The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2024 season had all the makings of a breakthrough - until it didn’t. A 10-7 record punched their ticket to the postseason for the second year in a row, but once again, it ended with the same familiar sting: a quick Wild Card exit, this time at the hands of their AFC North rivals, the Baltimore Ravens. The 28-14 loss not only extended Pittsburgh’s playoff losing streak to six games, it also reignited questions about the team’s trajectory under longtime head coach Mike Tomlin.
What made the ending so hard to swallow was just how close the Steelers were to flipping the script. At 10-3, they were riding high, leading the division, and in position to host a playoff game.
Everything was in front of them. But then came the collapse - four straight losses, including key defeats to the Eagles and Ravens, that pushed them into a road Wild Card matchup and an all-too-familiar early exit.
A season that once hinted at something special turned into another missed opportunity.
Now, on paper, 10 wins and a playoff berth might look like a solid year. And in some ways, it was.
But for a franchise with the Steelers’ pedigree - one that measures success in postseason wins, not just appearances - the way the season ended left a sour taste. The late-season skid erased the momentum they’d built and turned what could’ve been a division crown into a scramble just to stay alive.
That Wild Card loss to Baltimore wasn’t just another defeat - it was a continuation of a troubling trend. Six straight playoff losses, all of them one-and-done.
The pattern is hard to ignore: sneak into the postseason, run into a tougher, more complete team, and bow out before the real dance even begins. For a team that prides itself on championship DNA, this is uncharted - and unsettling - territory.
Déjà Vu in 2025?
Fast forward to this season, and the Steelers find themselves walking a tightrope once again. They opened strong at 4-1, showing flashes of the team they want to be.
But midseason inconsistency crept back in, and at 6-6, they were suddenly neck-and-neck with the Ravens in the AFC North. A clutch road win in Baltimore helped them keep pace, but the margin for error is razor-thin.
The ghosts of last December are still fresh, and the Steelers know all too well what another late-season slide would mean.
The formula for avoiding that fate is clear: finish strong. Go 4-0 or even 3-1 down the stretch, and they’ll likely lock up a playoff spot - maybe even a home game.
But anything less, and it’s back to relying on tiebreakers, scoreboard watching, and hoping other teams stumble. That’s not the kind of situation a team with postseason aspirations wants to be in.
And that’s the bigger issue here. The Steelers haven’t just been losing playoff games - they’ve been entering them with the sense that they don’t quite belong.
That’s a dangerous mindset for any team, let alone one with Pittsburgh’s history. The pressure is mounting, not just on the players, but on the coaching staff as well.
Mike Tomlin has been one of the most respected figures in the league for nearly two decades. His streak of never having a losing season is remarkable.
But in Pittsburgh, regular-season consistency only gets you so far. At some point, the standard shifts to postseason results.
And after multiple years of stumbling into the playoffs and getting bounced right away, the question isn’t just whether this team can win in January - it’s whether the current leadership can get them over that hump.
The next four games - and whatever comes after - could be pivotal. Not just for this season, but for the direction of the franchise.
The Steelers have the talent to make a run. The question is whether they have the resolve to finish what they’ve started and finally shake the postseason frustrations that have defined the last several years.
Because in Pittsburgh, it’s not enough to make the playoffs. It’s about making noise once you get there. And right now, the noise has been far too quiet for far too long.