I think Tomlin knows this

and you can't make to the super bowl if you can't win playoffs game

 

But first you have to get into the playoffs

 

this is the easy part since almost half of the NFL make the playoffs now

 

I won't defend Tomlin's record in the playoffs but I think I read that he's only ever been out of the playoff running in Wk16 once in the last decade. But as you say it's not the high bar that it once was.

 

Really???? Well you can't win playoff games if You can't make it to the playoffs. It's not a hard thing.
For the 50000000000
Time. There are 3 seasons.
Preseason = evaluation of talent, work on things.
Regular season = win enough games to make the playoffs.
Playoffs = win enough games to make the SB.
There is nothing else. You don't get a special deal for next year, or some birthday cake for anything else......
You either make it to the playoffs, or not, and You either make it to the SB , or not. I can give thousands of examples of teams winning playoff games , and never making it to the SB with that team that won playoff games.

 

...other than your birthday. Hence, it's called a birthday cake.

 

I mean I have to listen to how much better all these teams are than us at everything, and Yet in the last 10 years in the AFC it's been KC, Patriots, Broncos, and Bengals(once)......not all the teams I hear mention that are so much better than us. Outside of them the rest have been doing what we have .....Making the playoffs, and losing before they get to the SB.

 

LoL

 

Yeah,so fun to be the 14th best team at best each year and being down in each wild card round by at least 21 points against a powerhouse

The steelers need a true rebuilding....Making the playoffs and being blowout in the wild card round is not good enough for me...Good for you if you are fine with that

 

Yeah cause the 3rd, and 4th best have lots of SBs. LoL
This is Your thing .....this 4th best, 5 best, and whatever. There is 1st, and 2nd, and nothing else. Being 3rd, best, and 4th best wins no more SBs. Example: Bills, and Ravens have been 4th best, and 3rd best, and 5th best for quite a few years.....how many SBs has that added up to???
LoL. They do the same we do.....make the playoffs, and lose to better teams.

 

And sometimes lose to a worse team.

Happened to the Patriots back in 2007. Went into the SB 18-0, and lost to the 11th best team. Cowher’s SB win was as the 11th best team.

The goal for every team is to win the SB. Being the best team in the league is better than not being the top dog, but it doesn’t guarantee reaching the goal.

 

The goal in the regular season isn't just to make the playoffs... It's also, if possible, to win the division and finish as high as possible to have the best chances and odds.Funny last year all your talk was the record against your division and winning the games against your division....The standard become lower for you too,not just the steelers

In the playoffs, it's about winning as many games as possible, and only one team can win the Super Bowl and two teams can win the conference, which is a big reason why there's an in-between and a different tier for each playoff team.

 

Of course, there are teams that take the toughest road to the Super Bowl, like the Steelers in 2005, but they were a much better team than their record and seed. They were the favorite against the Bengals, and the only game they were a huge underdog in was against the Colts, who had a 13-0 start. But the Steelers were 15-1 the season before, with the same core, and they were the best road team. It was a surprise, especially their win against the Colts, but we knew they were still a much better team than their seed.

I mean they were considered as the 6th best team in the league(according to the link below) before the start of the playoffs who is very high for a 6th seed...They were even favorite against the seahawks in the super bowl and very slim underdog in a very tough place to play in Denver

https://www.espn.com/nfl/team/rankings/trended/_/name/pit

Right now, the Steelers are a wasted playoff spot every year. Everyone wants to play against us to get an easy playoff win. This is that bad.

 

The 2007 Giants was maybe the most unlikely champions in nfl history...3 shocking upset in a playoffs run is just crazy.

 

I think the goals are tiered and pretty much the same every season.
1. Make the playoffs
2. Win the division

We have seen 3 teams from the same division make the playoffs. Winning the division was top priority at one point but not anymore. Just get in the playoffs first.

The next tier for me is:
1. Make the playoffs
2. Get a first round bye in the playoffs

It has happened multiple times now where a lower seeded team has made or won the SB. Once again, the first goal is just make it to the playoffs.


Things are always in motion and the situations are always fluid in some way. Meaning this too may change one day. But right more, in today's NFL, make the playoffs is goal #1.

 

That 2005 playoff win against the Bengals isn't that impressive they beat a backup QB to win the game .

 

They won 3 other playoffs game that year....

 

You should have used green font

 

But they only won against the Bengals because Carson Palmer got injured

 

For me it would still be:

1. Make playoffs
2. Win division
3. Get first-round bye

Obviously, you're not going to get the bye without also having won the division. But each step of the three increase the chance for making the Super Bowl. Even if a team wins its division but not the top seed, having a game at home is almost always an advantage to being on the road.

 

Be interesting to watch this season. In early odds BUF is the only team in the NFL that is a favorite in every one of their games.

 

Barring QB injuries there is a 99% chance that the AFC champion will be either the Bills, Ravens or Chiefs.

 

Wait. Are you suggesting the Steelers only have a 1% chance to be in the AFCC? And here I thought they just needed to win a playoff game.

 

No they didn't. They beat the Bengals, like he said, and then beat Indy, and Denver. That's only 2 more.

 

you forget Seattle