Mike Tomlin’s job as Steelers head coach appears to be safe… for now.

The Pittsburgh Steelers, after winning two consecutive games, are still in the running for a playoff spot. With a 9-7 record, the Steelers can sneak into the postseason if they manage to come away with an upset victory over the Baltimore Ravens and other results fall in their favor. However, the Pittsburgh top brass may be expecting greater things from them this season, not for them to be in a situation where one game decides their fate as a playoff team.

Whatever the case may be, the blame for not getting more out of the team will fall on head coach Mike Tomlin’s shoulders. The Steelers may end up deciding that having a different voice to helm the team could elevate them into an even better squad than they already are. However, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network said that it would take an unforeseen disaster for the Steelers to consider replacing Tomlin.

“You’re going to have that conversation of, ‘Are we just continuing to be middling with Mike Tomlin?’ I do get the sense that the Steelers are going to stand pat with Tomlin as their head coach in ’24 barring some kind of unforeseen change here,” Garafolo said on the NFL Report podcast.

Credit must go to Mike Tomlin for at least keeping the Steelers right in the thick of the playoff hunt, even as they encountered considerable uncertainty at quarterback due to Kenny Pickett’s injury. They were also able to weather the storm of an offensive coaching change, and amid all the team’s ups and downs, here they are, still alive and kicking with a glimmer of hope in making the postseason.

Alas, the Steelers will have to defeat the best team in the NFL at the moment, the Ravens, to do so. Even then, they will need either the Buffalo Bills or Jacksonville Jaguars to lose or for Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts to tie to secure their place.

If Mike Tomlin pulls this off, it could buy him enough goodwill for the foreseeable future — enough that he gets to keep his job as we approach the coaching carousel the end of the season tends to bring.