The Pittsburgh Steelers have had an underwhelming season to date. With no game this week, the Steelers could not take a step back from making the playoffs. If the Baltimore Ravens win on Monday night, the Steelers will be four and a half games out of first place. What would it take for them to make the playoffs?
How the Pittsburgh Steelers Can Still Make the Playoffs
Next Five Games
The Steelers have just endured arguably the toughest month of football for a team this year. They had to play Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills in Buffalo. Then the Steelers were able to sneak a win from Tom Brady and the Buccaneers. After that, they had to try and keep up with the fastest wide receiver duo in the league with Miami’s Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill. To finish off a relaxing month the Steelers had the privilege of being the unbeaten Eagles latest victims. Considering the state of the Steelers roster, it’s impressive they got a single win over the past month.
The next five games look much more forgiving. The New Orleans Saints have struggled to find an offensive identity, and their defense is a shell of their former glory. Mark the Steelers down for a win. The following week is a Cincinnati Bengals team that the Steelers have already beaten this year. Being cautious, let’s mark that as a loss. Then it’s back-to-back easy weeks with Atlanta and Indianapolis, two more wins for the Steelers. Then to close out this chapter there’s a divisional matchup against the Baltimore Ravens in Pittsburgh. If the Steelers want to have a chance at the post-season, they must win this game.
If this string of games goes this way, the Steelers will be 6-7 heading into the final month of the season. The win over the Ravens would knock them to 8-5, or in a perfect world tied at 6-7. The Ravens schedule this next month makes the former much more likely. Looking around the league, a wild card spot could be decided by as little as nine wins. Last year both the Steelers and the Eagles made the playoffs with nine wins.
The Last Month of the Season
The last month of the season will completely decide the Steelers fate. Of the four teams they face, two are division rivals and one could be another team that makes a late playoff push. The first game of this stretch is the Carolina Panthers. This team has traded its best player, is starting an XFL quarterback, and has made the Atlanta Falcons look like playoff favorites. If the Steelers can not win this one, there needs to be some serious changes. Christmas Eve can bring the Steelers a glimmer of hope as they play the Las Vegas Raiders. If the Raiders continue with their momentum from Sunday they could be making a push. With that, a Pittsburgh win would further cement them as a team in the hunt.
Picture this. It’s Christmas Day. The Steelers are 8-7. The magic number to win the division is ten, the magic number to sneak into the playoffs is nine. The last two games on the schedule are the Ravens in Baltimore and the Cleveland Browns in Pittsburgh. T.J. Watt, Cam Heyward and Minkah Fitzpatrick can play real AFC North football for at least one of those games. In this scenario, the Ravens have already lost one game to the Steelers so they would win their home game in Baltimore. January 8th. Cleveland versus Pittsburgh. Mark your calendars, if the Steelers win they are in.
This is all to say that the season is not over for Pittsburgh yet. All of the doom and gloom surrounding the team is expected given the talent of the teams they have had to contend with the past month and a half. Can Kenny Pickett take this team on a run? Week 10 against the Saints will start the Steelers path to the playoffs.
