He didn’t kiss criticism goodbye, but Steelers' Mike Tomlin moves into top 10 in all-time coaching wins

BALTIMORE — Mike Tomlin encountered a CBS camera while he was on the field in the moments after his team’s impressive and much-needed victory Sunday.

His palm inward, Tomlin raised his right hand to his mouth, and he blew the camera an emphatic kiss.

Mike Tomlin ???? pic.twitter.com/Lz7NQVvJev

— NFL on CBS ???? (@NFLonCBS) December 7, 2025

Was the Pittsburgh Steelers coach kissing his team’s two-game losing skid goodbye? Or to what was a tumultuous week in which his job was openly questioned inside and outside of the city he has called home for 19 seasons?

It would be naive of Tomlin to believe that Sunday’s 27-22 Steelers’ victory would mean he could kiss goodbye the crescendo of perturbed Steelers fans who have been calling for his job.

For the moment, at least, those “Fire Tomlin” chants late in last week’s home loss? They’re quieted. The Steelers (7-6) are back in first place.

“It means maybe you guys,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said to assembled media after the game, “will shut the hell up for a week.”

Rodgers spoke with a coy smirk as he raised his eyebrows in a side-eye glance. Whether he was speaking directly to reporters or was sending a message to fans via them, Rodgers was making his point.

Asked what this win means after the week of negativity about the team and coach Mike Tomlin, Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers says:

“Means maybe you guys will shut the hell up for a week.” pic.twitter.com/Y3oRjLz3g6

— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) December 7, 2025

If falling to .500 with their fifth loss in seven games Nov. 30 was something of a rock-bottom for these Steelers, players maintain it was Tomlin’s steady hand that helped guide them back into position to win the AFC North.

“The outside noise is the outside noise,” defensive co-captain Cameron Heyward said. “We keep it out there. In-house, it’s pretty harmonious because we understand that we’ve all got to be better. We own that, and we’re accountable. And I think when you approach a game like this, it’s a game where you can either look in the mirror and say, ‘How can I be better?’ Or, you’re falling flat on your face. So I thought a lot of guys did that (Sunday).”

Heyward downplayed any sort of “Win one for the Gipper” element of the Steelers’ effort Sunday, instead implying the best compliment the team could pay its coach was to execute and perform as a manner of showing they were well-prepared and well-coached.

Rodgers, though, wasn’t the only prominent Steeler who showed more of a defiant tone.

Patrick Queen likewise shrugs off Tomlin criticism as a product of the media, says the Steelers stayed together https://t.co/7KSPJjNbcK pic.twitter.com/o0rpO6PdLA

— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) December 7, 2025

“At the end of the day,” linebacker Patrick Queen said of the talk surrounding Tomlin, “that’s the media. Media is gonna do stuff like that. We could care less.”

The win was Tomlin’s 23rd in 41 meetings (including playoffs) against the Ravens. More notably, Sunday was the 190th regular-season victory of Tomlin’s career, moving him into a tie for 10th place on the NFL’s all-time wins list with Dan Reeves.

“ ‘Coach T’ is a great leader for us,” receiver DK Metcalf said. “He’s done nothing but take the bullets for us … when we’re high and when we’re low. He’s always come in every day and has been steady and stayed the same, always motivated us to always play our best ball. That’s what he did this past week.”

The Steelers need only one win over their next three games to assure themselves — at worst — a chance to make the Week 18 rematch with Baltimore one for the AFC North championship.

Still, no one is foolish enough to believe that a loss next week at home against the Miami Dolphins wouldn’t again crank up that “outside noise.”

“At the end of the day, people are going to say what they say,” cornerback Brandin Echols said. “Fans are going to say what they want. You can’t control that. You can’t do nothing until you win.”