Steelers HC Mike Tomlin continues impressive streak with win over Seahawks

The Pittsburgh Steelers' 30-23 win over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday not only gave them a fighting chance to still make the playoffs this season, it also extended an impressive streak for head coach Mike Tomlin. 

With Sunday's win it guaranteed that the Steelers (9-7) will finish with a winning record during the 2023 season. That means that Tomlin has now began his head coaching career by going 17 consecutive seasons without ever finishing with a losing record. 

He has been .500 or better in every season he has been the head coach of the Steelers, and perhaps even more impressively has only ever coached one game — Week 17 during the 2012 season — where the Steelers did not have a playoff spot clinched or still have a mathematical chance to make the playoffs. 

While that is an impressive run, the Steelers' playoff success has gone dry in over the past few years. They have not won a playoff game since the 2016 season and have won just three playoff games since their 2010 Super Bowl appearance. 

As for the playoff chances this season, the most likely path for them will be to beat the Baltimore Ravens in Week 18 and get either a loss from the Jacksonville Jaguars (who are playing at the Tennessee Titans) or a loss from the Buffalo Bills (who are playing on the road at the Miami Dolphins for the AFC East title).

There are other paths, including one where they do not beat Baltimore, but that is the easiest path. 

Sunday's win was the second straight win with Mason Rudolph under center as he again gave the Steelers some of their best quarterback play in years. In his two starts the past two weeks the Steelers have scored 64 total points (including their only two 30 point games of the season) while Rudolph has completed 35-of-51 passes for 564 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions. 

He has also connected with wide receivers George Pickens and Diontae Johnson, as well as tight end Pat Freiermuth, on several big plays. 

On Sunday the Steelers also bullied Seattle on the ground, rushing for 202 yards on 46 attempts. Running backs Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren were nearly unstoppable for most of the game. 

The Steelers also made the most of a makeshift defense that has them playing multiple backups at middle linebacker and safety. They gave up some yards on Sunday, but mostly kept Seattle's offense out of the end zone and forced a huge turnover in the fourth quarter.