NFL gifts Ravens the chance to finally get Mike Tomlin fired by Steelers

We’ve been teasing Mike Tomlin’s hot seat for months now. And while it never truly felt like 2024 was going to be the year that did him in, 2025 suddenly feels very different. The NFL released the full 2025 schedule on Wednesday night—and let's just say it might include the final chapter of Tomlin’s legendary head coaching run in Pittsburgh.

That chapter? It could be written in Week 18. In Pittsburgh. Against the Ravens. And depending on how the Steelers’ season unfolds, that finale may be the moment that forces the franchise to finally pull the plug.

Tomlin’s job isn’t just on the line—it’s on the Ravens’ schedule.

Baltimore could play spoiler again—and end an era while they’re at it

Let’s be honest: the cracks have been forming for a while. Tomlin hasn’t won a playoff game since the 2016 season. His teams have now lost six straight postseason games—tied for the longest streak in NFL history. And while he’s famously never had a losing season in the regular season, even that streak feels more like window dressing than a true measure of success.

The Ravens already embarrassed the Steelers to close out last season, hammering them 28-14 in the Wild Card round after a December beatdown that started Pittsburgh’s collapse. Derrick Henry ran wild, Lamar Jackson barely broke a sweat, and the entire football world started whispering what has been obvious to Ravens fans for a while: maybe Tomlin’s time is up.

That whisper might become a full-blown scream if Baltimore gets another chance to deliver the knockout blow in Week 18.

The Steelers face the 10th-toughest schedule in the league this year. Their quarterback room is unsettled. Their offense is in a rebuild. And their final four games are Miami Dolphins, at Detroit Lions, at Cleveland Browns... then the Ravens. If they limp into that matchup the way they did last year, the Ravens could do more than just keep them out of the playoffs. They could finish what they started and make Tomlin’s seat too hot for even the Rooney family to defend.

Tomlin signed an extension through 2027 before last year—but extensions haven’t stopped coaches from being fired before. Especially not after eight years of postseason failure and no clear path forward.

This won’t be just another AFC North clash. It could be the most consequential regular-season game of Tomlin’s tenure. And if the Ravens are playing for seeding and the Steelers are playing for survival, Baltimore might not just be trying to end a season—they could be ending an era.

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