Steelers Reacts Results: 45% of fans ‘disappointed’ to hear Mike Tomlin will return in 2024

Steelers Nation sounded off! Here’s what they said.

Earlier this week, we polled Steelers fans about their confidence in the team and how they felt about Mike Tomlin’s confirmed return for the 2024 NFL season. Here’s what they had to say.

Unsurprisingly, Steelers fan confidence drops after wild-card loss.

Just last week ahead of the Steelers’ wild card matchup against the Bills, 69% of Steelers fans polled said they were confident in the team’s direction. In that same poll, another 62% of fans said they expected a win over Buffalo, despite being heavy road underdogs who were set to be without their star edge rusher T.J. Watt.

Naturally, after that “unexpected” loss, a portion of that same fan base has now lost that confidence.

Perhaps many had a little too much hope for the wild card game. After all, the Steelers were merely 1-10 without Watt coming into this game. The Buffalo Bills, who had defeated the Chiefs, Cowboys, and Dolphins in addition to staying undefeated since their Week 13 bye, were the team they were up against. Following a 5-5 start to the season, that victory over the Dolphins guaranteed them the AFC East title for the fourth time in a row. To put it briefly, this was a formidable football club that had triumphed over many of the same difficult situations that the Steelers faced, such as losing their offensive coordinator and suffering several critical injuries to their defense.

The one thing they had that the Steelers didn’t? A quarterback. A gamer. Mason Rudolph played about as well as one could have expected a third-string quarterback to perform in the playoffs, closing out the game with 229 passing yards, 2 touchdowns and an interception, completing passes at a 56.4% clip — his lowest completion rate this season. He kept them in it, though, and in doing so, probably played himself into another contract, whether

To prolong his NFL hopes for a little while longer, either with the Steelers or somewhere else.

The doubts about whether or not anything will actually change in the upcoming years further exacerbate the lack of faith in the Steelers’ direction beyond the game’s obvious outcome. With nothing to show for it, 17 seasons have passed without a losing record. It was again another season in which success was achieved by undermining weak opposition. It’s frustrating to win like that, even though it’s still winning. A fifth straight loss in the playoffs? That aggravates me.

What will change in 2024? Not the head coach, at least… which brings us to our next survey result.

45% of Steelers fans were ‘disappointed’ to hear Mike Tomlin would return for another season.

Just 28% of fans considered themselves “elated” that Tomlin would return, and another 27% of fans said they had no opinion either way. It’s not particularly surprising to hear that some fans hoped Tomlin would move on, either via trade or by Art Rooney II giving him the axe; fans had been calling for it intermittently throughout the entire season. It’s fair to say, though, that just about everyone knew there was never actually a chance either of those things would happen; it’s just not the Steelers’ way.

Still, it is perhaps even just a little bit surprising that the number of fans who hoped Tomlin would move on is as

as much as 45%. Despite playing in one of the most tough divisions in football, they managed a 10-7 record (5-1 in the division) and earned another trip to the playoffs.

Will anything actually change, though? Naturally, quarterback Kenny Pickett will return in 2024, and judging on the appearance of things, he will have every chance to take back his starting position provided he can withstand any opposition placed in his path. The Steelers have not released any information regarding their offensive coordinator hiring process, in contrast to many other teams in the league. What will alter, then? We’ll find out soon enough, hopefully, but Mike Tomlin’s postseason record is what changes. Let’s toast to ending that futile playoff run in 2024.