The Pittsburgh Steelers find themselves sitting at 7-4 after winning on the road against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, defeating their division rival 16-10. Despite going over 400 total yards for the first time this season, Pittsburgh was only able to score on touchdown, still showing execution issues even with the offense flowing more naturally with OC Matt Canada no longer with the team.
Currently sitting with the top Wild-Card seed in the AFC, the Steelers look in prime position to make the playoffs despite their offensive struggles this season. Jason McIntyre and his producer on the Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre podcast spoke about Pittsburgh as a likely playoff team with his producer stating that many teams are likely envious of Pittsburgh’s current position, regardless of what the on-field product has looked like.
“There’s a lot of teams that would kill to be the Pittsburgh Steelers,” producer Robert Guerra said on the Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre podcast. “As mediocre as they are, what I wouldn’t give as a Raider fan to be like, ‘Hey, look at our schedule and we’re playing this backup and this backup and this backup and this second-year guy.’ Four wins right there.”
When looking at the teams that Pittsburgh has recently beaten, none stick out as impressive wins outside of its win at homes against the Baltimore Ravens in Week Five. Since then, the Steelers have beaten the Los Angeles Rams and QB Matt Stafford, the Tennessee Titans and QB Will Levis, the Green Bay Packers and QB Jordan Love, and the Cincinnati Bengals and QB Jake Browning. The Steelers have a stretch now where they will play the 2-10 Arizona Cardinals with Kyler Murray, the 2-10 New England Patriots with either QB Mac Jones or Bailey Zappe, The 6-5 Indianapolis Colts with backup QB Gardner Minshew, and then the Bengals again with Jake Browning at quarterback.
Realistically, Pittsburgh has a good shot of winning all of those games, which would push the Steelers to 11 wins on the year. Even if they drop one of their next three, they still would reach 10 wins and basically lock up a playoff spot in the AFC.
“You know, it’s not sexy,” Guerra said. “It’s not pretty. You’re not going to spend a lot of time talking about it to be honest with you, but it’s effective.”
The reality is that the process hasn’t been pretty for the Steelers, but the results have ultimately worked out in their favor. Their offense is still trying to figure things out and managed to take a big step forward on Sunday, but still has a ways to go before it can go toe-to-toe with some of the top offenses in the AFC. Still, Pittsburgh has no problem with winning games dirty as we’ve seen this season. The Steelers beat the first-place Ravens in Pittsburgh while holding them to 10 points despite Baltimore having one of the best point differentials in the league.
Sometimes it pays to be more lucky than good, and many would consider the Steelers to be a luckier team than an actual title contender. Still, they have managed to make the plays when it matters most and appear to be hitting their stride offensively now that Canada is out the door. They will have a great opportunity to close out the regular season on a high note with their upcoming schedule, having these next four games to show that they can be a legitimate contender thanks to their play on the field rather than the opponents that they face.
