Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers lost five in a row to end the 2024-25 NFL season. But their playoff losing streak is even longer.
The Steelers haven’t won in the postseason since January 2017. After falling to the Baltimore Ravens 28-14 in the AFC wild card round, the Steelers have lost six consecutive playoffs games.
The Steelers have made a first-round exit in four straight postseason appearances. Both streaks are the longest in team history.
Tomlin reacted to the team’s latest postseason shortcomings during his postgame press conference on January 11.
“I’m just assessing what transpired tonight. As I told you guys earlier in the week, those are my bags, not this collective’s bags,” Tomlin told reporters. “My energy is on that group in there and what they were willing to give and the journey that we’ve been on this year.
“Certainly, it came to a disappointing end tonight.”
Not many pundits around the league gave the Steelers a chance at beating the Ravens in the wild card matchup. In the first half, Tomlin’s club did little to prove it deserved more pregame respect.
The Ravens absolutely dominated the Steelers during the first two quarters in their third matchup of the season. Baltimore held a 308-59 edge in total yards over the first 30 minutes.
Mike Tomlin Drops to 3-10 in Postseason Since 2011 Super Bowl
Tomlin has put together a Hall of Fame resume during his 18 years with the Steelers. In addition to never having suffered a losing season, he experienced early success in the playoffs. Tomlin led the Steelers to the Super Bowl following the 2008 season and earned another trip to the big game two years later.
But since winning the 2011 AFC championship game, Tomlin is 3-10 in the postseason. Those three victories came after the 2015 and 2016 seasons.
In 2017, the Steelers appeared poised to build on their playoff success from the previous two years. But they lost in the AFC divisional round to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
That was the second loss of the team’s current six-game playoff losing streak. Two of those six defeats were at home.
Pittsburgh’s playoff losing streak is tied for the longest active postseason skid in the NFL.
The loss to the Jaguars was technically not in the first round because the Steelers had a bye as the No. 2 seed in 2017-18. But as they did on January 11, during the 2020, 2021 and 2023 seasons, the Steelers lost in the wild card round.
Steelers Suffer From Another Slow Start
While Tomlin didn’t express much frustration about his recent playoff record, Steelers fans did on social media. But it isn’t just another postseason loss that’s getting to Steelers Nation.
Each of Tomlin’s losses during his recent playoff skid have looked similar.
Over Pittsburgh’s last five playoff games, opponents have outscored the Steelers 63-0 in the first quarter. The Ravens tallied the only touchdown of the first quarter during this year’s wild card matchup. Baltimore then led 21-0 at halftime.
As in past playoff games, the Steelers didn’t give up. The Steelers were within 14 points with the ball during the fourth quarter on January 11.
But as in previous years, the hole was ultimately too big.
Tomlin’s offense isn’t just starting slowly in the playoffs. During the team’s four-game losing streak to end the regular season, opponents outscored the Steelers 40-3.
The Steelers played better in the second half of those games, but they didn’t score more than 17 points in any of their last five contests, counting the playoffs. It was the first time Pittsburgh went five consecutive contests with 17 or fewer points since 1969.
As a result of the slow starts and lack of offense, Tomlin’s team didn’t hold a lead at any point in any game after Week 14 this season.
“We just haven’t moved the ball well enough or consistently enough or scored enough points,” Tomlin said. “Particularly in January football, man, you gotta score points, and we weren’t able to do that.”
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