Editors Note: Why did the Steelers’ championship window close after the 2016 AFC Championship Game? Here we provide a 360 view of the franchise during the latter half of Mike Tomlin’s tenure. For an end-to-end analysis of Tomlin’s entire career click here.
When the Pittsburgh Steelers team charter went wheels up at Logan International Airport on January 22nd, 2017, everyone onboard knew they’d passed a milestone.
- But no one, however, knew what that milestone marked.
Getting pulverized by the Patriots in another AFC Championship game stung, for sure. But Ben Roethlisberger, James Harrison and Greg Warren offered 3 reasons for hope: They were the only Super Bowl XLIII veterans on the plane.
Kevin Colbert and Mike Tomlin stood on the precipice of a near impossible feat: Executing an end-to-end rebuild around a franchise quarterback.
Ah, but every conference championship loss comes with a rub: Either they signal that you’re about to open heaven’s door, or, that you’re never getting in.
The Steelers never re-opened heaven’s door in the latter half of the Tomlin Era. They didn’t even come close.
Today we look at what went wrong and why championship window closed.
Chris Hogan catches a TD and Sammie Coates drops a pass in Steelers loss to the Patriots in the 2016 AFC Championship. Photo credits: Matt Slocum, AP; Patrick Smith II, AP
1. Ringing the Bell 1 Too Many Times – Franchising Le’Veon Bell a 2nd Time
The first critical football decision after the AFC Championship loss to the Patriots was to put the franchise tag on Le’Veon Bell.
It was the right move — Bell had just broken records that Hall of Famers John Henry Johnson, Franco Harris or Jerome Bettis never touched.
- Bell played 2017 on the franchise tag and piled up nearly 2000 all-purpose yards.
In the spring of 2018, Art Rooney II, Kevin Colbert and Mike Tomlin ignored Bell’s warning that he wouldn’t play on a second franchise tender and franchised him again.
I was wrong. The decision was a disaster for everyone. Really, this decision had a ripple effect that gave the Steelers post-2016 decline momentum.
Le’Veon Bell departing the gridiron at Heinz Field. Photo Credit: EPA, via the New York Post
Franchising Bell locked up 14.5 million dollars in salary cap space, preventing Pittsburgh from addressing other priorities. Bargain hunting in the inside linebacker market brought them Jon Bostic who was strong against the run, but struggled vs the pass.
And, because they were counting on Bell, they failed to add an experienced running back during the 2018 off-season.
Which leads us to….
2. Failing to Staff Adequate Running Back Depth
Failure to staff sufficient running back depth started several seasons earlier, but it hurt them, again, in the AFC Championship. When Bell got injured, DeAngelo Williams entered.
Williams had done an exceptional job in 2015 in Bell’s absence, so bringing him back was a wise move, despite his age. But Williams had needed knee surgery during the season, and against the Patriots he averaged 2.4 yards a carry – and that’s with a long run of 15 yards.
Mewelde Moore, the unsung hero of the Steelers 2008 season. Photo Credit: Gregory Shamus, Getty Images via Zimbo.com
It’s easy to say, “So what? Any team that loses its top two running backs, is screwed no matter what.” But the 2008 Steelers had lost their top two running backs and still won the Super Bowl thanks to Mewelde Moore.
- But too many Steelers teams in this era lacked a Gary Russell caliber back, let alone a Mewelde Moore or even a Jonathan Dwyer.
Think back to the December 2018 loss to the Saints. We all remember JuJu Smith-Schuster’s fumble and the questionable PI calls.
But everyone forgets Stevan Ridley’s fumble. On third down. When the Steelers were leading. And in position for Chris Boswell to put them up by 7. In a game they lost at the buzzer by 3…..
Once again, Pittsburgh stung itself with poor backfield depth, only this time it kept them out of the playoffs just when the entire team was gelling and the championship window was still cracked open. (Rolling your eyes? Go back to the win against the Patriots the week before.)
Drafting Benny Snell signaled Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert had learned.
Had they learned sooner, some things might have been different.
3. Injuries, Suspensions, Drama and Divas
The Steelers beat the Bengals in 2015 Wild Card in no small part due to the efforts of Ryan Shazier and Martavis Bryant. Their performances signaled that two additional two championship-caliber defensive and offensive weapons had arrived in Pittsburgh.
Alas, Bryant’s off the field problems and discipline issues combined with Shazier’s tragic injury scuttled that promise.
Ryan Shazier. Photo Credit: Aaron Doster, USA TODAY via BTSC
Neither Art Rooney II, nor Kevin Colbert nor Mike Tomlin can be faulted here.
- The trio does deserve fault for how they reacted to those twin misfortunes.
At inside linebacker the Steelers tried low and high-priced free agents, draft picks, multiple trades and trading up and drafting and perhaps still hasn’t secured a certain long-term starter there.
To their credit, Kevin Colbert and Mike Tomlin recognized the red flags in their wide receiver room and aggressively addressed the position through the draft.
If their strategy was sound then their execution leads us to another problem….
4. Whiffing on Drafts
The Steelers used a succession of 2nd round draft picks in response to Bryant’s antics, Sammie Coates’ erratic behavior and Antonio Brown becoming unglued in plain sight.
They picked a good player in JuJu Smith Schuster, and a solid character yet underachiever in James Washington. Diontae Johnson, Chase Claypool and George Pickens all flashed at times, yet all three had to be traded away due to discipline issues.
Four years have passed since JuJu played his last down in Pittsburgh and the Steelers still haven’t drafted a long-term starter at wide receiver.
- Worse yet, wide receiver is hardly the only position the Steelers have whiffed on in the draft.
Take a look at the Steelers 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 drafts and you’ll find that the Steelers have drafted precisely two long-term starters, one for each side of the ball: Alex Highsmith and Pat Freiermuth. (For comparison’s sake, the Steelers 2011 and 2012 draft classes netted 3 long-term starters.)
Kenny Pickett and George Pickens after the Go Ahead Touchdown in the Immaculate Reception Game. Photo Credit: Chaz Palla, Tribune-Review.
Some of these drafts were better than others. In some cases, the Steelers found players who were started or played as key backups throughout their rookie contracts. That’s a “win” from a Money Ball perspective.
But collectively they formed a group of players who played well enough to win more than they lost in the regular season but got immediately outclassed in the playoffs.
Of course the biggest draft mistake the Steelers made was in the players they passed on…
5. Being Unprepared When Big Ben Struck Midnight
Art Rooney II began the 2026 season by reaffirming the franchise’s goal is to win instead of “wasting a year not trying to compete.”
- This is the exact message everyone must hear from the head of the franchise.
Art Rooney II had 3 chances to embrace a “clean reset” and opted to field the best team possible instead. Rooney made the right move.
Ben Roethlisberger, Art Rooney II and One last dance @ Heinz Field. Photo Credit: Steelers.com
Nor does the tandem of Colbert and Tomlin deserve undue criticism for missing on Kenny Pickett – After all, Chuck Noll and Art Rooney, Jr. went Terry Bradshaw and Mark Malone with their two first round quarterbacks.
Yet, the franchise still missed on chances to take swings at Roethlisberger’s replacement prior to Big Ben striking midnight. Circumstantial evidence suggests (see Jim Wexell’s reporting) that Mike Tomlin wanted to take Lamar Jackson in 2018.
But if that was his plan, he gambled by drafting Terrell Edmunds first, expecting Jackson would be there later. He wasn’t. The Steelers also had a shot at taking Jalen Hurts in the 2020 draft. They chose Chase Claypool instead.
Pulling off a Joe Montana–Steve Young or Brett Favre–Aaron Rodgers handoff is only slightly less rare than seeing Haley’s Comet.
But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try, as the Steelers are still finding out.
6. Tomlin’s Struggles with Hiring Solid Assistant Coaches
Here’s a classic case of “both things can be true.”
- Mike Tomlin’s record with assistant coach hires is more mixed than people credit him for.
- Identifying, recruiting and developing rising coaching talent was his greatest weakness.
Click here for a deeper discussion Mike Tomlin’s struggles with hiring assistant coaches.
The only additional observation to add here is this: This was a Tomlin weakness from the beginning, and not one he ever addressed — he had a better staff on the sidelines for the AFC Championship loss than he did for his final loss to the Texans.
7. Missing Dan Rooney?
Dan Rooney died shortly after the AFC Championship loss to the Patriots and the Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since….
Dan Rooney sitting in front of the Steelers 5 Lombardi Trophies. Photo Credit: Steelers.com
…If the conclusion seems obvious, it shouldn’t be. Correlation does not equal causality. Had social media existed in the 80’s, you could have easily found fans complaining “Dan Rooney is lost now that ‘The Chief’ is only a figurehead.”
- And they would have been wrong.
Still, looking back, it doesn’t take too great of a stretch of the imagination to envision Dan Rooney’s wisdom guiding the franchise to better outcomes.
- It is an unanswerable question, but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong to ask.
Because the Steelers entered the second half of the Mike Tomlin era with every reason to believe another Super Bowl run was coming. Instead, their championship window quietly closed.
