Chargers fire offensive coordinator Greg Roman and offensive line coach Mike Devlin The Associated Press EL SEGUNDO, Calif.
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — The Los Angeles Chargers fired offensive coordinator Greg Roman and offensive line coach Mike Devlin on Tuesday, two days after the team lost 16-3 to the New England Patriots in the wild-card round of the playoffs.
Roman spent two seasons as the Chargers' OC after previously holding the position with the Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers. Los Angeles posted back-to-back 11-6 seasons but lost its playoff opener each time, scoring a total of 15 points in the two games.
After Sunday night's game, coach Jim Harbaugh was asked if Roman was the right person to be calling plays and declined to give Roman a vote of confidence .
“Right now I don’t have the answers,” he said. “We’re going to look at that, at everything. It really falls on me that we weren't at our best tonight. I don’t have the answers. I wish I did.”
Devlin followed a seven-year career as an offensive lineman for Buffalo and Arizona as an offensive line coach for the Cardinals, Jets, Texans and Ravens before spending the last two seasons with the Cardinals.
Los Angeles lost both of its starting offensive tackles to season-ending injuries, and Chargers quarterbacks were sacked 60 times — second-worst in the NFL — in 2025. Justin Herbert was brought down six times on Sunday night.
The Chargers haven't won a postseason game since 2018 . Herbert is 0-3 in the playoffs for his career.
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Bears' wild-card win over Packers sets NFL streaming viewership record with 31.61 million average The Associated Press LOS ANGELES
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Chicago's come-from-behind victory over Green Bay in Saturday's wild-card round became the first NFL game to have over 30 million viewers on a streaming service.
The Bears' 31-27 victory averaged 31.61 million on Amazon Prime Video, according to Nielsen, and broke the previous standard by 4 million. That mark was set on Christmas Day, when Minnesota's win over Detroit averaged 27.52 million on Netflix.
Chicago trailed 27-16 with just under seven minutes left in the fourth quarter before Caleb Williams threw a pair of touchdown passes to lead the Bears to their first playoff win since the 2010 season.
It was the second year that Prime Video has had a playoff game. Last year's wild-card game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens averaged 22.07 million.
It was the third season the NFL has streamed the Saturday night wild-card game. The AFC wild-card game between the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs during the 2023 season averaged 23 million on Peacock.
Four of the five games on Saturday and Sunday delivered increases from last year.
Some of the increase can be attributed to a change in the way viewers are counted. Nielsen began using its Big Data + Panel methodology for all events last September with the start of the current television season.
Earlier this year, Nielsen began measuring out-of-home viewers for all states but Hawaii and Alaska, along with including data from smart TVs along with cable and satellite set-top boxes.
Nielsen previously measured only the top 44 media markets, which covered 65% of the country.
The most-watched game of the weekend was the Sunday late-afternoon game between San Francisco and Philadelphia, which averaged 41 million on Fox. That's a 14% increase over last year's game between the Eagles and Green Bay in that timeslot.
The 49ers' 23-19 victory was the most-watched wild-card game on any network since the 2021 season, when San Francisco against Dallas averaged 41.5 million on CBS.
Sunday's game between Buffalo and Jacksonville averaged 32.71 million on CBS, making the Bills' 27-24 win the most-watched early Sunday AFC wild-card game on any network. It was also a 5% jump over last year's contest between the Bills and Denver.
Fox also had Saturday afternoon's game between the Los Angeles Rams and Carolina. The Rams' 34-31 win averaged 27.98 million, up 7% from last year's matchup between the Los Angeles Chargers and Houston on CBS.
It was the most-watched Saturday afternoon wild-card game since NBC averaged 28.30 million for New Orleans against Seattle in 2011.
New England's 16-3 victory over the Chargers on NBC averaged 28.9 million, down slightly from the 29 million for last year's Washington-Tampa Bay game.
It was the most-watched prime-time event since last February's Super Bowl on Fox.
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Steelers and Texans nearly at full strength for wild-card showdown The Associated Press PITTSBURGH
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Houston Texans and Pittsburgh Steelers were remarkably healthy heading into Monday night's wild-card playoff game.
The Texans and the NFL's top-ranked defense received a boost hours before the game when reserve safety Jaylen Reed, who had been out since late November with a forearm injury, was activated off injured reserve.
Wide receiver Braxton Berrios, quarterback Graham Mertz, linebacker Christian Harris, offensive guard Juice Scruggs, running back Jawhar Jordan and cornerback Alijah Huzzie were inactive for Houston.
The AFC North champion Steelers had wide receiver DK Metcalf available after he served a two-game suspension for making contact with a fan in Detroit on Dec. 21. They were also nearly at full strength.
Running back Kaleb Johnson, wide receiver Roman Wilson, quarterback Will Howard, defensive lineman Logan Lee, outside linebacker Jeremiah Moon, offensive tackle Jack Driscoll and cornerback Tre Flowers were inactive for Pittsburgh.
The Steelers were looking to end a six-game playoff losing streak, while the Texans were searching for the first road postseason victory in franchise history.
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Seahawks begin preparing for 49ers after both coordinators interview for head coaching jobs By ANDREW DESTIN AP Sports Writer The Associated Press RENTON, Wash.
RENTON, Wash. (AP) — Ahead of the Seattle Seahawks' first home playoff game in five years, and their first in front of fans since 2017, their top two coordinators each spent the end of last week interviewing for jobs elsewhere.
Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak interviewed with the Baltimore Ravens , Atlanta Falcons and Miami Dolphins for their head coaching vacancies, while defensive coordinator Aden Durde did the same with the Falcons and Cleveland Browns . But Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald wasn't worried about his assistants' focus on their jobs ahead of Seattle's matchup with the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday.
The Seahawks had a bye as the No. 1 seed in the NFC, and Kubiak and Durde did their interviews on days the team was off.
“It worked out well that they had the two days off and they could kind of shift their focus,” Macdonald said. “Once it’s over, then that’s over and we’re able to move forward. So really fortunate we had the bye.”
Last week's practices, he said, consisted mostly of self-scouting and working ahead on potential playoff opponents. Now, Seattle has turned its focus to San Francisco, which ended Philadelphia's bid for a Super Bowl repeat with a 23-19 victory on Sunday.
“I think just watching it live, it was just an incredibly resilient win,” Macdonald said of the 49ers. “I mean, the team has a lot of character. They’re really tough. You know, but really it’s nothing new with these guys. It’s what you know. But it’s a heck of a win. Tough place to go and play and get a win.”
Arroyo and Bryant could return
Both tight end Elijah Arroyo (knee) and safety Coby Bryant (knee) are expected to practice this week. Arroyo, who missed the final four games of the regular season and landed on injured reserve, returned to practice last week and could play Saturday.
“Elijah is looking good,” Macdonald said. “He’s a possibility about coming back for this game.”
Bryant missed the Seahawks' last two games with a knee injury. Left tackle Charles Cross, who signed a four-year contract extension last week , is expected to be back in the starting lineup. Cross missed the last three games with a hamstring injury.
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Texans stifle Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers 30-6 for franchise's 1st road playoff win By WILL GRAVES AP Sports Writer The Associated Press PITTSBURGH
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Sheldon Rankins is well-versed in the Houston Texans' nondescript playoff history. The veteran defensive tackle is hell-bent on writing a different ending this time.
And he's hardly alone. The NFL's best defense is eager to prove it's a unit capable of winning a championship.
So far, so dominant and so, so good.
Rankins returned a fumble by Aaron Rodgers 33 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter to break open a tight game, and the Texans beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 30-6 on Monday night for the first road playoff win in franchise history.
“We're here for it all,” Rankins said after Houston (13-5) won its 10th straight game. “I won't sugarcoat it, won't dance around that topic. We're here for the whole thing.”
The next step comes Sunday at New England (15-3), where the Texans will try to reach the AFC Championship game for the first time.
If Houston can replicate what it did at chilly Acrisure Stadium, it might get there. The Texans limited Pittsburgh (10-8) to 175 total yards, including 81 in the second half. Coach DeMeco Ryans called it the best defensive performance in the franchise's 24-year history.
“Every time we go out there, we show (we're the best),” said Houston cornerback Calen Bullock, who picked off what might be the final pass of Rodgers' Hall of Fame career and raced 50 yards for the final score. “We went out there and showed it today. I don't think they even scored a touchdown.”
No, they didn't. The Steelers managed just a pair of first-half field goals by Chris Boswell to lose at home on a Monday night for the first time since 1991. Pittsburgh and coach Mike Tomlin have now dropped seven straight playoff games, with Tomlin tying former Bengals coach Marvin Lewis for the longest postseason losing skid in NFL history.
“I don't necessarily compare it to any other moment,” Tomlin said. “It's the here and now, and certainly it's difficult. But that's what we sign up for. That's the life we live.”
C.J. Stroud turned it over three times but also threw a first-half touchdown pass to Christian Kirk, who had eight catches for 144 yards. Woody Marks had 112 yards rushing for Houston, which had been 0-6 on the road in the postseason.
“It's all about moving forward and trying your best to flush it and keep going,” Stroud said. “Every time we had to bounce back, we made more plays.”
Marks' 13-yard touchdown run with 3:43 to go sealed it, and Bullock got his pick-6 less than a minute later.
Rodgers passed for just 146 yards in the final game of his 21st season. Whether there's a 22nd is anyone's guess. The four-time MVP will take some time before deciding whether to return next fall.
While Rodgers' play down the stretch was one of the reasons the Steelers won the AFC North, he struggled in much the same way as his predecessors, Russell Wilson and Mason Rudolph, did.
“I'm not going to make any emotional decisions,” Rodgers said. “I'm disappointed. Obviously, it was such a fun year. A lot of adversity but a lot of fun.”
More adversity than fun in the end. Rodgers' final pass of the night was a forced downfield throw that Bullock stepped in front of, and Rodgers tried and failed to tackle Bullock on the way to the end zone.
The Steelers’ defense, long the biggest problem during a playoff victory drought that is nearing a decade, forced Stroud into numerous mistakes and kept Pittsburgh in the game until late.
The result, however, was the same as it has been for the Steelers and Tomlin since they fell to New England in the 2016 AFC championship game, with a long walk to the locker room and a longer-than-hoped-for offseason to figure out what went wrong.
Houston’s victory was hardly a thing of beauty, as a thrilling opening weekend of the playoffs ended with a rock fight between clubs trying to shed some ignominious playoff history.
The Texans survived the way they have much of the season, by letting the league's best defense smother their opponent.
The Steelers failed to capitalize on the miscues from a jittery Stroud, who fumbled twice and threw a pick. Pittsburgh scored just three points off those turnovers.
Not even the return of wide receiver DK Metcalf from a two-game suspension for making contact with a fan in Detroit helped. Metcalf finished with two catches for 42 yards and had a critical drop that cost the Steelers a chance to extend a 3-0 lead.
The Texans gathered themselves after an iffy start and took a 7-6 lead when Stroud finished off a 16-play, 92-yard drive by flipping a pass to Kirk for a 4-yard touchdown.
Unlike a heart-stopping fourth-quarter rally against Baltimore that earned them their first AFC North title since 2020, this time there was no late-game magic from Rodgers or his teammates.
While Tomlin, the NFL’s longest-tenured coach, is all but assured of returning for a 20th season if he wants — even if there were chants for his firing in the final moments — Pittsburgh heads into yet another offseason in search of a quarterback and answers to a playoff drought whose weight seems to grow by the year.
Houston, meanwhile, heads to New England as the hottest team in the NFL with a quarterback who will be eager for a chance at a reprieve and a defense that can keep a game close against any opponent.
Injuries
Texans: WRs Nico Collins and Justin Watson both went into the concussion protocol in the second half. S Jaylen Reed (forearm), who was activated off injured reserve early Monday, left briefly in the first quarter with a knee injury.
Up next
Texans: Face the Patriots for the first time this season.
Steelers: The NFL draft, which Pittsburgh is hosting in late April.
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Mike Tomlin and the Steelers face familiar questions after their latest early playoff exit By DAN SCIFO Associated Press The Associated Press PITTSBURGH
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers found themselves in a familiar spot.
Monday night's wild-card playoff game against Houston was close through three quarters, but Sheldon Rankins’ 33-yard fumble return for a touchdown allowed the Texans and their top-ranked defense to break it open and beat the Steelers 30-6 .
“Certainly a disappointing end to our season,” Tomlin said. “We’ve got to give Houston a lot of credit, in particular their defensive unit. I thought they ruled the day.”
Tomlin and the Steelers lost their seventh straight playoff game. It’s the longest active postseason losing streak in the league, and Tomlin matched Marvin Lewis of the Bengals for the longest playoff skid by an NFL coach.
The Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since beating Kansas City in the 2016 divisional round, and whether Tomlin will be back for a 20th season in Pittsburgh is once again an open question — one that Tomlin declined to address in the aftermath of the loss.
“I’m not in the big-picture perspective,” Tomlin said. “I’m just not in that mindset. I don’t think about the totality of it. You pour everything that you have into these performances and what goes on tonight.”
Pittsburgh lost a scheduled Monday night home game for the first time since Oct. 14, 1991, to the New York Giants. The Steelers were unbeaten in their past 23 such games.
Aaron Rodgers threw for 146 yards and the Steelers were limited to 175 yards of total offense. Calen Bullock scored Houston’s second defensive touchdown of the fourth quarter with a 50-yard pick-6 on what may have been the final throw of Rodgers’ 21-year career. The four-time MVP plans to take time before deciding whether to return for another season.
“I’m not going to make any emotional decisions,” Rodgers said. “I’m disappointed. It was such a fun year. Obviously, a lot of adversity, but a lot of fun.”
The Steelers forced Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud into a number of mistakes throughout the first three quarters. Stroud fumbled five times — he lost two of them — and threw an interception, but the Steelers couldn't manage a single touchdown.
Houston led 10-6 when Will Anderson Jr. sacked Rodgers, and Rankins picked up the ball and returned it to the end zone.
“I didn’t feel like we ever got the momentum on our side, honestly,” Rodgers said. “We had a lot of chances. Defense played really good in the first half. (Houston) has a good defense. But we had a lot of opportunities.”
A week earlier, Rodgers threw for a season-high 294 yards and the Steelers rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat the Baltimore Ravens and win their eighth AFC North title under Tomlin.
On Monday night, the home crowd booed Tomlin and the Steelers off the field, and chants for his firing could be heard in the final minutes.
“I don’t really care about that noise because they don’t know what (Tomlin) puts into this,” veteran defensive lineman Cam Heyward said. “They don’t know how he goes out of his way to prepare every man. They don’t know about the countless nights he is in there studying film. Coaches can only do so much. Players have to play better and in those critical moments, they have to step up.”
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NFL's wild-card weekend was full of fourth-down fun and folly along with a dearth of punts By ARNIE STAPLETON AP Pro Football Writer The Associated Press
The NFL set a record for fewest punts per game in 2025, and wild-card weekend was filled with fourth-down fun and folly as punters were mostly spectators, especially Chicago's Tory Taylor, who never stepped off the sideline in the Bears' come-from-behind win over the Green Bay Packers.
In all, teams converted 15 of 29 fourth down attempts on wild-card weekend, when there were only 41 punts, nine of them Monday night in the Houston Texans' 30-6 rout of Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Bears first-year coach Ben Johnson was particularly aggressive, going for it a half-dozen times on fourth down Saturday night, including two backfires in the first half that led to a pair of Green Bay touchdowns and put the Bears in a 21-3 halftime hole.
Caleb Williams was intercepted on fourth-and-6 from the Packers 40-yard line, leading to Jordan Love's 18-yard touchdown throw, and Williams threw incomplete on fourth-and-5 from his own 32. That one led to Love's TD throw on fourth-and-goal from the Bears 2 that gave Green Bay an 18-point halftime cushion.
The Packers couldn't capitalize on another turnover on downs by Chicago just before halftime because Brandon McManus missed a 55-yard field goal on the final play after Williams threw incomplete deep on fourth-and-4 from the Green Bay 37.
When Prime Video's sideline reporter Kaylee Hartung asked the Bears' coach about his aggressive approach and going for it on fourth down multiple times on his own side of the field, Johnson replied, “Yeah, we want to maximize our possessions and we want to go for fourth-down plays."
Her follow-up was about how to slow down Green Bay's efficient offense.
“That's a big reason why we're being aggressive on offense, so that we can extend our drives and score points ourselves,” Johnson said. “It's a really good offense we're going against.”
Although the Bears would convert just twice on their six fourth downs — Green Bay was 3 for 3 on fourth down — that strategy paid off in the end. Williams threw a 27-yard pass to Rome Odunze to the Packers' 30-yard line, which led to the TD that pulled Chicago to 27-24 with 4:21 remaining.
Johnson said the game plan featured an aggressive fourth-down mentality, and "I think where it gets misconstrued is, there’s a lack of confidence in your defense when you do that. I think the opposite, I think it’s because I have confidence in our defense and their ability to stop teams in the red zone."
“I’m never going to apologize for being aggressive or doing things that might be a little unorthodox,” Johnson added, "if it’s what we deem is best for us to win a ballgame.”
Johnson was the Lions' offensive coordinator when Detroit blew a 17-point halftime lead and lost the NFC championship to San Francisco 34-31 after the 2023 season. In that game, Lions coach Dan Campbell went for it on fourth down twice in field-goal range but came up short, later saying he'd do it again if he could.
Those failures didn't curtail the Lions' aggressive fourth-down philosophy, one that Johnson took to Chicago when he was hired by the Bears a year ago.
He had plenty of company over the weekend as a trend from the regular season continued. There were just 3.55 punts per game per team this season and that figure fell in the first round of the playoffs with teams averaging just 3.41 punts per game.
The Panthers and Rams got the fun going Saturday when early fourth-down failures led to touchdowns by each team.
Trevor Lawrence thought he had the first down when the Jaguars went for it on fourth-and-2 from the Buffalo 9 only to see the review reveal his shin had hit the ground shy of the first-down marker, a fourth-down faux pas that proved pivotal in Jacksonville's 27-24 loss to the Bills .
The Bills twice went for it on fourth-and-1 deep in Jaguars territory. Josh Allen had a four-yard keeper on the first one and was carried nine yards on an astonishing tush push to the 1 that also led to a Buffalo touchdown.
The 49ers didn't attempt a single fourth-down conversion in their 23-19 win at Philadelphia, where the Eagles were 3-for-5 on fourth down.
The Patriots converted their only fourth-down try, on fourth-and-4 from the Chargers' 30, which led to a field goal. When the Chargers took a delay after failing to induce an offsides call and then punted from midfield, NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth said, “I think Jim Harbaugh's been watching the games this weekend.”
And when Steelers coach Mike Tomlin chose to take the three points with a 32-yard field goal try rather that chancing it on fourth-and-3 from the Houston 14 Monday night, ESPN analyst Troy Aikman commented: “We're in a time as we all know when a lot of offenses would be going for it. ... But points are going to be (at) a premium. You've got two defenses that are capable of dominating their opponent. Get 'em when you can.”
Well, points certainly were at a premium for Pittsburgh, which hung in there most of the night before the Texans' 23-0 fourth-quarter blitz in what might have been Rodgers' farewell game.
If so, Rodgers' final pass was a pick-6 by safety Calen Bullock, whose 50-yard interception return for a touchdown came on ... you guessed it, fourth down.
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Panthers GM says team will pick up QB Bryce Young's 5th year option, no timeline on extension By STEVE REED AP Sports Writer The Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Carolina Panthers general manager Dan Morgan said the team plans to pick up the fifth-year option on quarterback Bryce Young's contract, but stopped short of saying whether the team will begin long-term contract extension discussions with the 2023 No. 1 overall pick.
Once the team picks up the option, Young will be under contract through the 2027 season, so the Panthers aren't in a huge rush to make a long-term decision on Young.
Morgan said he and executive vice president of football operations Brandt Tilis will meet to talk about whether to begin discussing a contract extension with Young this offseason or wait to see how the 2026 season plays out before making a long-term commitment.
Morgan didn't say when the team would make a decision on Young, who is 14-30 as a starter since coming into the league.
“We are still talking through the roster and where things look from a big picture view,” Morgan said at his season-ending news conference on Tuesday. “That is still stuff that is up in the air that we are still working through at this point.”
The 24-year-old Young will cost the Panthers $12 million under the salary cap next season, and is estimated to make $26.5 million in 2027 once the team picks up the fifth-year option, per Overthecap.com.
Young had a promising season in 2025, completing 63.6% of his passes for a career-high 3,011 yards with 23 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He was 8-8 as a starter in the regular season, a marked improvement from his 6-22 record over his first two seasons in the league.
The Panthers lost to the Los Angeles Rams 34-31 in the playoffs on Saturday, but not before Young threw a go-ahead touchdown pass to Jalen Coker with 2:39 left to briefly give the Panthers the lead.
Matthew Stafford led a game-winning drive to beat the Panthers.
The Panthers finished 8-10 (including the playoffs) and lost four of their final five games this season.
Young's 12 game-winning drives in the fourth quarter and/or overtime are the most by any quarterback since the 2023 season.
“Bryce has shown flashes of greatness this year against high-level competition,’’ Morgan said. “Just as a team we weren’t as consistent as we want to be on a game-to-game basis, but that’s part of what happens with a young team."
Morgan also said he expects Tilis to return next season after he interviewed for the vacant Atlanta Falcons team president position last week.
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The Steelers are in NFL purgatory. They'll have to find a way out without Mike Tomlin By WILL GRAVES AP Sports Writer The Associated Press PITTSBURGH
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Mike Tomlin, as always, got right to the point.
“When you don’t get it done, words are cheap,” a subdued Tomlin said Monday night after the Pittsburgh Steelers were quickly ushered out of the playoffs again, this time in a 30-6 loss to Houston . “It’s about what you do or you don’t do.”
And now it's someone else's turn to try to do it in Pittsburgh.
The NFL's longest-tenured head coach stepped down on Tuesday, when one of the league's marquee franchises set a new course amid a postseason victory drought that is nearing a decade.
Tomlin's decision came less than 24 hours after a season that felt increasingly familiar for the Steelers. As the years passed and the path changed, the final destination never did: A playoff berth was followed by a quick exit and another long offseason filled with questions about how this keeps happening.
And rather than try to run it back for a 20th season, Tomlin decided to move on.
The Steelers (10-8) spent the final five weeks of the regular season convincing themselves they had figured things out. They won four of five, including a sweep of Baltimore , to claim their first AFC North title since 2020. They were playing a Texans franchise that had never won a playoff game on the road. They were getting DK Metcalf back from a two-game suspension , and Rodgers was showing flashes deep into his 21st season that there was still a little magic in his right arm.
Except it didn't matter in a game that wasn't decided by good vibes but by great defense.
The Texans have one. The Steelers do not. The proof was laid bare during an embarrassingly lopsided fourth quarter. While Pittsburgh wilted on a night it let Houston convert 10 of 16 third downs, Houston was bullying Rodgers into mistakes that ended with defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins and cornerback Calen Bullock prancing into the end zone to turn a one-point game into the biggest blowout home playoff loss in Steelers history.
Afterward, “Renegade,” the classic rock song by Styx that long has served as the calling card for the Pittsburgh defense, blared in the Houston locker room.
A couple of hundred feet away, the Steelers packed up in near silence.
Well, almost near silence.
The one constant during the franchise's extended run in NFL purgatory — Pittsburgh has lost seven straight playoff games, now the longest active streak in the league — has been Tomlin. The 53-year-old, whose 193 regular-season victories are tied with Hall of Famer Chuck Noll for the most in franchise history, has long been a flashpoint for a fan base where seasons are defined almost solely on whether they end with a downtown parade, the Lombardi Trophy in tow.
It's been nearly two decades since that happened, and a full 15 years and counting since Pittsburgh played in the final game of the season. Yet the reality is the Steelers seem no closer to breaking through now than they were in 2024 or 2023 or 2021 or 2020 or 2017 , all of which ended with one-and-done playoff cameos.
It put one of the most venerable brands in professional sports in a nearly impossible spot. No other coach in NFL history had gone 19 straight seasons without a losing record. Yet the “Fire Tomlin!” chants that popped up during a late-November loss to Buffalo were heard again Monday night as Acrisure Stadium emptied.
Tomlin again brushed off questions about his future in the aftermath. Yet while he said he remained “optimistic” about the club's ability to put together a contender, he ultimately decided it was time for something new, even as his players rose to his defense.
Heyward and Rodgers, two of Tomlin's staunchest supporters in the locker room, both offered up an impassioned defense of their coach. Rodgers called speculation about the job status of Tomlin and Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur — whom Rodgers spent five seasons alongside with the Packers — “an absolute joke.”
Nobody was laughing as the Steelers filed out down a long hallway and into the offseason. Their path carried them past the visitor's locker room, where the music blared as the Texans celebrated and turned their eye toward a trip to New England in the divisional round.
The distance from the somberness of the hallway to the euphoria of the victory party was maybe a dozen or so steps.
In many ways, it felt a lot longer.
And a new chapter for both the Steelers and the coach who defined them for nearly two decades awaits.
What about Rodgers?
Rodgers did nothing to tarnish his Hall of Fame legacy after signing with the Steelers last June. The 42-year-old led Pittsburgh to the playoffs, and his leadership on a young offense helped the club regain its footing after a midseason swoon.
Yet the four-time MVP's limitations were on full display against the Texans. Unable to move around like he used to, he sometimes rushed throws when pressured or found himself at the bottom of a dogpile. While he believes there are pieces in Pittsburgh to keep the Steelers competitive in 2026 and beyond, whether Rodgers wants to come back — or the club wants to have him back — for a 22nd season is anyone's guess.
If both sides move on — which seems likely given Tomlin's departure — the Steelers will have their sixth different Week 1 starting quarterback in as many seasons.
Kenny G's final bow?
Running back Kenny Gainwell turned his one-year free-agent deal into one of the biggest bargains in the league , posting career highs in yards rushing, receiving and touchdowns on his way to being named the team's unlikely Most Valuable Player.
The 26-year-old set himself up for a significant pay raise when he hits the open market in March. Gainwell and Jaylen Warren proved to be one of the better running back tandems in the league, though it's fair to wonder if Gainwell's play priced himself out of town.
Other notable free agents include veteran guard Isaac Seumalo, wide receiver Calvin Austin III, safety Kyle Dugger, cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. and tight end/fullback Connor Heyward.
Up next
There are less than 100 days until the Steelers host the NFL draft in late April. The city has spent more than a year planning for a massive influx of fans for one of the league's marquee events.
Show business aside, the franchise will have some real work to do. Pittsburgh has the 21st overall selection but plenty of draft capital thanks to an accumulation of picks in recent years if general manager Omar Khan wants to trade up.
While landing a potential franchise quarterback remains at the top of the team's to-do list, the quality of the field has thinned compared with where most thought it would be last summer.
Maybe that means the Steelers look to make key additions elsewhere — a dynamic wide receiver to put across from Metcalf is a must — while kicking the can down the road in its seemingly eternal search for Ben Roethlisberger's replacement.
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Vikings receiver Jordan Addison faces misdemeanor trespassing charge after arrest in Florida By DAVE CAMPBELL AP Pro Football Writer The Associated Press EAGAN, Minn.
EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Jordan Addison faces a misdemeanor trespassing charge following his arrest in Florida.
According to Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office arrest records , Addison was detained in Tampa by Seminole Indian Police at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino at 3:46 a.m. Monday. He was released on $500 cash bond in the afternoon. No further information on the arrest was immediately available, Seminole spokesman Gary Bitner said.
Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and coach Kevin O'Connell, at their season-ending news conferences on Tuesday, both declined to speak specifically about the arrest that they said the organization had just learned about.
Addison served a three-game suspension to start the 2025 season for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy, stemming from his drunken driving arrest in Los Angeles the year before after police found him asleep at the wheel of his car near the airport.
The 2023 first-round draft pick was also cited by Minnesota state police for driving 140 mph on a freeway in a 55 mph zone near downtown St. Paul, a few days before his first training camp.
Addison’s rookie contract gives the Vikings prime value from a salary cap management standpoint, with a decision on whether or not to exercise his fifth-year option due by May 1. But the off-the-field matters factor into the evaluation, too.
“Just a few days after the season and obviously this event just happened, but always supportive of Jordan Addison," Adofo-Mensah said. "We’ll continue to fact-find and see what actually happened, and then we’ll have those conversations in the future.”
Addison averaged a career-best 14.5 yards per reception this season, and he scored on a 65-yard run in Week 17. But he was down in every other measure from his promising first two years, finishing with just 42 catches on 79 targets for 610 yards and three touchdowns in 14 games. According to Sportradar tracking, Addison had six drops, by far the most on the team.
Third receiver Jalen Nailor had a solid season and can be an unrestricted free agent in two months.
“Jordan is unique, because 99% of the days that Jordan Addison is a Viking, he’s a joy to be around,” Adofo-Mensah said. “He’s incredibly intelligent, confident, responsible. And then it’s like all of us: What are you like on those 1% of days? Is it the type of thing that draws attention or not? Obviously that’s something we have to consider when you’re talking about long-term ramifications of a contract extension and different things like that, or letting somebody like Jalen Nailor leave."
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