Pittsburgh, PA – December 2, 2025
The pressure on Mike Tomlin has reached boiling point.
After the Steelers’ humiliating 26-7 loss to the Bills on Sunday night triggered “Fire Tomlin” chants inside Acrisure Stadium and sent the hashtag viral nationwide, a growing chorus of analysts and former players now insist that
a loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 14 would be the final straw.
Longtime NFL writer Jason La Canfora became the latest voice to call for immediate change, stating bluntly on 93.7 The Fan Monday morning:
“If they go to Baltimore and get embarrassed again, especially after the way the Bills game unfolded, ownership has to act. You can’t keep selling ‘Tomlin never has a losing season’ when the standard used to be Super Bowls and deep playoff runs. At some point, .500 football isn’t enough.”
The numbers are damning:
- 0 playoff wins since 2016
- 8 straight seasons without advancing past the Wild Card round
- 6-6 record heading into the most important rivalry game of the year
- Worst point differential in the division (-38)
Former Steelers linebacker Arthur Moats, now an analyst for the team’s official network, echoed the sentiment:
“I love Coach T, but if we drop this Ravens game and fall to 6-7, with the schedule we have left, you’re looking at 8-9 or 9-8 and another early exit. That’s not Steelers football anymore.”
Even national voices are piling on. FOX Sports’ Colin Cowherd declared on Monday: “Mike Tomlin is a Hall of Fame human being, but the game has passed him by. If Pittsburgh loses to Baltimore, the Rooneys have to do what the McCaskeys did in Chicago and what the Joneses refuse to do in Dallas — make the hard decision.”
The Ravens game is now being framed as a referendum on Tomlin’s future. A win keeps the Steelers alive in the division race and buys the coach more time. A loss — especially a blowout — could force Art Rooney II into the most consequential decision of his ownership tenure.
One AFC North insider told Bleacher Report late Monday night: “If they get boat-raced by Baltimore, I’m told the conversation inside the building shifts from ‘Should we?’ to ‘When and who replaces him?’”
Kickoff is Sunday at 1:00 PM ET in Baltimore. For Mike Tomlin, it may very well be the biggest game of his 19-year career.
