Steelers' Aaron Rodgers dunks on those who wanted Mike Tomlin fired

On the final Sunday of November, pockets of angry Pittsburgh Steelers fans chanted for the club to fire head coach Mike Tomlin during Pittsburgh's 26-7 loss to the Buffalo Bills. 

The Steelers subsequently won four of five games to finish the regular season as champions of the AFC North. While speaking with reporters on Thursday, Pittsburgh quarterback Aaron Rodgers took somewhat of a victory lap regarding Tomlin's latest accomplishment with the club.

Aaron Rodgers glad to quiet Mike Tomlin doubters

"At 6-6, there were a lot of people thinking we were going to be stumbling to the finish, and then who knows what was going to happen," Rodgers said, per Eric Edholm of the NFL's website. "A lot of you, probably in this group, either publicly or privately, were talking about Mike T getting axed. So it feels good to shut all those comments down."

In fairness, there was never any real indication ahead of Christmas that the Steelers would have fired Tomlin had the club missed the playoffs. The three-year contract extension Tomlin signed in June 2024 has a team option for 2027, and that option must be exercised by March 1 of this year.

That said, a recent story suggested Tomlin could soon step down as Pittsburgh's head coach to accept a job working as an analyst for one of the NFL's media partners. As recently as Wednesday, Tomlin insisted he is still passionate about serving as Pittsburgh's coach. 

Aaron Rodgers, Steelers players want to win for Mike Tomlin

Steelers players have routinely defended Tomlin and have mentioned how he "instills confidence in" members of the locker room. Rodgers hinted that he and his teammates will be thinking about what was said and written about Tomlin when the 10-7 Steelers take the Acrisure Stadium field for this coming Monday's wild-card playoff game versus the 12-5 Houston Texans.

"They've gotta try to find something to get after him," Rodgers added during his comments about Tomlin. "Mike T's probably like me. Doesn't give a whole lot of s--- about any of those comments. But it is nice because we all love him and want to play for him and want to win for him."

As of Friday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Steelers as three-point underdogs versus the Texans.