No head coach in the NFL has had more job security than Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. He has been cemented in place for two decades and put together a borderline Hall of Fame career. He has been to two Super Bowls, won one and always has his team in contention for a playoff spot.
But those Super Bowls appearances are 18 and 16 years ago. They have not really gotten close since.
Just being competitive can no longer be enough. His job should be on the line in their Week 18 game against the Baltimore Ravens.
It should be on the line after his team missed a perfect opportunity to clinch the AFC North on Sunday with a stunning — and, quite frankly, embarrassing — 13-6 loss to a Cleveland Browns team that entered the day with three wins.
No serious organization would bring the head coach back if Steelers blow this chance at division title
Now the Steelers find themselves in a win-or-go-home Week 18 game against the Ravens where the winner wins the AFC North and the loser goes home and misses the playoffs.
Nobody in Pittsburgh can be feeling optimistic about it.
Not with top wide receiver DK Metcalf suspended and out for the game. Not with an offense that looked helpless without him on Sunday. Not after the Ravens ran all over the Green Bay Packers on Saturday night to keep their season going.
Not with the way the Steelers coaching staff did not seem to take this game seriously. Everything about their offensive game plan and play-calling, not to mention everything about the way quarterback Aaron Rodgers played, seemed to be more about not allowing Myles Garrett to set the single-season sack record than actually winning the football game.
If they lose next weekend and miss the playoffs, it should be breaking point for the Steelers and Tomlin. There can be no coming back from that.
It is not that Tomlin has been a bad coach, or that he is even no longer a good coach. It is the simple reality that things are not changing. Everything is stale. There is a high floor, but an extremely low ceiling. This is an organization that has not won a playoff game since 2016. Along with that, the Steelers have had some staggering late-season collapses when they seemed to be in control of the division or the playoff race and fell short.
This is setting up to be another.
They entered Week 17 with a two-game lead in the division with two games to play. All they have to do is win one of those games and they get a home playoff game. They had a three-win Browns team standing in front of them and a home game after that.
They already squandered the first of those games. If they lose the second game and miss the playoffs, there can be no coming back from that for anybody on the Steelers coaching staff.
Not after so many years without playoff success. Not after so many late-season meltdowns.
If they lose the Ravens game, and if they stick with the status quo, they are telling you they are content to just be good enough and flirt with nine-or 10-wins every year and never be more than that.
If they are serious about winning and contending for championships, they will turn the page and realize this is no longer working for what the actual expectation should be.
If they are serious, Mike Tomlin should be coaching for his job next weekend.
