Mike Tomlin revealed the best team he ever coached in a recent interview with the Today Show — and according to the former Steelers head coach, it’s not the 2008-09 team that won Super Bowl XLIII.
“The best team I coached, probably, didn’t win,” Tomlin said. “Probably in the mid-teens, 2015-16. Denver won it that year with Peyton (Manning).”
The 2015 Steelers went 10-6, led by the league’s fourth-best scoring offense averaging 26.4 points per game. The team finished second in the AFC North, winning in the wild card round over the Cincinnati Bengals but falling in the divisional round to the eventual Super Bowl Champion Broncos.
The Steelers fell in Denver, 23-16, in a game wide receiver Antonio Brown, running back Le’Veon Bell, and offensive linemen Kelvin Beachum and Maurkice Pouncey missed with injury.
“Sometimes, man, things don’t come together for you,” Tomlin said.
The Pittsburgh offense put up strong numbers that year. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger recorded 3,938 passing yards with 21 touchdowns and 16 interceptions in just 11 starts. Wide receiver Antonio Brown put up a 136-catch, 1,834-yard season with 10 touchdowns. Wide receivers Markus Wheaton and Martavis Bryant each recorded well over 700 receiving yards each, with tight end Heath Miller adding another 535.
The Pittsburgh run game that year was led by DeAngelo Williams (907 rushing yards in 10 starts) and Bell (556 yards in six starts). The starting offensive line was made up of Beachum, Ramon Foster, Pouncey, David DeCastro and Marcus Gilbert.
On defense, the 2015 Steelers finished 11th in the NFL that year in scoring, led by a core of Cam Heyward, Stephon Tuitt, Lawrence Timmons, James Harrison and Ryan Shazier.
Tomlin was reportedly more emotional than usual following the loss in Denver.
“That team? That team was as talented as any team I’ve ever been around,” Tomlin told the Today Show. “We had the goods. But that’s what I love and respect about football, man. It’s a single elimination tournament. It’s not best out of seven. We went into that stadium that day without our No. 1 running back and without our No. 1 wideout, and we suffered the consequences of it. That’s life.
“But if you ask me the best team I’ve been around, it would probably be that team.”
