In the minutes after the Houston Texans sealed a 30-6 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, a profound sense of misery loomed over the team in the city.

It was an ending that was all too familiar for Steelers fans, and although a loss like this would have certainly prompted, a majority of fans did not expect the type of change that they believed was needed.

And then, it happened.

Head coach Mike Tomlin is gone, stepping down from his post after 19 years on the job, and taking (at least) one year off from coaching.

He capped off his run here with an experiment that was one of the more interesting storylines surrounding this team over the last several years.

Tomlin was long linked to quarterback Aaron Rodgers for their meetup in the Super Bowl all those years ago and their friendly glances to each other from the field and sidelines. But with Rodgers now a few years removed from his tenure in Green Bay and a free agent for the first time truly in his career, Tomlin’s presence was able to sway him to come to Pittsburgh.

With Tomlin now away, it feels pretty certain that Rodgers’ time in Pittsburgh, and probably the NFL, has also come to an end.

If this was it, he ended a legendary career with one last hurrah in black and yellow. And seeing as how it now is all winding down, I wanted to reflect on this year, this idea, and the Aaron Rodgers experiment in Pittsburgh.