Former Steelers WR Recalls The Time Mike Tomlin Became A Big Baker Mayfield Fan For A Week In 2018

The Pittsburgh Steelers need a victory in Week 18 against the Baltimore Ravens, along with some outside help to make the postseason. Stop me if you've heard that story before. As Mark Kaboly of The Athletic points out, the Steelers have needed a win AND some help in the final week to make the playoffs in eight of the last 15 years. Perhaps most memorably was 2018 when the Steelers won and then watched the Ravens-Cleveland Browns matchup from the field.

The Steelers needed the Browns to win in order to stamp their ticket to the postseason. Quarterback Baker Mayfield led Cleveland all the way into Baltimore territory before an interception ended the hopes and dreams in Pittsburgh. In an article from Kaboly, former Steelers wideout Ryan Switzer talked about the crazy moments of that day. Most specifically, he recalls Head Coach Mike Tomlin cheering for Mayfield back in the 2018 regular season finale.

"He said, ‘Let’s just say I am a big Baker Mayfield fan this week,' Switzer said. “That was the first time I was in a situation like that where you needed something else to happen and I didn’t know what the week was going to be like if we were going to talk about it or we weren’t going to talk about it. Some coaches probably wouldn’t mention it, but Tomlin is secure in who he is and what he does. He['s] got it out in the open.”

Mayfield spent four seasons with the Browns, and you can count on one hand the amount of times that Steelers fans cheered for him. The final week of the regular season always brings the most unique of circumstances, and 2018 was no different. Rarely will you ever see Steelers fans cheering for the Browns, but this was the exception. The Steelers watched their playoff hopes slip away in an instant, as Mayfield's turnover sealed their fate.

It was no fault but their own though given their 9-6-1 record on the season. If you don't remember, that season marked the end of an era with legendary playmaker Antonio Brown. While Pittsburgh did get screwed in some games, most notably the bogus pass interference call on Joe Haden against the New Orleans Saints, they still had too much talent to miss the playoffs. 

Was Steelers' 2018 Season Biggest What-If In Recent Memory?

2018 was also the year in which JuJu Smith-Schuster went off for 1,426 receiving yards. In years past, the Steelers have had too talented of rosters to be relying on other teams to help them make the postseason. That's unfortunately the case here in 2023, but it's interesting to hear these kind of tidbits from former players. Tomlin turned into one of us for a few days and moments: cheering for the Browns like a little kid.

Switzer spent two seasons with the Steelers, but failed to ever fully establish himself. That was the theme of his NFL career after he had an otherworldly collegiate career at the University of North Carolina. Switzer was never able to translate those abilities to the professional level, although he did still spend three years in the league. His 2019 season with the Steelers ended up being the last time that he saw the field in the NFL before his retirement.

It's a cool story from Switzer on the realities of cheering for other teams around the league in the final week of the season. This year, Tomlin will be a huge Ryan Tannehill and/or Tua Tagovailoa fan. If the Steelers win on Saturday, they will need either the Miami Dolphins or Tennessee Titans to win on Sunday. If that happens, Tomlin and the Steelers will return to the postseason. This time around, there will be more waiting time between games given the fact that Pittsburgh plays a full day before everyone else.

What are your predictions for what will happen in Week 18? What memories do you have of cheering for other teams in the final weeks of the NFL season? Do you remember this moment back in 2018? Share your thoughts in the comment section below, yinz!

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