How the Pittsburgh Steelers ended the regular season won’t matter all that much if they can start winning again in the playoffs. It’s a clean slate of sorts in what head coach Mike Tomlin described on January 4 as a “single elimination tournament.”
But Tomlin made it clear in front of reporters after losing 19-17 to the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 18 that he doesn’t want his team to forget about their 4-game losing streak to end the regular season.
“I don’t know that you go clean slate. You better learn from these lessons, you know what I mean?” Tomlin told the media. “We’re a mentally tough group. It’s okay to learn from these lessons and remember the things that created this.
“Nothing mystical about it. That’s going to be my mentality, and I’m going to relate that to the guys as we move into next week.”
The Steelers lost the first three contests of their 4-game losing streak by double digits. They didn’t score more than 17 points in any of their last four games.
Mike Tomlin, Steelers Turning Page to Postseason
The Steelers made history to end the 2024 campaign. Tomlin’s club is the first playoff team to end the regular season on a 4-game losing streak since the 1999 Detroit Lions.
In the 2000 NFL playoffs, the Lions lost in the first round. It will be surprising if the Steelers’ 2024-25 campaign doesn’t end the same way.
Tomlin and the Steelers have made a first-round exit in each of their last three postseason appearances. In January 2018, they made the division round but only because of a bye. The Steelers lost their first playoff game that season too.
The best hope for Tomlin’s club to avoid that same fate is a quick turnaround in the playoffs.
“It’s disappoint because we play and play to win,” Tomlin said of his team’s finish to the regular season. “But it’s neither here nor there. We are in a single-elimination tournament now, so we better turn our attention toward playing good football and better than we have particularly in recent weeks.”
2024 Steelers on Wrong Side of History
The Steelers made more dubious history to end the 2024 regular season.
Before Week 18, the Steelers hadn’t lost their last four games to end a regular season since 1998. Tomlin’s club also became the first NFL playoff team to win 10 games and still end the regular season on a 4-game losing streak since the 1986 New York Jets.
The Jets lost their final five games of the 1986 season after starting 10-1. They rebounded to win in the AFC wild card round but fell in the AFC divisional playoffs.
If that wasn’t enough bad history, the Steelers failed to score more than 17 points in four straight games for the first time in 21 years.
Pittsburgh went four-straight games being held to 17 or fewer points. The last instances that happened:
– 2003
– 1996
– 1994
– 1991
The Steelers completely bottomed out. #Steelers
The 2003 Steelers didn’t eclipse 17 points from Weeks 3-6, but they did win one of those games. The 2003 campaign, though, was the last time the Steelers had a losing season.
The Steelers had some very bad stretches during the Matt Canada era, especially with Kenny Pickett behind center. But what the Steelers have produced offensively the past four weeks is still arguably the worst month the team’s offense has experienced since drafting Ben Roethlisberger.
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Mike Tomlin Puts Steelers on Notice After Ending 2024 Season on 4-Game Skid