The Pittsburgh Steelers snuck into the playoffs in 2025—and then had the brakes beaten off of them in the Wild Card round. Sound familiar?
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Well, it happened again this season. Despite the fact that they were at home and not taking on one of the top four QBs in the league as they have in other recent playoff losses, Pittsburgh went out sad against the Houston Texans on Monday night, losing 30-6 and showing very little fight.
It was Pittsburgh’s seventh straight playoff loss. But it was also their fifth straight loss by double digits (an NFL record). The Steelers don’t just lose, they get embarrassed in these games. But head coach Mike Tomlin still has believers, and based on his Hall of Fame resume, one could say rightly so. In fact, Super Bowl champ Chris Canty says that the team should be “begging” the man with 19 years on the job (and no losing records) to come back in 2026.
“It’s hard for me to dismiss Mike Tomlin not having a losing record in two decades as a head coach in one spot,” Canty said during a segment on First Take.
“That’s hard to do. When you’re name is being mentioned with Tom Landry and Bill Belichick for that kind of accomplishment? I’m not gonna disrespect you in terms of the caliber of coach that you are. I think this is a situation where if you’re Pittsburgh, you should beg Mike Tomlin to want to be there,” added the analyst.
However, while Canty believes the organization is in such dire straits that they should be desperate to bring Tomlin back into the fold, Canty doesn’t see why Tomlin should feel the same about the team.
“But if you’re Mike Tomlin, why would you want to stay? The organization hasn’t been serious about getting a franchise quarterback,” Canty argued, before adding,
“This is a results-based business, and the reality is that Mike Tomlin routinely gets more out of players that are nondescript than other coaches around the NFL.”
It’s true that Tomlin has been able to squeeze more juice out of the lemon than most can. But the ceiling with that strategy is pretty clear at this point. 10-7 and a playoff berth. But NOTHING more. He can’t keep getting the most out of a Duck Hodges or a Mason Rudolph. He needs to set his sights on a proper franchise quarterback in his prime. And as Canty said, Tomlin was party to that lack of drive to find that franchise savior.
And while we’re not certain on the mechanics of coaching contracts, Tomlin’s deal runs through 2027. So it’s not like he’s going into this season as a free agent. Though Canty thinks he should.
“I think this could be a scenario setting up, where Mike Tomlin takes a beat from the NFL,” posited Canty, continuing,
“[Tomlin should do] what Sean Payton did in his last season with the New Orleans Saints in 2021. Got out of it, got the TV, and then found an opportunity for a better job. And then a couple of years from now, we could be talking about Mike Tomlin being right back at the top of his respective conference with a different organization. Because he’s that kind of coach.”
"If you're Pittsburgh, you should beg Mike Tomlin to want to be there. But if you're Mike Tomlin, why would you want to stay?"@ChrisCanty99 on if it's time for Mike Tomlin to move on from the Steelers 🏈 pic.twitter.com/dpY2ga3wl5
— First Take (@FirstTake) January 13, 2026
Canty views this not as a time to re-evaluate Tomlin, but as a “referendum” on the Steelers as a franchise. He and many others understandably don’t view the Steelers as a “championship-caliber organization” anymore. And if changing the head coach isn’t the solution, as Canty suggests, there are much bigger problems in the Steel City.
