It was only a year ago that the Pittsburgh Steelers were in the middle of a three-week freefall from 7-4 to 7-7. The Steelers appeared to be fully in control of their playoff destiny at 7-4 with matchups against two-win teams in the New England Patriots and the Arizona Cardinals. They dropped both and a game against the Indianapolis Colts to boot. The calls for head coach Mike Tomlin to be run out of town were thunderous.
When the Steelers’ schedule came out this year, it wasn’t rosy. There was plenty of speculation that 2024 would be Tomlin’s last in Pittsburgh.