Welcome to the terrible take many podcasts telling Steelers Nation what's on our mind.

I'm Josh Carney. It was all but a formality, one that was expected all off season long.

The news of the Mike Tomlin extension on Monday was not a

surprise whatsoever. The only thing that could be classified as a surprise was

the extension was for three years. rather than a one or two year extension like many believed.

In the hours and day since Tomlin's extension hit, many seem fed up with Tomlin as the head coach of the Steelers,

and are unhappy with the three-year extension.

That's all certainly understandable, considering no playoff wins since 2016, leaving many fans wanting

more for the franchise. But the three-year extensions shows a great amount of trust and belief in Tomlin, and largely rewards him for the work he's

done throughout his career, and especially in recent seasons.

The fact that the Steelers have remained competitive, not had a losing season, and even made the playoffs in the two short years since the end of the Ben Rolzberger era is quite impressive.

How many teams can say they transitioned from a first ballot Hall of Fame quarterback and still were a team with a winning record and appeared in the playoffs?

That answer is very few.

Look at the New England Patriots.

They made the playoffs the first year after Tom Brady,

and then they completely went into the tank.

Bill Bellacek isn't even the coach there anymore. Think about that.

What the Steelers have with Mike Tomlin is special, period,

whether people want to believe that or not. The Steelers are always competitive and playing in meaningful football games year

after year, especially late in the season. That is what the expectation should be in today's

NFL that features so much parity.

Now, that next step is for Tomlin to turn that competitiveness into playoff wins.

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