The Pittsburgh Steelers lost to the Houston Texans in the Wild Card Round of the 2025 playoffs. Former Seattle Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf was around to not help. He did something that 12s have come to know well, and Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin learned too quickly.
To be fair, Metcalf was decent in some playoff games for Seattle. The issue is that in the majority of the team's most important aspects, he was a disappointment. He was a hot head on the field and drew far too many needless 15-yard penalties for ridiculous things like unnecessary roughness.
While Metcalf had some spectacular games on the field for the Seahawks at important times, overall, he was a failure. He was not good for the team culture, and definitely wasn't transformative in terms of production. His size and speed implied multiple 1,500-yard seasons. He's never had one.
DK Metcalf might have cost Mike Tomlin his job just as he did with Seattle Seahawks' Pete Carroll
In fact, an argument could be made that Metcalf's lack of, well, being someone like Justin Jefferson, could be a reason Seattle had to let Pete Carroll go. Carroll was far too loyal to his assistants, sure, but he also needed his star players to be consistently great. That wasn't ever going to be DK Metcalf.
While Metcalf's play helped lead to Carroll's eventual termination from his coaching duties (along with other players), he was traded by the Seahawks to the Steelers last offseason because he wasn't a good fit for the locker room. Neither was quarterback Geno Smith. This is why Seattle dealt both of them. Mike Macdonald wanted positivity and logic, not brutal negativity and anger.
But, unfortunately for Steelers fans, Pittsburgh got most of the worst of Metcalf. He wasn't as productive as his massive contract implied he should be, and he cost his team two games at the end after the wide receiver blew up at a fan who may or may not have been trying to bait him into being DK Metcalf.
But Pittsburgh mostly needed Metcalf to be a reliable wide receiver, and he wasn't in the playoffs. The former Seahawks player caught two passes for 42 yards against the Houston Texans in the Wild Card Round. His team trailed just 7-6 entering the fourth quarter but lost 30-6.
The narrative of the game might have changed had Metcalf, his team ahead 3-0 in the first quarter with a minute left before the second quarter, not dropped a perfect throw from quarterback Aaron Rodgers. The catch would have at least set Pittsburgh up in field goal range. Maybe the Steelers score a touchdown on the drive.
Instead, Metcalf used his hands of stone to drop the ball. His team eventually lost, and maybe it would have even had Metcalf caught the ball. We will never know.
What Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin knows is that he is no longer the coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers after losing yet another playoff game. Tomlin stepped down a day after Pittsburgh's loss. Maybe Metcalf could have changed the course of his career had he caught the easy pass in the first quarter against the Texans.
For Seattle Seahawks fans, 12s don't have to worry about such things. Metcalf's mercurial attitude and catching ability are now the Pittsburgh Steelers' problem. Meanwhile, Seattle is better off without the wide receiver.