Mike Tomlin Faces Ultimate Test As Steelers Struggle to Stay Relevant
The Pittsburgh Steelers have once again found themselves starting hot in a season and fading as the year progresses. The 2025 offseason was one of the most ambitious in recent franchise history, with Pittsburgh going all-in to acquire 41-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers in hopes of finally pushing the team back into true contender status. However, now sitting at 6-5, the Steelers have officially lost their lead in the AFC North, and what once looked like a promising campaign has quickly turned into a season that desperately needs saving.
With the year slipping away, conversations about longtime Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin have already begun to swirl. For years, many Steelers fans have believed there was no realistic scenario in which Tomlin would ever be fired. It’s been a longstanding debate within the national media that Tomlin is actually a great head coach, but many Steelers fans disagree and believe his message has grown stale. Most of those fans also don’t think Art Rooney II would ever fire Tomlin, no matter how frustrated the fanbase becomes.
However, NFL insider Albert Breer revealed on Wednesday that the Steelers are certainly open to having some brutal, uncomfortable discussions with Tomlin depending on how the 2025 season ends. It’s a rare acknowledgment from within league circles that even in a famously stable organization, patience may finally be wearing thin.
"I think it is gonna take having some real hard discussions on where they're at, on where Mike Tomlin's at, on how everyone feels about the position that they're in," Breer said on the
Sports Illustrated's YouTube channel after he was asked about Tomlin's future.
Of course, everything could still change. Tomlin has pulled off late-season turnarounds before, and a deep playoff run would erase much of the growing tension and immediately reshape public conversation.
However, until that happens, the reality remains: the Steelers have not won a playoff game since the 2016 season. For a franchise defined by excellence and postseason success, that drought looms larger than ever as Pittsburgh fights to salvage what was supposed to be its breakthrough year.
"There's no question that if Mike Tomlin became available, he would not last very long in the coaching market," Breer said. "Somebody would swoop in and snap him up. So this isn't about his value as a coach. It's about the situation that everybody's in."
Breer pointed out that Tomlin is still viewed around the league as an extremely exceptional head coach and leader capable of turning a franchise around. It seems similar to what Andy Reid had to go through with the Philadelphia Eagles, as sometimes a new face is needed.
Steelers May Finally Be Ready To Move On From Mike Tomlin
In Reid’s case, it ended up working out for both the Eagles and for him personally when he moved to the Kansas City Chiefs. All parties won Super Bowls and experienced many meaningful victories. That is the path many suggest Tomlin should consider, not just for the Steelers, but for himself.
Whatever has been tried so far has not worked in the minds of many fans. Still, in the NFL, it is never over, and Tomlin is not giving up. He is preparing to find a way to get his team to pull off an upset win in Week 13 at home against the Buffalo Bills. If Pittsburgh can sneak out of Acrisure Stadium with a win over Josh Allen, it would certainly change the outlook on the 2025 season. A loss, however, would continue this discussion and only amplify it.
On hot mic, Ref Kelly Sutherland tells Capitals ‘I owe you one’ after blowing whistle early and negating Dylan Strome goal
The Washington Capitals were robbed of a goal 21 seconds into their 4-2 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Friday. And official
The play started after Trevor van Riemsdyk sent a pass to Anthony Beauvillier, camped out in the right circle. Beauvillier’s initial backhanded shot was stopped by goaltender Joseph Woll, but the Caps forward found the rebound. He then sent a shot on his forehand that trickled through Woll’s five-hole and stopped on the goal line uncovered.
As Sutherland lost sight of the puck, he whistled the play dead. Strome then backhanded the biscuit home, lighting the lamp. Sutherland immediately waved the goal off because he had blown the play dead a second earlier.
Officials eventually reviewed the play with the Situation Room in Toronto. And after a short discussion, the play was confirmed to be “no goal” because there was no continuation, since the initial shot stopped on the goal line, and, per the NHL, “The Referee informed the Situation Room he blew his whistle to stop play before the puck entered the Toronto net.”
While the whistle came at the wrong time, the call was ultimately correct, but it did affect the game. The Leafs ultimately jumped out to a 2-0 lead after getting goals from Morgan Rielly and Matthew Knies — a game the Capitals were dominating analytics wise.
Sutherland appeared to regret the early whistle and discussed the blown call with TVR as the Capitals looked to break out of their own zone with 12:06 remaining in the first period.
“You robbed me of an assist there, Kelly,” TVR appears to tell Sutherland.
“I know I did, I owe you one somewhere,” Sutherland, if I heard correctly, responds.
The Capitals seemed to reference the moment postgame with this tweet.
After the comments, the Capitals ended up getting two consecutive power plays at the start of the second period with Morgan Rielly — the Leafs’ first goal-scorer of the night — going to the box 41 seconds in for slashing Dylan Strome. Auston Matthews then got a hooking call on Ryan Leonard 4:31 into the period. The Leafs got no power plays on the evening.
Referees evening up calls between two teams they are officiating is a well-known, unwritten rule in the NHL. However, it’s seriously frowned upon when discussed openly. For example, former referee Tim Peel was fired by the league in 2021 after he was caught on a hot mic saying he wanted to call an early second-period penalty on the Nashville Predators.
“Nothing is more important than ensuring the integrity of our game,” NHL senior executive vice president Colin Campbell said then. “Tim Peel’s conduct is in direct contradiction to the adherence to that cornerstone principle that we demand of our officials and that our fans, players, coaches, and all those associated with our game expect and deserve.”
Peel was due to retire after the season and had been an on-ice official since October 1999.
