Mike Tomlin mum on Steelers' coaching future after playoff loss to Texans, Aaron Rodgers offers support
What the veteran coach said after Pittsburgh's season-ending setback

The Pittsburgh Steelers have a decision to make with veteran coach Mike Tomlin following Monday night's disappointing 30-6 loss to the Houston Texans in the AFC wild card round of the NFL playoffs. The Steelers flatlined in the fourth quarter at home, which marks the seventh straight postseason loss for the franchise under Tomlin's watch.
Asked about his future in the aftermath, Tomlin was mum on making predictions.
"I'm not even in that mindset as I sit here tonight," said Tomlin, who just finished his 19th season as Pittsburgh's leader. "I'm more in the mindset of what transpired in this stadium and certainly what we did and didn't do. Not a big-picture mentality as I sit here tonight."
Tomlin said there wasn't much to say to his team following the humiliating setback.
"You know, it's not time for talk," Tomlin said. "We agreed that we'd meet tomorrow and go from there. When you're in this single-elimination tournament, there's not a whole lot to talk about. You win or you go home."
That's nine consecutive seasons without a playoff win for the Steelers, who might also be facing uncertainty at the quarterback position given Aaron Rodgers' upcoming choice of continuing his career or retiring.
Rodgers helped the Steelers clinched the division and a playoff berth earlier this month against the Baltimore Ravens, but failed to lead a touchdown drive in his postseason debut with Pittsburgh.
Rodgers backed Tomlin and harped on his success, mentioning how the NFL has altered its approach to retaining quality coaches during the later stages of his career. Rodgers even touched on the Green Bay Packers' situation with Matt LaFleur and defended his former coach from the NFC North amid job security questions.
"This league has changed a lot in my 21 years," Rodgers said. "When you hear a conversation about the Mike Tomlins of the world, Matt LaFleurs of the world, those are just two that I played for. When I first got in the league, there wouldn't be conversation about whether those guys were on the hot seat. But the way that the league is covered now and the way that there's snap decisions and the validity given to the Twitter experts and all the experts on TV now who make it seem like they know what the hell they're talking about, to me that's an absolute joke.
"For either of those two guys to be on the hot seat is really apropos of where we're at as a society and a league because obviously Matt's done a lot of great things in Green Bay and we had a lot of success. Mike T's had more success than damn near anybody in the league for the last 19, 20 years. More than that, though, when you have the right guy and the culture is right, you don't think about making a change. But there's a lot of pressure that comes from the outside and obviously that sways decisions from time to time, but it's not how I would do things and not how the league used to be."
Trailing 7-6 entering the fourth quarter against the Texans, the Steelers were outscored 23-0 over the final 15 minutes of action. The NFL's top defense listed the Steelers to 175 total yards, including 81 in the second half.
The loss was Pittsburgh's first at home on a Monday night since 1991. Tomlin's now tied with former Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis for the longest postseason losing streak in league history.
















