Does Mike Tomlin’s regular-season success really matter if his teams keep flopping in the postseason?

It’s time to stop praising Tomlin for never suffering through a losing season in his 18-year run as Pittsburgh’s head coach and start wondering when this team will ever be a real championship contender again. The Steelers haven’t reached the Divisional Round of the playoffs since 2017. Including Saturday’s 28-14 wild-card loss to Baltimore, they have been embarrassed in each of their last four playoff defeats, losing by scores of 31-17 (Buffalo last season), 42-21 (Kansas City in the 2021 campaign) and 48-37 (Cleveland in the 2020 playoffs). Those results tell us Tomlin may have a knack for keeping his teams above water in the regular season, but they too often drown when the games matter most. It’s apparent the Steelers still haven’t found a strong solution at quarterback, as Russell Wilson’s play declined precipitously in the final month of the season and Justin Fields hasn’t shown enough to be a long-term solution. The defense — as proven by those playoff losses — simply isn’t as dominant as it used to be, either. Look, nobody is saying Tomlin needs to go in this space. He’s one of the best coaches of his generation. However, the Steelers aren’t on the same level as the elites of the AFC (Kansas City, Baltimore and Buffalo), and the future isn’t nearly as bright in Pittsburgh as it is in other places around the conference (Los Angeles, Denver, Houston and Cincinnati). That might not be all on Tomlin — the personnel does need to improve — but something has to change.