The Pittsburgh Steelers have had a roller coaster of a season under head coach Mike Tomlin. Still, Tomlin entered the weekend with a chance to defeat the Cleveland Browns and clinch the AFC North, stamping their ticket to the playoffs.
Instead, the Steelers lost an inexcusable game to the Browns, who were 3-12 entering the contest. Now, Pittsburgh has to defeat the Baltimore Ravens in a Week 18 winner-take-all game for the division title.
Now, a shocking stat has surfaced concerning the Steelers’ constant failures late in the season, which some fans have dubbed as “Tomlin Specials.
“INSANE stat – Steelers are winless (0-4-1) in their past 5 games vs teams entering 8+ games below .500, tying the longest such streak in NFL history 2020 — L at 2-10-1 Bengals 2021 — T vs 0-8 Lions 2023 — L vs 2-10 Cardinals 2023 — L vs 2-10 Patriots 2025 — L at 3-12 Browns,” Doug Clawson of CBS Sports tweeted on Monday.
INSANE stat – Steelers are winless (0-4-1) in their past 5 games vs teams entering 8+ games below .500, tying the longest such streak in NFL history
2020 — L at 2-10-1 Bengals
2021 — T vs 0-8 Lions
2023 — L vs 2-10 Cardinals
2023 — L vs 2-10 Patriots
2025 — L at 3-12 Browns— Doug Clawson (@doug_clawson) December 28, 2025
Fans reacted to the news on social media.
“There’s a reason it’s called the Tomlin Special,” one fan wrote on Twitter.
“Compare to the Chuck Knoll Steelers: During the period from 1971 to 1979, the Steelers had a remarkable regular-season streak of 49 consecutive wins against teams that finished the season with a losing record,” someone else added.
“This stat should be used every time someone in the media talks about what a great coach Tomlin is and how he will be immediately hired by another team,” another fan added.
It’ll be interesting to see if the Steelers can beat the Ravens in thier upcoming de facto playoff game.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.