PITTSBURGH (AP) — T.J. Watt couldn’t find the words. Neither could Mike Tomlin. Or Cam Heyward. Or Aaron Rodgers. Or anyone else on the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The years pass. The path changes. The final destination does not. A playoff berth followed by a quick exit and another long offseason filled with questions about how this keeps happening again and again.
“I haven’t had the answer for a long time, so don’t ask me,” Watt said Monday night after a 30-6 loss to Houston in the wild-card round left the perennial Pro Bowler still searching for the first postseason victory of his career.
The Steelers (10-8) spent the final five weeks of the regular season convincing themselves they had figured things out. They won four of five, including a sweep of Baltimore, to claim their first AFC North title since 2020. They were playing a Texans franchise that had never won a playoff game on the road. They were getting DK Metcalf back from a two-game suspension, and Rodgers was showing flashes deep into his 21st season that there was still a little magic in his right arm.
Except it didn’t matter in a game that wasn’t decided by good vibes but by great defense.
The Texans have one. The Steelers do not. The proof was laid bare during an embarrassingly lopsided fourth quarter. While Pittsburgh wilted on a night it let Houston convert 10 of 16 third downs, Houston was bullying Rodgers into mistakes that ended with defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins and cornerback Calen Bullock prancing into the end zone to turn a one-point game into the biggest blowout home playoff loss in Steelers history.
Afterward, “Renegade,” the classic rock song by Styx that long has served as the calling card for the Pittsburgh defense, blared in the Houston locker room.
A couple of hundred feet away, the Steelers packed up in near silence.
Well, almost near silence.
The one constant during the franchise’s extended run in NFL purgatory — Pittsburgh has lost seven straight playoff games, now the longest active streak in the league — has been Tomlin. The 53-year-old, whose 193 regular-season victories are tied with Hall of Famer Chuck Noll for the most in franchise history, has long been a flashpoint for a fan base where seasons are defined almost solely on whether they end with a downtown parade, the Lombardi Trophy in tow.
It’s been nearly two decades since that happened, and a full 15 years and counting since Pittsburgh played in the final game of the season. Yet the reality is the Steelers seem no closer to breaking through now than they were in 2024 or 2023 or 2021 or 2020 or 2017, all of which ended with one-and-done playoff cameos.
It puts one of the most venerable brands in professional sports in a nearly impossible spot. No other coach in NFL history has gone 19 straight seasons without a losing record. Yet the “Fire Tomlin!” chants that popped up during a late-November loss to Buffalo were heard again Monday night as Acrisure Stadium emptied.
Tomlin again brushed off questions about the future. He remains under contract for up to two more years and finished his postgame remarks by stressing he “always feels optimistic” about the club’s ability to put together a contender.
Heyward and Rodgers, two of Tomlin’s staunchest supporters in the locker room, both offered up an impassioned defense of their coach. Rodgers called speculation about the job status of Tomlin and Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur — whom Rodgers spent five seasons alongside with the Packers — “an absolute joke.”
Nobody was laughing as the Steelers filed out down a long hallway and into the offseason. Their path carried them past the visitor’s locker room, where the music blared as the Texans celebrated and turned their eye toward a trip to New England in the divisional round.
The distance from the somberness of the hallway to the euphoria of the victory party was maybe a dozen or so steps.
In many ways, it felt a lot longer.
Run it back?
Rodgers did nothing to tarnish his Hall of Fame legacy. The 42-year-old led the Steelers to the playoffs, and his leadership on a young offense helped the club regain its footing after a midseason swoon.
Yet the four-time MVP’s limitations were on full display against the Texans. Unable to move around like he used to, he sometimes rushed throws when pressured or found himself at the bottom of a dogpile. While he believes there are pieces in Pittsburgh to keep the Steelers competitive in 2026 and beyond, whether Rodgers wants to come back — or the club wants to have him back — for a 22nd season is anyone’s guess.
If both sides move on, the Steelers will have their sixth different Week 1 starting quarterback in as many seasons.
Kenny G’s final bow?
Running back Kenny Gainwell turned his one-year free-agent deal into one of the biggest bargains in the league, posting career highs in yards rushing, receiving and touchdowns on his way to being named the team’s unlikely Most Valuable Player.
The 26-year-old set himself up for a significant pay raise when he hits the open market in March. Gainwell and Jaylen Warren proved to be one of the better running back tandems in the league, though it’s fair to wonder if Gainwell’s play priced himself out of town.
Other notable free agents include veteran guard Isaac Seumalo, wide receiver Calvin Austin III, safety Kyle Dugger, cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. and tight end/fullback Connor Heyward.
Up next
There are less than 100 days until the Steelers host the NFL draft in late April. The city has spent more than a year planning for a massive influx of fans for one of the league’s marquee events.
Show business aside, the franchise will have some real work to do. Pittsburgh has the 21st overall selection but plenty of draft capital thanks to an accumulation of picks in recent years if general manager Omar Khan wants to trade up.
While landing a potential franchise quarterback remains at the top of the team’s to-do list, the quality of the field has thinned compared with where most thought it would be last summer.
Maybe that means the Steelers look to make key additions elsewhere — a dynamic wide receiver to put across from Metcalf is a must — while kicking the can down the road in its seemingly eternal search for Ben Roethlisberger’s replacement.
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