Mike Tomlin extends non-losing season streak, but who the heck cares?

Let's face it, Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers are irrelevant, but them getting to nine wins each year seems to be a huge accomplishment. Frankly, the Steelers are not good, and they won't be good until they have a tough conversation with themselves. On Sunday, the Steelers earned their ninth win of the season, which makes it 17-straight seasons of not having a losing record.

This all comes under head coach Mike Tomlin, who seems to have hit his ceiling with the Steelers. This was another typical season for Pittsburgh. The again fielded an inept offense with bad QB play but go by with a stingy, smart defense and a late-season push. It's become who they are as a team now.

They beat the Seattle Seahawks in Week 17, and they improved to 9-7 on the season. With their ninth win, Mike Tomlin once again secured another non-losing season, and it's become a yearly tradition across the NFL. But let's look at the cold, hard, truth; the Steelers are nothing more than a nine win football team.

In fact, they have won nine games in each of the last three seasons and in four of the last six seasons. They do have one more game in 2023, but it will be against the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens clinched the top seed in the AFC, but even if Baltimore does rest some of their starters, I'm not sure the Steelers win that game.

But while the Steelers can celebrate that they again won't have a losing season, they clearly are not a special football team. It's like them hitting nine wins is the new benchmark for a successful season for them. Mike Tomlin has not won a playoff game since 2016 and Tomlin has an 8-9 record in the postseason.

The team has been ever-so-slightly above-average for years now, but not close to an elite, contending team. I think at some point, the Pittsburgh Steelers need to do something differently. If the team can find a franchise QB, they could get back to being that perennial Super Bowl contender like they were years ago.

But until then, their annoying schtick of playing just good enough defense and barely good enough offense en route to nine wins will be their peak.