Art Rooney II Wants to See Steelers Playoff Wins: ‘We’ve Had Enough’

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers have not won a playoff game since 2016. Their 31-17 loss to the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card Round earlier this month cemented that they would continue for another season. It’s just one stat, but it shows how the team keeps falling just short.

Speaking with reporters on Monday, team president Art Rooney II commented on that streak and said the team has seen enough of it.

“We’ve had enough of this,” Rooney said. “It’s time to get some wins; it’s time to take these next steps.”

That could reflect poorly on Mike Tomlin, who has not broken that streak as the coach the entire time. But the team has lots of faith in Tomlin. Rooney pointed to Tomlin’s ability to keep the team afloat through adversity, and he certainly feels that his messaging still gets across.

“The players still respond to Mike and that’s No. 1,” Rooney said. “He still has the key characteristics that we saw when we hired him. He can keep the attention of a group of 20-year-olds for a whole season and keep them in the fight the whole way. Still feel good about Mike. Obviously, if I didn’t, we’d make change. If we didn’t think Mike was able to lead us to a championship, he wouldn’t be here. That’s why he’s here.”

Rooney cited the team’s ability to turn around a three-game losing streak into a four-game stretched that rescued their playoff hopes as a reason to believe that Tomlin still has what it takes as a head coach.

The 51-year-old is entering his 18th season as the Steelers head coach. He has a career record of 173-100-2 and is tied for 11th in NFL history for most coaching wins. But he needs to find a way to break the streak of playoff futility. Without that, all of the regular season accolades are largely fruitless. 

Alan Saunders contributed reporting from Pittsburgh