Despite falling to 7-7 and turning to Mason Rudolph at quarterback, the Pittsburgh Steelers managed to win their last three games, finish 10-7, and now find themselves as the AFC’s No. 7 seed in the postseason. The Steelers will head to Western New York on Sunday for a matchup with the Buffalo Bills, and while ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky isn’t super confident about their chances of winning, he thinks the fact Pittsburgh made the playoffs is a testament to head coach Mike Tomlin.
“It’s a tough draw for them to have to go to Buffalo, but you have to credit Mike Tomlin at this point to get them to 10-7,” Orlovsky said Monday on First Take. “It’s gonna be a tough matchup ’cause Buffalo is who they are, specifically at home and we’ll see if T.J. [Watt] plays, but the fact that Mike Tomlin got the Steelers, who played like nine quarterbacks, made quarterback changes and people wanted fired, into the playoffs in the AFC this year, it’s just another example of how elite of a coach he is.”
A big reason Pittsburgh was able to make the playoffs is its 5-1 AFC North record, which came in the first division where every team finished above .500 since 1935. While the Steelers were inconsistent and slipped up against some teams they should’ve beaten, at the end of the day, they’re in the postseason.
The big question becomes now whether they can win a playoff game. The Bills are a good team, especially at home, but they suffered some key injuries in their Week 18 win over the Miami Dolphins, and QB Josh Allen has been turnover-prone this season. It’s a winnable game for the Steelers, and while it’s nice to make the playoffs, it’s frustrating to be one-and-done.
The Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since 2016, and while going into Buffalo is going to be an uphill battle, it’s still a game that Pittsburgh can find a way to pull out. If Pittsburgh can win on Sunday, the Tomlin praise from the national media will be a lot more deserving.
It’s also nice that the Steelers are coming into the playoffs hot. They’ve won three-straight games and have a lot of momentum with Rudolph under center. If they can find a way to carry that momentum into the game against Buffalo and get off to a quick start, that will go a long way toward pulling off the upset.
The fact that Watt will likely be out with an MCL sprain is something that’s going to hurt, but the Steelers still have enough talent to pull it off. Getting to this point is impressive, but falling short in Wild Card weekend is something that Steelers fans are sick of, and it won’t be as impressive if that happens again. We’ll see if Pittsburgh can pull off a road playoff victory.
