It’s been awhile since Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers won a playoff game. But the head coach insisted that isn’t on his mind or a factor for his players as the team prepares to host the Houston Texans in the AFC wild card round.
Tomlin stressed in front of reporters Tuesday it’s actually quite the opposite.
“It’s not about the organization or myself. It’s about this collective,” Tomlin told the media. “Quite frankly, most of these men don’t care about the last whatever years that you mentioned. Most of them are new to us, and so that’s where my focus is.
“I’m certainly not going to unpack my bags on the collective’s bed, if you will. I’m excited about doing it and doing it this week with this collective.”
The Steelers have lost six consecutive postseason contests. But that streak dates back almost 10 years before even edge rusher T.J. Watt was on the team.
Pittsburgh’s last postseason win came in January 2017. The organization is currently in the longest postseason win drought since the team won its first playoff game in 1972.
Mike Tomlin Avoids Cameron Heyward Playoff Question
In case the Steelers make another early playoff exit this January, Tomlin was wise not to stress the importance of ending his postseason losing streak. The Steelers head coach did that by emphasizing his goal of simply winning with his current team.
However, there’s one Steelers player who has been with the team through all of Tomlin’s recent postseason failures — Cameron Heyward.
Furthermore, while Watt wasn’t with the team when the playoff losing streak started, the All-Pro edge rusher is largely recognized as the best player in Steelers history without a postseason victory.
To avoid that elephant in the room, Tomlin deflected addressing any playoff narratives involving Heyward and Watt on Tuesday.
“I’ll let [Heyward] and T.J. [Watt] speak for themselves in that regard,” Tomlin said. “Most of the others, the other 51, [the playoff losing streak] is less significant.”
The Steelers are 1-8 in playoff games with Heyward. When Watt dresses in the postseason, the Steelers have gone 0-4.
Tomlin Addresses Steelers’ Recent Slow Playoff Starts
The Steelers have experienced several issues in the playoffs during their recent postseason skid. But one of the biggest has been terrible first quarters.
During the playoff losing streak, opponents have outscored the Steelers 73-0.
Obviously, that’s a trend. But similar to the losing streak overall, Tomlin isn’t focused on what’s happened in the first quarter of past playoff games.
“I don’t know that I’ve analyzed it in that way,” Tomlin told reporters Tuesday. “As I mentioned, man, so many of these guys don’t share that experience, so, it’s less relevant.
“I’m really just trying to put together a good plan for this collective in an effort to combat what we anticipate getting from Houston this week.”
Slow starts have become the norm under Tomlin in the regular season as well. The Steelers haven’t scored more than seven points in any game since 2022.
Last week, the Baltimore Ravens led the Steelers 10-0 after the first quarter. But the Steelers did manage to erase the deficit to win 26-24.
In last year’s postseason, the Steelers trailed the Ravens 7-0 after the first quarter in the AFC wild card. Tomlin’s club lost the game 28-14.
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