Their season on the brink, the Steelers did what they always do under Mike Tomlin: Push back

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Aaron Rodgers was smiling. But he wasn't kidding.

Not long after a 27-22 victory over Baltimore on Sunday in which the Pittsburgh Steelers somehow pulled themselves back from the brink, their future Hall of Fame quarterback did what he's done in his unique (if occasionally self-serving) way over and over through the years.

He stared at the elephant in the room, reached out, and shook its hand.

“Maybe you guys will shut the hell up for a week,” Rodgers said after the Steelers wrested back control of the AFC North with three hours of passionate if not always precise football that likely slowed — but hardly stopped — speculation about coach Mike Tomlin's long-term future in Pittsburgh.

This is what Tomlin teams do, what they have done really, throughout his 19 years with the Steelers.

A spate of lifeless play for a myriad of reasons — injuries, indifference, age, poor game plans, etc. — will nudge them toward the edge of collapse, the kind that happens almost everywhere else across the NFL but seemingly never in Pittsburgh.

Then, just as quickly, the Steelers will push back from the brink. The resolve they've lacked will return. Their coach's belief — which tends to tilt toward willful and sometimes infuriating stubbornness when things get sideways for any length of time — that “the answers are in the building," as he said after his team was pounded at home by Buffalo on the last day of November and the call for his firing echoed throughout Acrisure Stadium, will be validated.

This is what makes Tomlin such a compelling figure. The man who now has 190 regular-season victories — tied with Dan Reeves for 10th on the NFL's all-time list — has never had his team let go of the rope.

The nine men in front of the 53-year-old Tomlin on that list — six of whom are in the Hall of Fame and two of whom (Bill Belichick and Andy Reid) will be — have all endured the sting of losing seasons and painful rebuilds. Most of them were shown the door at least once.

Not Tomlin. Not yet anyway. And maybe not anytime soon.

While there's still every chance this season will be the one that finally gets away from the Steelers (7-6), there's also every chance that, despite their myriad of shortcomings, they will find a way to win a highly flawed division and host a playoff game for the first time since 2020.

The next four weeks are filled with landmines. Pittsburgh could stumble into every one of them. Or maybe the recipe they relied on in Baltimore — a suddenly revived downfield passing game, a well-timed turnover and the ability to take advantage of a couple of 50/50 calls that went their way — will prove sustainable.

The noise the Steelers are intent on tuning out will persist regardless. The only thing they have control of is the volume.

On the first Sunday in December, they grabbed the knob, cranked it to the left, and exited a place that had served as their own personal house of horrors of late with first place in hand.

Perhaps just as importantly, they showed — as they have time and again over the last 19 years — that they have their seemingly forever embattled coach's back.

“‘Coach T’ is a great leader for us, and he’s done nothing but take the bullets for us,” wide receiver DK Metcalf said. “Even when we were high or when we were low, every day he’s steady (and) always motivated us to play our best ball."

Playing modern NFL football. The Steelers had gone more than a month without completing a downfield pass of more than 20 yards when Rodgers hit a streaking Metcalf for 52 yards on Pittsburgh's first offensive snap. Rodgers later extended a play and bought enough time to find Calvin Austin III for 31 yards. A little aggressiveness could go a long way for a team that had become far too safe and predictable during its midseason swoon.

The run defense remains an issue, with no quick fix coming. The Steelers have given up 157 yards rushing per game over the last five weeks and now must face the surging Dolphins (6-7), who are averaging 192 yards on the ground during their current four-game winning streak.

Rodgers' 42-year-old legs. The NFL's oldest player appeared to enter a time machine for about 10 seconds or so during a broken play in the second quarter when he tucked the ball and beat a pair of defenders to the corner for the 37th rushing touchdown of his career.

Idle speculation. For all the airtime and words dedicated to the seemingly endless debate on Tomlin's job status, the reality is the Steelers have given zero indication in nearly 19 years since they plucked him from relative obscurity and named him as Bill Cowher's replacement that they've seen enough. And so it goes.

It's telling of the physical nature of the rivalry that tight end Darnell Washington, left tackle Andrus Peat, and inside linebacker Malik Harrison all exited with concussions.

5 — wins by the Steelers against Baltimore's Lamar Jackson. Only Kansas City has beaten the two-time MVP as many times during his career.

Try to push their home winning streak on Monday Night Football to 23 straight when the Dolphins visit Acrisure Stadium on Dec. 15.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Alex Highsmith (56) celebrates after a tackle during the second half of an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf (4) catches a pass against Baltimore Ravens cornerback Nate Wiggins (2) during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Pittsburgh Steelers running back Kenneth Gainwell (14) celebrates with quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) after a touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin and quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) leave the field after an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

DENVER (AP) — Brent Burns took a wayward stick to the face while playing for San Jose in October 2013 that ended up costing him teeth and time on the ice.

Since his return — Nov. 21, 2013, to be precise — he's been a permanent fixture in every lineup. Burns, now 41 years old and with the Colorado Avalanche, is set to play in his 1,000th straight regular-season game Saturday at Dallas.

The bearded blueliner has skated through the bumps and bruises that come with delivering checks and deflecting slap shots. So much so that Avalanche coach Jared Bednar can’t wait to one day sit down with Burns and discuss all the ailments that may have kept many a player sidelined for days, weeks and maybe even months.

“He plays through them like it’s not a big deal,” said Bednar, whose team currently owns the NHL's top seed with eight games remaining, including the pivotal contest with the Stars (six points back). “(The streak) is an incredible accomplishment. It’s hard to believe.”

For Burns, it's a streak that's involved plenty of good fortune along the way.

“You've got pucks flying around your head that you don’t see, skates popping up, guys falling on the ice,” Burns said Friday after practice. "There are so many little things that happen 100 times a game. Or you look at your visor after a game, it’s all marked up. It’s a tough game.

"It’s special to think back about some of the games that I went through that I probably shouldn’t have been (in), but I think that’s what makes it special, too. ... A lot of luck — probably why I hate talking about it.”

Burns, who turned 41 on March 9, joined the Avalanche on a one-year deal this season to chase the only thing missing from his resume — a Stanley Cup title.

He's become another leader/mentor on the Avalanche. He still chips in goals, too, on a high-scoring team that boasts Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Martin Necas. Burns has 11 tallies this season, joining Hall of Famer Nicklas Lidstrom as the only defensemen in league history to notch double-digit goals at 40 or older.

But Burns' specialty remains putting his 6-foot-5, 228-pound frame to good use on opponents who venture into his territory. That’s what makes his streak so remarkable — all the punishment he dishes out and takes. He’s closing in on the all-time ironman streak held by forward Phil Kessel, who played in 1,064 consecutive regular-season games from Nov. 3, 2009, to April 13, 2023.

“What Phil did was incredible,” Burns said. “He’s such a cool character to have that (record), too."

It’s a streak Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog fully appreciates. Landeskog missed three full regular seasons after helping the Avalanche to the 2022 Stanley Cup title because of a lingering knee injury.

“He comes to the rink with a great attitude," Landeskog explained. "He wants to be here. He’s excited to come to work.”

Burns also arrives to the rink lugging around his military-style backpack that’s stuffed with everything necessary to keep him on skates. There’s a cloud of mystery surrounding the precise contents of the heavy pack, though. Whatever it may contain — rumors of recovery gear to his own coffee setup — there's no denying it's become a healing elixir. Burns is in his 22nd NHL season and about to play in his 1,572nd career contest Saturday. The 2016-17 Norris Trophy winner is still averaging nearly 19 minutes a game and has 83 blocked shots this season.

The streak certainly impresses goaltender Scott Wedgewood.

“In my position alone, you’ll do something one game and your hip locks up a little bit,” Wedgewood said. “It’s like, ‘Thank God, I’m not playing the next one. It feels like crap right now.’

“That happens 15 times a year, just on me, let alone taking body checks and slap shots. Playing as much as he does now at that age, keeping that body fresh and everything? He probably wouldn’t be the one to tell you, but he’s probably played through thousands of different nuances.”

Burns made his NHL debut on Oct. 8, 2003, with Minnesota after being a first-round pick by the Wild. He spent seven seasons with Minnesota, 11 in San Jose and three more in Carolina before joining Colorado.

His lone appearance in the Stanley Cup final was in 2016 with the Sharks, where they lost in six games to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Burns has played in 135 career playoff contests.

His current games streak started Nov. 21, 2013 — he played right wing that season — when he returned from his injury and promptly scored a goal. In his 999th straight game Wednesday against Vancouver, he delivered a goal and an assist to become the fifth different defensemen to notch a 30-point season while in their 40s.

“It’s just ridiculous,” Makar said of the streak before suffering an upper-body injury Monday against Calgary that will keep him out a few games. “For him to be able to go out there every night and make an impact, and not just float around and do the minimum, is pretty spectacular, especially at his age.”

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Washington Capitals center Dylan Strome (17) passes the puck against Colorado Avalanche defenseman Brent Burns (84) during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Sunday, March 22, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Colorado Avalanche defenseman Brent Burns, left, drives past Winnipeg Jets defenseman Dylan Samberg in the third period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Colorado Avalanche defenseman Brent Burns (84) smiles at his teammates at the end of the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Chicago Blackhawks, Friday, March 20, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)