Tim Benz: If Mike Tomlin says Steelers non-losing-season streak is 'little, silly' sidebar, then let's treat it that way

The Pittsburgh Steelers haven’t had a losing season since 2003. After 18 consecutive years of being at least .500 or better, the team currently has a 6-8 record. So that streak will end if the team loses any of its remaining three games against the Las Vegas Raiders (Dec. 24), the Baltimore Ravens (Jan. 1) or the Cleveland Browns (Jan. 8).

Speaking on Monday, safety Minkah Fitzpatrick didn’t seem overly enthused by the mediocrity of chasing a ninth win. Rather, his motivation seems to be one of avoiding the burden of seeing his name on a roster that allows the streak to die.

“I take pride in it. I don’t want to be on that team that snaps that streak. I know coach (Mike) Tomlin takes a lot of pride in what he does. I take a lot of pride in what I do. So if I can do anything I can to keep that streak alive, that’s what I am going to do,” Fitzpatrick said

Over the past few weeks, other players sang slightly different lyrics, but they all hit the same notes. That strikes me as the proper stance for them to take because there will be no praise for merely going 9-8 (or 8-8-1) and missing the playoffs for the third time in five years.

There will, however, be a similar stigma associated with this club that still hangs over the ‘03 roster. To date, it’s the only one in the Acrisure Stadium/Heinz Field era to register a losing season.

And no one currently wearing Black and Gold wants to be associated with that. Most of all, Tomlin. Even though the franchise’s streak pre-dates Tomlin’s hire by three years, it seems to be universally associated with Tomlin’s resume above all else.

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To the point that the streak is wielded like a trump card to sweep the deck of any criticism that’s ever been levied at Tomlin’s feet over the last decade or so.

Tomlin critics: “This is likely to be the sixth straight year without a playoff win for Tomlin — the longest such Steelers streak since before the Immaculate Reception.”

Tomlin defenders: “Don’t you know he’s never had a losing season?!”

Tomlin critics: “This will be the 10th year over the last 12 that will end without a playoff victory for Tomlin, despite having a Hall of Fame quarterback and numerous All-Pros along the way.”

Tomlin defenders: “Don’t you know he’s never had a losing season?!”

Tomlin critics: “Assuming the Steelers don’t make the playoffs this year, that’ll mean that since the start of the 2012 season, Tomlin’s teams will have missed the postseason almost as many times (5) as they have qualified (6).”

Tomlin defenders: “Don’t you know he’s never had a losing season?!”

Tomlin critics: “The Steelers’ long record of successful drafting, development and shrewd free agency moves have waned over the last five years. And Tomlin is influential in those elements of the team.”

Tomlin defenders: “Don’t you know he’s never had a losing season?!”

Tomlin critics: “Antonio Brown’s meltdown. Suspensions of Ben Roethlisberger, Le’Veon Bell and Martavis Bryant. Melvin Ingram, LeGarrette Blount and James Harrison all sulked their way off the team. All these things occurred on Tomlin’s watch.”

Tomlin defenders: “Don’t you know he’s never had a losing season?!”

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

But, to be clear, that argument is often offered on behalf of Tomlin by others. Tomlin doesn’t advance that argument as a defense of himself.

At least not publicly. In fact, on Tuesday, I asked him how important the .500-or-better-streak is to him and if it should be important to his players.

“We hadn’t talked about it,” Tomlin replied. “We just focus on this week. If you do, it kind of checks some of those silly peripheral boxes. We’ve got a big game this week (versus the Raiders). We win this game; we do what’s required to prepare to win this game; it answers all those little sidebar silly questions.”

Well, if the prospect of the .500-plus streak ending is “little,” “silly” and a “sidebar,” then I guess extending it would be as well. Wouldn’t it?

Keep that “little silly sidebar” characterization in mind if the Steelers somehow manage to win all three of their remaining games and Steelers Twitter explodes as if the team has just won its seventh Super Bowl by way of achieving that “accomplishment.”

Because we all know that’s how it’ll be treated.

Hey, if you’ve forgotten what it’s like to experience a playoff win, you gotta pump up any meager milestone somewhere, right?

In the big picture? Over the breadth of Tomlin’s career? Sure. Someday we should all look back and say, “(Fill in the blank years) without a losing season, that’s impressive.”

Because it is. Even if it ends this year at 15, it’ll be impressive. Just like we now have enough distance from Roethlisberger’s career and can proudly say, “Hey, how about that Big Ben, huh? Seventeen years of quarterbacking in the NFL, and the guy never had a losing season. That’s pretty good.”

To be honest, this whole conversation is really more of a Roethlisberger streak than anyone else’s. That’ll be underscored if the streak should end this year immediately upon his retirement after it began in 2004 when he led the franchise to the AFC title game as a rookie.

But no one really wanted to hear that when Big Ben and the Steelers were getting stomped out of the playoffs by Kansas City and Cleveland the last two years.

And I certainly don’t want to hear it advanced as a defense of Tomlin’s recent mediocrity if the verbiage becomes, “Don’t you know he’s only had one losing season?!”

If Tomlin is now calling the foundational argument of those defending him “silly” and “sidebar,” there’s no reason for us to turn it into something more than that.