Tim Benz: On Mike Tomlin, Steelers playoff droughts, NFL comps, history lessons

Given the Pittsburgh Steelers’ track record since 1972, NFL fans in the city may have a slightly skewed vision of success versus failure.

That’s my nice way of saying, “Yinz know, Stiller fans are spoiled, n’at, right?”

Granted, if the Steelers fail to make the playoffs again in 2020, that’ll be three seasons in a row. And it’ll be four without a postseason victory.

In Pittsburgh, that feels like a desert.

Compare that to some other places, though.

Take a look at a few of these franchises who happened to finish with the same record or better than the Steelers in 2019.

Baltimore Ravens: Just one playoff win (at Heinz Field following the 2014 season) over the past seven years.

San Francisco 49ers: Five-year playoff drought before their NFC title run last year.

Buffalo Bills: No playoff wins since the beginning of 1996 and just five trips in those 24 seasons.

Tennessee Titans: Prior to their two wins in the postseason last year, the Titans had just one playoff victory since the start of the 2004 season.

Dallas Cowboys: Just one playoff win in the past five seasons, only two since 2010, only four since 1997.

Just to pluck a few examples.

Nonetheless, the thought of a fourth consecutive campaign without a postseason win would make many Steelers fans shudder. Because — as a certain head coach has been known to say — “the standard is the standard.”

In a normal year, some of the national talking-head shows may be throwing around phrases like “hot seat,” “make or break” or “pivotal” to describe what 2020 could mean for Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin.

Especially with Ben Roethlisberger returning to action and a strong defensive roster.

But in Pittsburgh, as agitated as some within the fan base may be with Tomlin, most realize the Rooney family is much more patient than the average NFL ownership group.

Also, factor in Roethlisberger’s absence last year and the incredibly odd circumstances surrounding 2020’s offseason, and I doubt Art Rooney II is going to have the magnifying glass on Tomlin as much as some outside of Western Pa. may eventually expect.

If you think that sounds like moving the goalposts to make excuses or — dare I say it — to lower the “standard” from the Bill Cowher and Chuck Noll days, that’s not exactly true.

Consider these numbers.

• Cowher had a stretch of three years with no playoff appearances between 1998-2000.

• Super Bowl XIV — Noll’s fourth ring — ended the 1979 season. Cowher’s first two seasons were 1992 and 1993. Cowher’s teams qualified for the playoffs his first two years, but he didn’t win a postseason contest until 1994.

So, from 1980-1993, the Steelers only won two playoff games (’84 divisional round, ’89 wild card). Both came during 9-7 seasons under Noll and were road upsets in Denver and Houston, respectively.

• That victory in Houston was Noll’s only playoff win — and 1989 was his only playoff year — over his last seven years on the sideline.

• Those two playoff wins were the only ones Noll had his last 12 years. He missed the playoffs eight of his final 12 seasons. He finished with a losing record four times in that span.

• Tomlin has eight playoff victories in his first 13 seasons as Steelers head coach. That’s exactly the same number as Cowher in his first 13 seasons. It wasn’t until Cowher’s 14th season that he won four more games en route to his first Super Bowl trophy.

I am aware that the number of playoff teams and bracketing is different now as opposed to when Noll and Cowher were coaching. I’m just providing context via some of Tomlin’s two Hall of Fame predecessors and other organizations.

None of this is to excuse Tomlin, or suggest he’s been as good as Cowher or Noll, or that I’m tearing down Cowher or Noll to build up Tomlin.

For Tomlin’s part, seven of the past nine seasons have ended without a playoff win. He has just three playoff victories since going to Super Bowl XLV. Should the Steelers fail to win a playoff game again this year, it’d be the second stretch of four years in a row that the organization would wrap up without tasting playoff success under Tomlin.

Defensive end Cam Heyward has played under Tomlin since 2011. On Thursday, I asked him if he’s getting the sense that the lack of recent playoff victories is starting to wear on his coach.

“It’s eating at all of us,” Heyward said. “We’ve dropped the ball. It’s unacceptable not to make the playoffs.

“One thing is that (Tomlin) has always been consistent. He doesn’t change up his messages. He just beats the drum. He expects us to perform. And if we can’t do it, then we have to make some changes.”

It sounded as if Heyward was talking about the roster and not the head coach’s office. My guess is Rooney II will be thinking the same way.

Unless the wheels completely fall off the wagon and they go 6-10 or worse.

Short of a catastrophe, if Tomlin got a four-year stretch without a playoff win previously, he’ll get another one here. If Cowher and Noll got three-year voids without the playoffs, Tomlin will be afforded one as well.

Circumstances of the pandemic and the news cycle may be minimizing the annual hyperbole that often swirls around Tomlin this time of year.

A deeper look at the history helps, too.