Mike Tomlin steps down as Pittsburgh Steelers head coach after 19 seasons

The GIST: The NFL Playoffs Divisional Round is officially set after the Houston Texans’ 30–6 Monday win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Eight teams remain in the hunt for the coveted Lombardi Trophy, but many more are searching for answers, including the now-eliminated Steelers. Let’s dig in.

👋 Steelers head coach (HC) Mike Tomlin steps down after 19 seasons in the Steel City: The league’s longest-tenured HC resigned yesterday, ending a historic run in Pittsburgh that included an NFL-record 19 seasons without a losing record and a 2009 Super Bowl victory. Tomlin’s résumé puts him in elite company, but playoff success has been hard to come by in recent years.

• Despite making the postseason in 13 of Tomlin’s 19 seasons at the helm, the Steelers have lost seven straight playoff games, five of them by double-digit margins. Not great.

🤔 Has quarterback (QB) Aaron Rodgers played his last snap?: The other elephant in the Steelers’ locker room relates to a certain veteran QB, who won’t make any “emotional decisions” about his future in the aftermath of the lopsided loss. The polarizing 42-year-old is a surefire Hall of Famer, but Monday was the worst statistical game of his playoff career.

🗣️ The final word: QBs are of course an integral part of any football team, but a competent HC can make or break a franchise. Look no further than the postseason’s No. 2 seeds, the New England Patriots and Chicago Bears, who have flourished under new HCs this season after finishing dead last in their respective divisions last year. That’s a glow-up worth emulating.

• To that point, Tomlin will be highly sought-after should he decide to coach again, with nine teams looking to fill HC openings. Meanwhile, the Steelers will likely have QB and HC holes to fill, a late first-round draft pick, and a whole lot of soul searching to do.