Despite his impressive records and consistent success as an NFL coach, Mike Tomlin’s playoff struggles are hard to ignore. As the head coach with the longest tenure, Tomlin seems to face severe criticism on his way to restoring the Steelers‘ glory. Well, one of the critics appears to be Kyle Brandt, as his statement is stirring a lot of buzz in social media.

As shared by Andrew Fillipponi on X, “If Mike Tomlin’s one of the best coaches, how come he NEVER wins playoff games?” said Kyle on 24th August. And Kyle’s words were justified, as Tomlin is the one to hold the record for 17 non-losing seasons at the start of his coaching career. Moreover, his winning streak gives him the 3rd rank after Tom Landry (21) and Bill Belichick (19). But what about his postseason records?

Pittsburgh HC Tomlin has a postseason record of 8-10, with the Steelers advanced to the Super Bowl twice, won one, and missed the playoffs three times. Moreover, his recent 31-17 playoff loss against the Bills adds as a cherry on the cake. Although the Steelers bested the Kansas City Chiefs in 2016, their dreams were shattered by Tom Brady‘s Patriots in the Championship round. The Black and Gold team also failed against the Broncos in 2015. But that’s not all.

Those losses were accompanied by many Wild Card defeats, too (2011, 2014, 2020, 2021, and 2023). And today his coaching career is in question, as Tomlin promoted a QB1 debate with his surprising takes. Earlier this week, Mike Tomlin said that the Steelers QB battle is an ‘incomplete study’. And later, he emphasized that “nothing has changed” when it comes to the starting quarterback of Pittsburgh. But what did others have to say? Well, in the words of former NFL player Damien Woody, Justin Fields should start as the Steelers’ QB. Moreover, Dan Orvlosky seemed to have a similar take as he said, “Justin Fields brings more good than bad in comparison to Russ,” earlier this week.

Although the coach hinted at Wilson as the starting QB, what made others oppose his take?

Preseason performance of Russell Wilson and Justin Fields

Although the Steelers lost their second preseason game against the Bills on 18th August, a striking difference between the performance of Russell Wilson and Justin Fields was visible. The vet QB went 8 of 10 for 47 yards against the Bills while taking two third-down sacks. On the other hand, Justin Fields completed 11 out of 17 passes for 92 yards, with 42 rushing yards that came as a cherry on the cake. But that’s not all.

Justin comes with a rushing record of 657 yards from his 2023 run, while Wilson was only seen to rush for half of that number in 2023. And, after his preseason performance, Russell can be safely regarded as slower than Justin due to his age. And the Steelers are in the final preseason game.

Will the Steelers win against the Lions today? Let’s wait and watch the game.

With that in mind, take a look at our latest interview with Chris Gronkowski. He opened up about his NFL journey and shared stories about his off-field interactions with other players on this Dual Threat Podcast with BG12.