Steelers’ Mike Tomlin Sets Another Disappointing Record

PITTSBURGH — Another cycle of piling on Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has arrived after the team dropped an embarrassing game against the Cincinnati Bengals by a final score of 33-31. It was the classic trap game for Tomlin’s Steelers, losing to an inferior opponent is disappointing fashion after a few weeks of looking like an improved version of themselves.

The game started off with an exciting first drive for the Steelers, culminating in a touchdown and early 7-0 lead. That would be all the points the Steelers would score in the opening quarter, and it put Tomlin in possession of a streak he never imagined or wanted.

The Steelers have now played 56 consecutive games without scoring more than seven points in the first quarter. That’s a new NFL-long streak that goes back three and a half seasons. NFL analyst and friend of the All Steelers Talk podcast Warren Sharp shared the unfortunate news via his X account, and Tomlin’s perfectly framed facial expression in the photo does all of the talking.

this is actually an insane record

now 56 STRAIGHT GAMES(!) with 7 or fewer 1st quarter points for the Tomlin Steelers

no coach has a longer streak in NFL history pic.twitter.com/JD1FPojg8d
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) October 17, 2025

Failure to Launch

The struggles to score in the opening quarter date back 2022, when a turning over franchise entrusted Mitch Trubisky to be their starter temporarily. In Week 1 of that season, they recorded 10 points, which now feels like an offensive breakthrough for this year’s Steelers.

In that span, the Steelers have had some troubling quarterback play to overcome. From Trubisky, to Kenny Pickett, to Justin Fields and Russell Wilson trading struggles last season, it’s fair to criticize the personnel available to Tomlin and his staff.

It’s also fair to say their offense hasn’t felt very competitive or difficult to scheme for since Ben Roethlisberger retired. The head coaching has been uninspired on the offensive side of the ball and the muddying years of Matt Canada have given way to an up-and-down tenure under Arthur Smith as offensive coordinator. It’s been a disjointed effort as they try desperately to return to offensive relevancy. That was, until the arrival of Aaron Rodgers this year.

Even with the addition of the future Football Hall of Famer, seven points remains their cap on offense.

Is There a Solution?

Everyone is wondering how and when the Steelers will break out of his funk on offense and become a dangerous and impossible to predict unit. They want to be that type of offense, and when superstars like DK Metcalf make the kind of plays he did against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 4, it’s easy to see how explosive they could be.

Starting games with that type of explosivity has proved to be a problem without an obvious solution. They’ve tried to take shots to Metcalf on opening drives without success. When they do move the ball down field, it’s slowly but surely as they run the ball and eat up clock.

The questions remain, but it’s on Tomlin and his staff to find answers. As they move through the middle portion of their schedule, they face tougher and tougher challenges and this streak will continue.

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