2010 season. The Steelers hung around in this game until midway through the 2nd. I believe Chris Hogan is still running wide open til this day. But what is this, Ben again rallied the team right before the end of the half. The drive stalled inside the 5. Ben begged Tomlin to go for it on 4th down, but alas, someone “Lived in their fears”. Steelers kicked the FG and pulled within 8 to 17-9. The Patriots would go on to score the next 19 points. As Warner Wolf would say, you can turn off your TV sets there. This would be the start of the 7 game playoff losing streak.
2017 brought even more optimism. Steelers rolled to a 13-3 record. Fans will lament over the Jesse James catch. But hey, remember that disturbing trend? That catch would not have mattered had the Steelers taken care of business against the 5-11 Bears. They could have finished 14-2 rendering the Jesse James catch barely a footnote in history. 13-3 got the Steelers a home date with the Jaguars instead of the lowly Titans. No matter, HOF coach Tomlin was more focused on the following game vs the Patriots…and by default so was his team. The 73-0 streak began but the national sports media paid it no mind. Ben tried to bring the Steelers back, but Tomlin “lived in his fears” in the 4th quarter again. Fearing his D could not stop the Jags, he senselessly called for an onside kick at the 2 minute warning even though he had all his timeouts. Flashback to going for 2 points 10 years earlier when it was the wrong decision. Jags recovered the onside kick in FG range, booted it through and effectively ending the game. I wish analytics were around then, and in 2007, to crucify Tomlin.
2018 was the start of the fan base getting a bit restless. How could we lose to the Jags? But this year the Steelers got off to a good start and led the AFC at the halfway mark. That’s when it all unravelled. The Steelers lost to a 4 win Bronco team and a 3 win Raiders team (again!). The disturbing trend was there again. However, bigger problems emerged. The Steelers had an AB problem. It eventually led to AB sitting out the last game. If the disturbing trend of losing to weak teams didn’t happen and they made the playoffs, it didn’t matter with this new issue. Whether Tomlin’s coaching created AB or held AB in check until this point could be debated. This season marked the end of the Steelers as a Superbowl contender to this day.
2019 was a different type of year with Ben going out. But Tomlin’s coaching to win the game and mortgage the future evolved. It was a throw away season that should have let the team know if Mason Rudolph could be the guy. Tomlin stuck with Duck. For a coach who had a lifetime position, he never coached for the future, and that is why I always felt he was the wrong coach to build a team.
2020 was the Covid year and the last hurrah. The Steelers went 11-0 with smoke and mirrors and Ben drawing up plays in the dirt. Everyone knew it couldn’t last except Tomlin. He never changed his game plan and teams caught on. They would drop 5 of their last 6 including games including number 3 of the 7 in a row playoff losses, the last 6 in blowout fashion.
2021-2025 saw a lot of the same with losses to weak teams. This included setting a record with back to back home losses to two 2-10 teams. Something never brought up by the national sports media. Tomlin then played Russian Roulette with his QB’s. 2022 Trubisky will start, Pickett will learn. Halfway through game 4 of that season Mitch was pulled, Kenny was in. 2023 Kenny you’re our number one! He gets hurt, Mitch you are back in. Mitch you suck! Who do we have left on the bench, oh, that Rudolph guy! The guy Tomlin screwed in 2019 saves Tomlin’s precious streak. Pickett is now healthy, does he go back in? No? But he’s listed as the #1 QB. Oh, that’s for next year. Hello 2024! Tomlin gets fixed up with Russell Wilson. Tomlin buys in even though the whole NFL world warns against it. Goodbye Pickett! Wilson gets hurt. Justin Fields to the rescue. You go 4-2? Team wants you to continue? Sorry Tomlin says different. Steelers look good but it is eventually the same old story in the end. 2025 Deja Vu? Tomlin goes out and gets another broken down QB. Was Tomlin building a team or was he now just in panic mode trying to win ONE playoff game to repair his legacy. It looked more like someone scrambling than someone with a plan.
The last 4-5 years seem like a complete waste. Perhaps Tomlin should have seen the writing on the wall and left with Ben at the end of the 2021 season. But he seems like a man who is too stubborn to learn and adapt. So many times the team thought they could just show up and win, something that trickled down from their coach. Yes, he has the 19 year streak of never having a losing season. But what fans are left with is that it should have been SO much more. Tomlin’s teams MO was never taking care of business. Some will argue he did more with less, I will always argue that is the exact opposite. Some fans are thankful for the good seasons…and they will say to me you are seeing the glass half empty instead of half full. Well, if my glass is always half full, isn’t it past time to change the bartender?
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