For Chuck Noll, it happened on Sept. 24, 1989. For Bill Cowher, it happened on Sept. 6, 1992. And for Mike Tomlin, it happened on Sunday, Oct. 16.
The Steelers have had only three coaches since 1969, and each man who has held the job has had at least one instance where his team was expected to play the role of the Christians in a matchup vs. the lions in the Roman Colosseum. The reasons behind such an expectation may have varied, but the final result supposedly was never in doubt. Until the opening kickoff, anyway.
In Noll’s case, the Steelers had opened the 1989 season with a 51-0 loss to the Browns at Three Rivers Stadium and followed that up with a 41-10 defeat in Cincinnati. As Noll said to Director of Football Operations Tom Donahoe on the walk from the
