With the recent wild card playoff loss for the Pittsburgh Steelers to the Baltimore Ravens, which became Head Coach Mike Tomlin’s sixth straight playoff loss dating back to 2016. Steelers fans are restless and frustrated with the ongoing futility of Pittsburgh’s playoff performances.
It has been eight years since Steelers Nation enjoyed a playoff victory and in that 2016 season, Pittsburgh did not have just one playoff win, they had two. On January 8, 2017, the Miami Dolphins paid a visit to the Steelers at Heinz Field and went back to Florida with a loss. The 12-5 Steelers manhandled Miami with a final score of 30-12. Both Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell scored two touchdowns each. Both of Brown’s touchdown receptions were long passes from Ben Roethlisberger, one from 50 yards away and the other 62 yards.
Matt Moore was the quarterback that day for Miami with Le’Veon Bell rushing for 167 yards and averaging nearly six yards per carry, Big Ben threw the ball only 18 times and completed 13 of those for 197 yards. Despite two interceptions by Roethlisberger, the Steelers still won by 18. The Steelers defense was outstanding in this opening wild card game with five sacks of Matt Moore and picking him off once. Lawrence Timmons led the way with two sacks as James Harrison chipped in with another and one assist. Mike Mitchell had one sack, and Bud Dupree was a part of James Harrison’s half a sack.
One week later Pittsburgh traveled west to Kansas City to take on the Chiefs who also finished the season 12-5. The game was on Sunday night in prime time with 75,678 fans looking on. The Steelers failed to score a touchdown in the 18-16 victory knocking Kansas City out of the Super Bowl running as Chris Boswell accounted for all of Pittsburgh’s points. Four of Boswell’s six field goals were from a 40-yard distance or more with a 48 yard, the longest boot. With Ben Roethlisberger calling the signals, Alex Smith was the losing quarterback in this one. Le’Veon Bell remained hot with another 170 yards rushing and Antonio Brown catching six passes for 108 yards.
To their dismay, the AFC championship game came against a common Pittsburgh nemesis, the New England Patriots on January 22, 2017. The Steelers were no match and lost 36-17 with the game all but over after the third quarter with New England leading 36-9. After the previous two games, the Patriots stopped Le’Veon Bell in his tracks limiting Bell to just 20 yards rushing where he ran the ball only six times. Antonio Brown had seven receptions and just 77 yards. Ben Roethlisberger was forced to go the air and threw 47 passes completing 31 for 314 yards including one interception.
Tom Brady on the other hand tore up the Steelers defense to the tune of 384 yards and hitting on 32 of 42 passes with three touchdowns. The win by New England kept the Steelers from going after a record seventh Super Bowl and instead, the Patriots went on to play in Super Bowl LI where incredibly the Atlanta Falcons blew a 28-3 third quarter lead only to see New England storm back with five unanswered scores that included four touchdowns and a field goal winning the game and the NFL title for the Patriots by a final score of 34-28.
The loss would be the first of six straight for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the following season, Pittsburgh’s streak continued with a divisional round loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars 45-42 marking the first time the Steelers had lost a regular season game at home and then a playoff game in their stadium to the same team in the same season. Now it’s 2025 and the Pittsburgh Steelers are on a five-game opening playoff round losing streak with six straight losses overall. The question will be heading into next season, how long can Mike Tomlin retain his coaching job if he can’t win a playoff game?
