Since being hired by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2007, Mike Tomlin has been one of the best coaches in the NFL. Yet if there's one thing he's struggled with, it's getting his team prepared to play a Thursday night game on the road.
In his 18 seasons on the job, Tomlin has been the coach for a total of 11 Thursday night road games, and in those games the Steelers have gone 2-9.
Tomlin's Thursday night woes continued in Week 12 in Cleveland where the Browns pulled off a 24-19 upset. With the loss to the Browns, that means the Steelers are now 0-4 in Thursday night road games over the past five years.
The fact that the Steelers lost to the Browns is notable because it continued an ugly losing streak that's now been going on for 44 years. Since 1980, the Steelers have played a total of eight divisional road games on Thursday night and they've gone 0-8 in those games, which includes going 0-6 under Tomlin.
That's right: Every time the Steelers have played a divisional opponent on the road in a Thursday, they've lost. You can check out the list of games below.
Opponent | Score | Date |
Steelers at Oilers (AFC Central) | Oilers 6-0 over Steelers | Dec. 4, 1980 |
Steelers at Jaguars (AFC Central) | Jaguars 20-6 over Steelers | Dec. 2, 1999 |
Steelers at Browns (AFC North) | Browns 13-6 over Steelers | Dec. 10, 2009 |
Steelers at Ravens (AFC North) | Ravens 22-20 over Steelers | Nov. 28, 2013 |
Steelers at Ravens (AFC North) | Ravens 26-6 over Steelers | Sept. 11, 2014 |
Steelers at Browns (AFC North) | Browns 21-7 over Steelers | Nov. 14, 2019 |
Steelers at Browns (AFC North) | Browns 29-17 over Steelers | Sept. 22, 2022 |
Steelers at Browns (AFC North) | Browns 24-19 over Steelers | Nov. 21, 2024 |
No player on the current roster was born the last time the Steelers won a road Thursday game against a divisional opponent and Tomlin was just 8 years old.
Not only are the Steelers 0-8 in these games, but they're also 1-7 against the spread. Basically, betting on the Steelers in this situation has been a surefire way to lose money over the past 44 years. The Steelers were favored by 3.5 points during their loss to Cleveland on Thursday night.
Overall, the Steelers are 4-15 in Thursday night road games since 1980, but all four of those wins came against non-divisional opponents.
The only good news for the Steelers is that there are no more Thursday games remaining on their schedule.