The Pittsburgh Steelers are tied with the New England Patriots for the most Super Bowl wins in NFL history with six Lombardi Trophies all-time, but that doesn’t mean that the team has had all that much recent success in the postseason. And one crazy stat highlights those recent struggles to make the postseason and win in the playoffs.
On Wednesday, former Jacksonville Jaguars starting quarterback Blake Bortles formally announced his retirement from the NFL. With a paltry 24-49 career record as a starting quarterback in the league, Bortles is not really known as a dominant quarterback and frankly didn’t have all that much success during his time as a starter. But as Matt Koll of 937thefan points out, Bortles has actually had more recent success in the postseason than the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Blake Bortles retired today.
Blake Bortles has won a playoff game in Pittsburgh more recently than the Pittsburgh Steelers have.
— Matt Koll (@MKoll15) October 5, 2022
“Blake Bortles retired today. Blake Bortles has won a playoff game in Pittsburgh more recently than the Pittsburgh Steelers have,” Koll pointed out in his Tweet.
Bortles’ most recent playoff win actually came against the Steelers in Pittsburgh. Bortles led the Jaguars to the playoffs during the 2017 season where the team won two games, beating the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card round and the Steelers in the divisional round before falling to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship.
The Steelers, meanwhile, have not won a playoff game since beating the Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round following the 2016 season.
It’s a wild stat, and the NFL world had plenty to say about it.
Cursed tweet
— Joshua Axelrod (@jaxelburgh) October 5, 2022
— J.D. Prose Sr. (@jdprose) October 6, 2022
Tomlin should have been fired immediately after that game for more than just 1 reason. Admittingly, looking past the jags and having his team completely ill prepared..not to mention his in game coaching decisions were AWFUL. https://t.co/YNY3IiuruS
— PlanetSteelers.com (@planetsteelers) October 6, 2022
— Jack Gaffney (@JackGaffneyTDT) October 5, 2022
Blake Bortles will forever go down in Pittsburgh sports infamy. https://t.co/HO05rAPCGm
— Mike J. Asti (@MikeAsti11) October 5, 2022
Be very careful Matt, you're coming dangerously close to criticizing Mike Tomlin, and as you know, that is strictly forbidden….. https://t.co/gzcWxtUSAM
— TheConfluence 🤘 (@TheConfluence) October 5, 2022
The Steelers will try to end that drought this season. If they do, it looks like they’ll do it with a rookie quarterback as Kenny Pickett will now be the team’s starter over veteran Mitchell Trubisky.
