Despite playing musical chairs at the quarterback position all year. pittsburgh steelers But their season came to a decisive end on Monday.
The team lost to the USA 31-17 in the wild card match. buffalo bills More heartbreak for the Steelers in the playoffs. It also raised questions about the future of head coach Mike Tomlin, who is entering the final year of his contract with the organization.
In fact, when the topic came up in the post-match press conference, the 51-year-old only had one answer.
he walked away.
Tomlin didn't address his future after the loss to Buffalo, but one of his players did. veteran defensive tackle Cameron Heyward, who spent his entire 13-year career in Pittsburgh; Said It means, “I don't want to play for another coach.''
Tomlin, the NFL's longest-serving head coach after the Patriots and Bill Belichick announced their parting ways last week, enjoyed much success in his 17 seasons in Pittsburgh. Under his leadership, the Steelers won a Super Bowl, won seven division titles and qualified for the playoffs 11 times.
They also never finished the regular season below .500. Even the aforementioned Belichick never accomplished such a feat during his legendary run in New England.
But the playoffs are a different story for Tomlin.
Following the snowy loss to Buffalo, the Steelers have lost each of their past five postseason games and have not celebrated a tournament victory for seven straight years. Their last win came in 2016 in the Divisional Round, when they defeated the Chiefs 18-16, ending their bid for the AFC Championship.
Since then, the playoffs have been disappointing for this storied organization. While not all of that responsibility lies directly with the head coach, he is still ultimately in charge.
It is only natural that his position is called into question. Just don't expect him to comment on this.
