The winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers come to Heinz Field Sunday to play the Pittsburgh Steelers and a popular narrative leading up to the game seems to be centered around head coach Mike Tomlin and is inability to beat teams with a losing record. In fact, I had one reader email me to say that Tomlin is just slightly over .500 against teams with a losing record since he became the head coach in 2007. Let’s have a look.
For starters, I understand why this current narrative exist and that’s because over the course of the last two seasons the Steelers are 6-8 against teams that have more losses than wins when they play them.
Prior to 2012, however, Tomlin had a record of 27-8 against teams with a losing record when the Steelers played them. Heading into Sunday’s game against the Buccaneers, that gives Tomlin a 33-16 record against teams with a losing record.
You will notice below that 14 of those 16 losses have come on the road. That’s encouraging when it comes to the game Sunday as that means Tomlin’s only lost twice at home during his career when the Steelers play a team that has a losing record.
Another narrative I’m sure that you’ve heard over the years is that when Tomlin’s Steelers do beat teams that have a losing record when they play them is that they don’t beat them convincingly.
You might be surprised to know that in those 33 wins listed below that the Steelers have outscored their opponents by an average of 13.27 points. In fact, only 12 times have they failed to win by 10 or more points in those 33 games.
Also, in their 16 loses, they have lost by seven points or less 14 times.
For your convenience, the table below is sortable.
| Year | Week | Date | Opponent | Score | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 2 | Mon, Sep 16 @ 8:40 PM ET | at Cincinnati Bengals | L, 10 – 20 | -10 |
| 2013 | 4 | Sun, Sep 29 @ 1:00 PM ET | at Minnesota Vikings | L, 27 – 34 | -7 |
| 2013 | 8 | Sun, Oct 27 @ 4:05 PM ET | at Oakland Raiders | L, 18 – 21 | -3 |
| 2013 | 10 | Sun, Nov 10 @ 1:00 PM ET | Buffalo Bills | W, 23 – 10 | 13 |
| 2013 | 12 | Sun, Nov 24 @ 1:00 PM ET | at Cleveland Browns | W, 27 – 11 | 16 |
| 2013 | 13 | Thu, Nov 28 @ 8:30 PM ET | at Baltimore Ravens | L, 20 – 22 | -2 |
| 2013 | 17 | Sun, Dec 29 @ 1:00 PM ET | Cleveland Browns | W, 20 – 7 | 13 |
| 2012 | 3 | Sun, Sep 23 @ 4:25 PM ET | at Oakland Raiders | L, 31 – 34 | -3 |
| 2012 | 6 | Thu, Oct 11 @ 8:20 PM ET | at Tennessee Titans | L, 23 – 26 | -3 |
| 2012 | 8 | Sun, Oct 28 @ 1:00 PM ET | Washington Redskins | W, 27 – 12 | 15 |
| 2012 | 10 | Mon, Nov 12 @ 8:30 PM ET | Kansas City Chiefs | W, 16 – 13 | 3 |
| 2012 | 12 | Sun, Nov 25 @ 1:00 PM ET | at Cleveland Browns | L, 14 – 20 | -6 |
| 2012 | 14 | Sun, Dec 9 @ 1:00 PM ET | San Diego Chargers | L, 24 – 34 | -10 |
| 2012 | 17 | Sun, Dec 30 @ 1:00 PM ET | Cleveland Browns | W, 24 – 10 | 14 |
| 2011 | 2 | Sun, Sep 18 @ 1:00 PM ET | Seattle Seahawks | W, 24 – 0 | 24 |
| 2011 | 3 | Sun, Sep 25 @ 8:20 PM ET | at Indianapolis Colts | W, 23 – 20 | 3 |
| 2011 | 6 | Sun, Oct 16 @ 1:00 PM ET | Jacksonville Jaguars | W, 17 – 13 | 4 |
| 2011 | 7 | Sun, Oct 23 @ 4:05 PM ET | at Arizona Cardinals | W, 32 – 20 | 12 |
| 2011 | 12 | Sun, Nov 27 @ 8:20 PM ET | at Kansas City Chiefs | W, 13 – 9 | 4 |
| 2011 | 14 | Thu, Dec 8 @ 8:20 PM ET | Cleveland Browns | W, 14 – 3 | 11 |
| 2011 | 16 | Sat, Dec 24 @ 1:00 PM ET | St. Louis Rams | W, 27 – 0 | 27 |
| 2011 | 17 | Sun, Jan 1 @ 4:15 PM ET | at Cleveland Browns | W, 13 – 9 | 4 |
| 2010 | 6 | Sun, Oct 17 @ 1:00 PM ET | Cleveland Browns | W, 28 – 10 | 18 |
| 2010 | 9 | Mon, Nov 8 @ 8:30 PM ET | at Cincinnati Bengals | W, 27 – 21 | 6 |
| 2010 | 12 | Sun, Nov 28 @ 1:00 PM ET | at Buffalo Bills | W, 19 – 16 | 3 |
| 2010 | 14 | Sun, Dec 12 @ 1:00 PM ET | Cincinnati Bengals | W, 23 – 7 | 16 |
| 2010 | 16 | Thu, Dec 23 @ 8:20 PM ET | Carolina Panthers | W, 27 – 3 | 24 |
| 2010 | 17 | Sun, Jan 2 @ 1:00 PM ET | at Cleveland Browns | W, 41 – 9 | 32 |
| 2009 | 2 | Sun, Sep 20 @ 4:15 PM ET | at Chicago Bears | L, 14 – 17 | -3 |
| 2009 | 5 | Sun, Oct 11 @ 1:00 PM ET | at Detroit Lions | W, 28 – 20 | 8 |
| 2009 | 6 | Sun, Oct 18 @ 1:00 PM ET | Cleveland Browns | W, 27 – 14 | 13 |
| 2009 | 11 | Sun, Nov 22 @ 1:00 PM ET | at Kansas City Chiefs | L, 24 – 27 | -3 |
| 2009 | 13 | Sun, Dec 6 @ 1:00 PM ET | Oakland Raiders | L, 24 – 27 | -3 |
| 2009 | 14 | Thu, Dec 10 @ 8:20 PM ET | at Cleveland Browns | L, 6 – 13 | -7 |
| 2009 | 17 | Sun, Jan 3 @ 1:00 PM ET | at Miami Dolphins | W, 30 – 24 | 6 |
| 2008 | 2 | Sun, Sep 14 @ 8:15 PM ET | at Cleveland Browns | W, 10 – 6 | 4 |
| 2008 | 7 | Sun, Oct 19 @ 1:00 PM ET | at Cincinnati Bengals | W, 38 – 10 | 28 |
| 2008 | 11 | Sun, Nov 16 @ 4:15 PM ET | San Diego Chargers | W, 11 – 10 | 1 |
| 2008 | 12 | Thu, Nov 20 @ 8:15 PM ET | Cincinnati Bengals | W, 27 – 10 | 17 |
| 2008 | 17 | Sun, Dec 28 @ 1:00 PM ET | Cleveland Browns | W, 31 – 0 | 31 |
| 2007 | 2 | Sun, Sep 16 @ 1:00 PM ET | Buffalo Bills | W, 26 – 3 | 23 |
| 2007 | 4 | Sun, Sep 30 @ 4:15 PM ET | at Arizona Cardinals | L, 14 – 21 | -7 |
| 2007 | 7 | Sun, Oct 21 @ 8:15 PM ET | at Denver Broncos | L, 28 – 31 | -3 |
| 2007 | 8 | Sun, Oct 28 @ 1:00 PM ET | at Cincinnati Bengals | W, 24 – 13 | 11 |
| 2007 | 11 | Sun, Nov 18 @ 4:05 PM ET | at New York Jets | L, 16 – 19 | -3 |
| 2007 | 12 | Mon, Nov 26 @ 8:30 PM ET | Miami Dolphins | W, 3 – 0 | 3 |
| 2007 | 13 | Sun, Dec 2 @ 8:15 PM ET | Cincinnati Bengals | W, 24 – 10 | 14 |
| 2007 | 16 | Thu, Dec 20 @ 8:00 PM ET | at St. Louis Rams | W, 41 – 24 | 17 |
| 2007 | 17 | Sun, Dec 30 @ 4:15 PM ET | at Baltimore Ravens | L, 21 – 27 | -6 |
