With Deshaun Watson suffering a season-ending shoulder injury and Joe Burrow hurting his wrist and putting his availability for Week 12 against the Steelers in serious doubt, the team’s upcoming schedule looks a lot more favorable. Matchups against backup quarterbacks with the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals are followed by a game against the two-win Arizona Cardinals and the woeful New England Patriots. While those four games all look very winnable for the Steelers, former safety and current analyst Ryan Clark isn’t as hopeful.
On ESPN’s Get Up! this morning, Clark expressed excitement over the potential of Pittsburgh making the playoffs, but he pointed out that the Steelers got smoked by the Houston Texans in Week Four and needed heroics from Alex Highsmith and T.J. Watt to beat the Cleveland Browns in Week Two. He added that the Steelers can’t “rest on their laurels” at 6-3.
“The Pittsburgh Steelers still need to lock in. Still need to focus if they want to win,” Clark said. “This team still has a chance to be a playoff team. They should go on a four-game run, but to say that I’m confident and I’d bet money on it, ain’t no way in hell.”
The Pittsburgh’s offense has been among the worst in football, but they Steelers are finally getting their run game going. However, QB Kenny Pickett has been unable to get untracked, and that’s a problem if the Steelers want to have sustained success this season. Going up against backups against the Browns and Bengals helps their cause, but Cleveland still has the best defense in football while Cincinnati has enough pieces on both sides of the ball to keep the game close, especially at home.
The Steelers have to be better if they want to go on a run, and they really should be able to. Honestly, coming out of this four-game stretch with a record worse than 3-1 would be a major disappointment. If they do manage to go 3-1, then they’re looking at a 9-4 record and would almost certainly be a playoff team. If they come out of it at 8-5 with matchups against the Bengals, Seattle Seahawks and Baltimore Ravens remaining, the odds get a bit dicier, especially with how strong the AFC is this season.
Offensively, they have to be better, and defensively, they have to continue to force turnovers and get after the quarterback. They can’t allow chunk plays and third-down conversions at the rate they did against the Green Bay Packers, and improved communication this week will be important to prevent those mishaps. Sunday is going to be crucial, but if the Steelers do manage to pull off the road win, they might be in good shape for the rest of the season.
