The 2025 NFL regular season will end with the Pittsburgh Steelers playing host to the Baltimore Ravens. In classic AFC North fashion, it’s coming down to the wire in a clash of iconic franchises.
This time around, neither Pittsburgh nor Baltimore is the heavyweight their reputations demand. The loser of Week 18’s finale will miss the playoffs, capping off an underwhelming campaign rife with frustration. At least among the respective fanbases, that’s enough to land head coaches Mike Tomlin and John Harbaugh on the hot seat.
Mike Tomlin and John Harbaugh’s Status Ahead of Week 18
The Ravens entered the season with real Super Bowl aspirations. After a flurry of injuries, Baltimore appeared to be worse than the sum of its parts. Harbaugh’s team started 1-5, stumbled against divisional foes, and has struggled against playoff teams.
Tomlin, meanwhile, lured in veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers, giving credibility to an offense that recent Steelers teams have lacked. Yet, Pittsburgh remains in passing purgatory, and the Steelers look destined to extend Tomlin’s non-losing record streak while failing to win a playoff game.
ESPN insiders Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano wrote about their collective fates as fan pressure reaches a boiling point.
“I can’t help but envision teams with current or future openings watching the Baltimore-Pittsburgh game wondering whether John Harbaugh or Mike Tomlin could somehow become available,” Fowler wrote. “That’s not my expectation, to be sure, but the chatter won’t quite dissipate.”
By PFSN’s Offense Impact metric, the Steelers rank 17th and the Ravens rank 20th. On the other side of the ball, they rank 16th and 15th, respectively.
Tomlin has long been under fire for an outdated defense and a stagnant offense. The latter came home to roost in Week 17, when the Cleveland Browns held Pittsburgh to six points in a game that could have rendered Week 18 moot.
Even so, there isn’t much reason to believe that either team is itching to pull the trigger. “That chatter is out there, but I’ve heard nothing from inside either building to indicate either team is contemplating a change,” Graziano added. “Most of the speculation seems to stem from fan discontent, and neither the Steelers nor the Ravens are the type of organization to make compulsive decisions based on fan discontent.”
Between the three years left on Harbaugh’s deal and the option Pittsburgh would have to decline to get out of Tomlin’s contract after the 2026 season, neither team is financially incentivized to make the move. Given the rivalry’s commitment to stability, that isn’t much of a surprise.
Still, the clock is ticking on Baltimore’s Super Bowl window, and Pittsburgh is nearly a decade removed from its last playoff victory. While the loser of Week 18 could be a step closer to being fired, history suggests that these coaches will likely face off twice next season, regardless of how the regular season concludes.
