It seems pretty safe to say that Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce thinks Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin should keep his job.
Amid calls for Tomlin’s firing with the Steelers’ playoff hopes hanging on by a thread heading into the season finale, Kelce ripped the media for even mentioning the possibility that Tomlin could get canned.
“The media are so dumb. Why do we even do media? They’re just a bunch of jackasses,” Kelce said on his New Heights Podcast. “(They’re) just out there talking nonsense. One of the best coaches the NFL has ever seen, about to possibly get his 17th consecutive non-losing season. Jesus Christ.”
Pittsburgh is 8-8 going into Week 18 and needs a win over the Baltimore Ravens plus some help in order to secure a postseason berth.
The Steelers were 6-3 at one point earlier this season but went on to lose four of their next five games. They have rebounded by winning two straight, most recently defeating the Seattle Seahawks last weekend. Now, they need to beat the NFL-best Ravens on the road.
The good news for Pittsburgh is that Baltimore has already clinched the No. 1 overall seed in the AFC, so John Harbaugh may opt to sit some key players this Sunday.
Tomlin took over as Steelers coach back in 2007 and led the franchise to a Super Bowl championship as soon as his second season at the helm.
Overall, Tomlin has gone 180-109-2 (including playoffs) in 17 seasons as Pittsburgh’s coach. He guided the team to another Super Bowl appearance during the 2010-11 campaign, but fell to the Green Bay Packers. He has also logged seven AFC North division titles, although the Steelers have won just won division crown in the last six years.
As Travis Kelce mentioned, Mike Tomlin has never had a losing season. He registered three 8-8 campaigns, but that is now no longer possible due to the NFL expanding the schedule to 17 games.
Pittsburgh has also not posted a losing season since 2003 as a whole, when Bill Cowher was still head coach.
Want the latest NFL analysis, breaking news, and insider information? Click here. Interested in reading storylines and analysis about the NBA? Check out our partner NBA Analysis Network.