The Pittsburgh Steelers kept their playoff hopes alive after securing a victory in Week 17 against the Seahawks (their first win in Seattle since 1983). Right now, the focus is on making it to the postseason. But in order to do so, the Steelers will need a win in Baltimore in the season finale in addition to a little outside help with a Jaguars or Bills loss in Week 18.
After a late-season crisis that included a three-game losing streak to open the month of December, the Steelers have suddenly won two straight games since making the switch to Mason Rudolph at quarterback and they sit on a 9-7 record as we enter the new year.
While the Steelers can’t quite control their own destiny when it comes to making the playoffs, you can bet that every ounce of energy from Mike Tomlin will be spent game-planning for their biggest division rival this week.
As the Steelers trend back in the right direction, Tomlin quietly extends one of the most impressive streaks in professional coaching.
Mike Tomlin continues to make history by extending non-losing streak
Thanks to the victory over the Seattle Seahawks in Week 17, the Pittsburgh Steelers are 9-7 and will finish the season with a winning record — regardless of what happens against the Ravens in the finale. This means that Mike Tomlin just extended his streak without ever having a losing record to 17 seasons.
Tomlin first took over as the Steelers head coach back in 2007. Over the past 17 years (now including the 2023 season), Tomlin has never once had a losing record.
Some Steelers fans will tell you that they care less about this stat. In recent years, it seems like Tomlin’s team is doing just enough to stay relevant while not actually making enough changes to compete for a championship. But regardless of how you feel about this streak, there’s no question that going this long without a losing season is impressive.
To put this into perspective, Tomlin now has the third-longest streak of any NFL head coach with a record of .500 or better every single year. Even if you compare this across professional sports in the United States, Tomlin’s non-losing season streak trails only legendary head coaches like Joe McCarthy (MLB), Phil Jackson (NBA), Joel Quenneville (NHL), Pat Riley (NBA), and Scotty Bowman (NHL).
As a franchise, this is now Pittsburgh’s 20th season without a losing record, according to Pro Football Focus. This is the second-longest non-losing streak in NFL history, and trails only the Dallas Cowboys streak from 1965 to 1985, per Grant Gordon of NFL.com.
Depending on how long Mike Tomlin wants to keep coaching, he could insert his name atop the history books in this particular category. As a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, I know that the ultimate goal is getting back to the Super Bowl and taking home another Lombardi Trophy, but this is a pretty impressive milestone and one that at least deserves to be recognized.
