Mike Tomlin Responds to Steelers’ Team Record Sixth Straight Playoff Loss

Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers lost five in a row to end the 2024-25 NFL season. But their playoff losing streak is even longer.

The Steelers haven’t won in the postseason since January 2017. After falling to the Baltimore Ravens 28-14 in the AFC wild card round, the Steelers have lost six consecutive playoffs games.

The Steelers have made a first-round exit in four straight postseason appearances. Both streaks are the longest in team history.

Tomlin reacted to the team’s latest postseason shortcomings during his postgame press conference on January 11.

“I’m just assessing what transpired tonight. As I told you guys earlier in the week, those are my bags, not this collective’s bags,” Tomlin told reporters. “My energy is on that group in there and what they were willing to give and the journey that we’ve been on this year.

“Certainly, it came to a disappointing end tonight.”

Not many pundits around the league gave the Steelers a chance at beating the Ravens in the wild card matchup. In the first half, Tomlin’s club did little to prove it deserved more pregame respect.

The Ravens absolutely dominated the Steelers during the first two quarters in their third matchup of the season. Baltimore held a 308-59 edge in total yards over the first 30 minutes.

Mike Tomlin Drops to 3-10 in Postseason Since 2011 Super Bowl

Tomlin has put together a Hall of Fame resume during his 18 years with the Steelers. In addition to never having suffered a losing season, he experienced early success in the playoffs. Tomlin led the Steelers to the Super Bowl following the 2008 season and earned another trip to the big game two years later.

But since winning the 2011 AFC championship game, Tomlin is 3-10 in the postseason. Those three victories came after the 2015 and 2016 seasons.

In 2017, the Steelers appeared poised to build on their playoff success from the previous two years. But they lost in the AFC divisional round to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

That was the second loss of the team’s current six-game playoff losing streak. Two of those six defeats were at home.

Pittsburgh’s playoff losing streak is tied for the longest active postseason skid in the NFL.

The loss to the Jaguars was technically not in the first round because the Steelers had a bye as the No. 2 seed in 2017-18. But as they did on January 11, during the 2020, 2021 and 2023 seasons, the Steelers lost in the wild card round.