Steelers’ Mike Tomlin Should Be Praised, Not Mocked, For Coaching Streak No NFL Team Can Match

There are two games remaining in the 2025 NFL season. There are different mathematical routes for the Steelers to make — or miss — the playoffs, several combinations of results by the Steelers or Ravens that would establish the identity of the AFC North champion.

What’s clear, though, is this: The Steelers, having defeated the once-blazing Lions on the road, again produced a winning season.

It is the 16th winning season for coach Mike Tomlin, and the 19th season in a row he avoided a losing year, extending his league record for most years at the start of a career without dipping below the .500 mark.

It is the 27th winning season, against only four .500 records and three losing seasons, since the Steelers transitioned from the Chuck Noll “Steel Curtain” era to the modern one-two punch of Bill Cowher and Tomlin, which has produced two more Lombardi Trophies and four total appearances in the Super Bowl.

It is the 42nd winning season since the NFL/AFL merger in 1970 took the franchise to the new American Football Conference, with only nine losing seasons and five .500 finishes.

MORE: How Steelers Can Secure AFC North After Ravens Fall To Patriots

It set a record of 22 consecutive years without a losing season, breaking a tie with the Tom Landry Cowboys, who had a 21-season run from 1965-85. The last time the Steelers finished with a losing record, 50 Cent had 2003’s biggest record with “In da Club.” Now, 50 is 50 and a nostalgia act at College Football Playoff games.

And regardless, now that the Steelers gained their ninth win in Detroit, it will be mocked by some claiming to be a part of the Steelers’ fan base. We know this because it already was pre-mocked. It was there in Gerry Dulac’s weekly reader Q&A last week for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. It’s all over social media, including a Twitter exchange I conducted before the Lions game with someone whose handle included the word “Pittsburgh fan” but referred to the current coach as “Mediocre Mike” and said, “I guess not having a losing season is more impressive ha ha ha.”

It’s hard to understand how anyone could come to the conclusion that Steelers victories are inevitable or preordained or part of nature’s order.

The eagle’s nest near U.S. Steel’s Irvin Works plant, when the birds are there and perhaps hatching a few eaglets — that’s beauty no human created. But the fact Pittsburgh has one of the most beautiful skylines in America, that’s all the product of design and execution by city leaders and businesses and the architects, engineers and construction teams that built all those skyscrapers.

And this certainly is the same on the football field.

Do these people want us to believe the Steelers hardly ever lose because they wear black-and-gold uniforms? That hasn’t worked for the Pirates in a long while.

If we learned nothing from the Detroit game, or Sunday’s action across the NFL, it’s how monumentally difficult it is to win any game in that league. Consider all that had gone right for the Steelers — from Jaylen Warren’s two 45-yard touchdown runs to Aaron Rodgers’ 266 yards passing to Kyle Dugger’s sack that was worth two points — and how much they still had to manage at the end because of a missed 37-yard field goal.

Consider how hard Buffalo had to work to win at Cleveland, or how far Kansas City fell with an injury to their superstar QB or the miracle the Patriots conjured to put the Ravens within sight of playoff extinction. One win or tie by the Steelers or one loss or tie by the Ravens would bring the AFC North title to Pittsburgh.

There is a design at work with this city’s football team, still permeating the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, where the Steelers practice each week and the team’s executives and coaches have their offices. Dan Rooney’s approach was to keep the Steelers perpetually competitive by emphasizing hiring gifted coaches and assuring as much stability as possible in such a volatile business.

MORE: Steelers Predicted To Select Star SEC Quarterback In 2026

It is difficult to guarantee a great quarterback’s availability or effectiveness from game to game, but when there are coaches and executives whose work produces regular victories and frequent playoff appearances, the Steelers have endeavored to retain them.

They have won 192 regular-season games since Mike Tomlin arrived in advance of the 2007 season. Does this seem like a lot? It’s the 10th-most victories recorded by any single coach in NFL history. Everyone that stands in front of him coached at least two more seasons and at least 19 more games. Of the top 20 coaches on the career wins list, he ranks No. 7 in winning percentage. So, yeah, it’s a lot.

Since Tomlin took the reins from Cowher, only two NFL teams — the Patriots (207) and Packers (195) — have produced more regular-season wins.

If winning this much is “mediocrity,” where does that leave the remainder of the NFL?