The Pittsburgh Steelers 27-24 loss in overtime Sunday to the Dallas Cowboys means the team has now dropped to 7-7 on the season and are on the outside looking in as far as the playoff picture goes.
The good news is that the Steelers still control their own destiny as they can still make the playoffs as at least a Wild Card with wins over the Cincinnati Bengals and the Cleveland Browns in the remaining two games.
The bad news is that they will likely have to win both of those games with a secondary that is full of underachieving young cornerbacks thanks to injuries.
The Steelers were without injured cornerbacks Ike Taylor and Cortez Allen on Sunday and they lost Keenan Lewis in the second half to a groin injury. The team finished the game with Curtis Brown and Josh Victorian manning the outside spots while rookie undrafted free agent defensive back Robert Golden playing in the slot.
The Bengals enter the game next week at Heinz Field against Steelers fresh off a 34-13 blowout win over the Philadelphia Eagles Thursday night and the extra rest certainly will not hurt them.
The loss by the Steelers on Sunday also means that that the Baltimore Ravens have now secured a playoff spot in the AFC.
The Steelers have lost four out of their last five games after reeling off four straight wins. One more loss will mean that the 2012 season is over.
