Brutal Steelers trend under Mike Tomlin highlighted in loss to Browns

Will the Steelers ever find a way to win a road game on Thursday?

The Pittsburgh Steelers suffered at the hands of Myles Garrett on Thursday night. And Mike Tomlin had to explain a late-game decision. Tomlin also stayed on the hook for a brutal trend highlighted in the loss to the Browns.

Tomlin’s woes got exposed, according to a post on X by StatMuse Football.

“(The Steelers are) 0-6 on Thursdays in division road games during the Tomlin era.”

Making matters worse, the Steelers organization hasn’t seen a road win on Thursday night against a division foe in the last 44 years. They lost to the Oilers in 1980, the Jaguars in 1999, and then dropped six straight under the guidance of Tomlin. Four of Tomlin’s losses came against the Browns while the Ravens clipped his teams twice.

What’s up with Steelers, Mike Tomlin on Thursdays?

For his part, Tomlin laid out a row of coachspeak about the 24-19 loss in this Thursday meltdown version, according to steelers.com.

“First, I'd like to start by complimenting the Cleveland Browns,” said Tomlin. “I thought they brought it. It was a hard-fought game. They made more plays over the course of 60 minutes than we did. Obviously, we have to own our portions of it. Particularly early on I thought it took us too long to warm up to the action. Our guys fought, but it wasn't enough to secure victory.

“It's painful, but it's life in this business. We'll take a look at the tape and learn from it. We're in the midst of some thick AFC North action, so no rest for the weary. We've got a big one coming up. But again, compliment the Browns on bringing it, particularly early on. It took us too long to warm up to the action.”

And it’s not just Thursday losses. Tomlin teams have dropped so-called “trap games” to lesser opponents. Steelers fans haven’t taken those setbacks lightly. One fan posted a complaint that said, “Contenders don’t do this. Contenders don’t worry when they face a 2-win team. Why is this a thing for the Steelers? You think (Tom) Brady or (Patrick) Mahomes ever had their fans shivering in fear when a 2-win team marched into town? No, they blow them out because that’s what should happen.”

Steelers QB Russell Wilson said the outcome should have been different.

“We should have won that game,” said Wilson. “We felt like we battled, we fought our butts off, and it was a tough environment. Obviously, we wanted to win this one. Unfortunately, we came up short.”

But he remained optimistic.

“I think the biggest thing is in any moment we have a lot of football left,” said Wilson. “We have a lot of opportunities to respond in the highest way, highest level. I think everything that we want is still in front of us.”