Somewhere out there in an alternate reality in which the only things different from this world are the results of their two games last week, the Pittsburgh Steelers would be well-positioned to stake a claim to the AFC’s No. 1 playoff seed. All they would have to do to guarantee it is win out.
Their losses to the Arizona Cardinals and the New England Patriots, however, dropped them to 7-6, a far cry from 9-4, which would have tied the Miami Dolphins for the second-best record in the conference, behind only the 10-3 Baltimore Ravens, whom they are scheduled to play in the finale.
Now they are just one of a glut of 7-6 teams flirting with mediocrity while vying for postseason positioning, including their next two opponents, the Indianapolis Colts and the Cincinnati Bengals. While it’s not quite single-elimination, it may as well be.
“It’s playoff football four weeks early”, Steelers C Mason Cole told reporters yesterday, via the team’s website. “Each game from here on out is very important. It has a feeling of playoff football already, so these next games are important, starting with Indianapolis”.
Pittsburgh still dictates whether there is a postseason spot in its near future or not. If the Steelers win each of their final four games, they will ensure they will qualify for one of the three Wild Card spots. Cole believes they are very much in position to do that, if they can simply be the team they ought to be.
“I think this team is capable”, he said, when a reporter asked if they had the ability in their current condition to make the playoffs. “I think we’ve always been capable. I think if we play to our ability and how we can play, there’s no doubt we not only make the playoffs but make a run, too”.
Considering it’s going on seven years since the Steelers last won a playoff game—they were only in the Divisional Round in 2017 because they happened to qualify for a bye week, but it was their first game of the playoffs, which they lost in embarrassing fashion—that latter remark is a bit optimistic.
Certainly, one can easily foresee a scenario in which the final four weeks of the season play out in such a way that lands the Steelers in the postseason. After all, all of their direct competition is in a similar boat. Both the Colts and Bengals, for example, are also dealing with backup quarterbacks. All of these teams have major flaws, which got them where they are now.
But especially with the strong likelihood that they would have to advance as a Wild Card, it’s very difficult to imagine them winning a playoff game, let along making a run. In all likelihood, they would be playing the Miami Dolphins, the Kansas City Chiefs, or the Jacksonville Jaguars in the opening round, and they certainly wouldn’t be favored over any of them.
They’ve all had their struggles, but when people wonder about their record, it’s not how they even managed to win as many games as they had—it’s how they’ve avoided losing more. Pittsburgh is a team that has very much been punching up this year more often than not.
