Mike Tomlin and Ben Roethlisberger are coming back. But that doesn't change this one unavoidable fact: the Steelers are much closer to the end of their run than the beginning.
The numbers speak for themselves: 14 seasons with a winning record, nine playoff appearances, one Super Bowl title. Tomlin is the Steelers' all-time leader in winning percentage, ahead of Chuck Knoll and Bill Cowher — the only other two head coaches in modern Steelers history.
But Tomlin's early years look like a lot different than the last several, proving the importance of a good first impression. He took an 8-8 team and led them back to the playoffs, before winning the Super Bowl the following year. The Steelers made it back to the Big Game just two years later, falling to the Packers and Aaron Rodgers in a nail-biter.
They haven't returned since.
The Steelers announced Tuesday they signed Tomlin to a three-year extension, all but guaranteeing he'll stay on for at least two seasons longer than Cowher. If Tomlin makes it to the end of his extension, it will be 18 years for him in Pittsburgh
But what the team will look like is anybody's guess.
Since 2011, the Steelers have started a new January tradition: losing games they should win. Their current run of postseason failure started with a Hail Mary pass from Tim Tebow, and most recently included a thumping from Baker Mayfield. The two quarterbacks won the Heisman Trophy 10 years apart from each other.
Over the last five years, Tomlin's Steelers have mixed off-field combustion with their playoff shortcomings. The current stretch of collapses dates back to 2017, when Antonio Brown posted a video of the team's locker room celebration following their win over the Chiefs in the Divisional Round. In it, Tomlin calls the Patriots "assholes," and tells his players to be ready for their "ass."
New England whipped Pittsburgh by 19 points on its way to the Super Bowl. Somebody's ass was hurting, and it wasn't Bill Belichick's. That's for sure.
Given the disastrous end of Brown's Steelers career — culminating in a missed practice before the last game of the 2018 campaign — sharing a private locker room video seems pretty tame. But it was a breach of trust, and illustrative of an undisciplined environment.
Unforgivably, the Steelers didn't learn from Brown's mishaps. The next year, Tomlin spoke about his desire for a rematch against the Patriots in the AFC Championship — in November. Le'Veon Bell followed his coach's lead, tweeting about his affinity for "round 2's" on the Saturday night before the Divisional Round against Jacksonville.
The Jaguars won that game 45-42. Pittsburgh didn't make the playoffs for the next two seasons. During that stretch, Bell missed the entire 2018 season due to a contract dispute, and Brown blew up on his way out of town.
In fairness, the Steelers receive a mulligan for 2019, since Roethlisberger missed virtually the entire season with an elbow injury. But there's no excuse for how they fell to the Browns last January. They were down 28-0 before you could finish your first beer.
Afterwards, Browns players threw JuJu Smith-Schuster's taunts in the Steelers' face.
Sound like a familiar tale?
Obviously, trash talking and touchdown dances don't directly correlate to playoff losses. But all of this bragging seems to be disrupting the team's focus. From AB to JuJu to Chase Claypool, that's the new Steelers way.
The Steelers are in a tough position. Their best option was bringing back Roethlisberger on a revamped deal, despite his horrid end to the season. He threw five interceptions in December, and four against the Browns in the Wild Card Round. Pittsburgh dropped four of its last six games.
Along the way, Roethlisberger denied reports of "significant" knee injuries. He'll be returning for his age 39 season, and asked to do even more.
While some stars on this defense remain —T.J. Watt, Devin Bush, Minkah Fitzpatrick — there's no getting around the talent drain on that side of the ball. Several starters, including Bud Dupree, Mike Hilton and Steven Nelson, are now on different teams.
The talent dearth is even worse on the offensive line, with Maurkice Pouncey retired and Alejandro Villanueva set to visit Baltimore this week. The Steelers are in the market for a running back as well.
Let's face it: the Steelers are getting worse, and bringing back the same band was the best of mediocre options. Tomlin's extension represents stability, but if may not represent winning for much longer.
