The Steelers will have a long wait until they can get the snow-dampened taste of defeat out of their mouths. Coming down from an emotional high in their win over the Ravens last Sunday, they let a game against the Browns slip by them in Cleveland. But while a 24-19 loss snapped their five-game win streak, they remain in excellent position for the postseason.
So no, the sky is not falling, even if it’s a little darker. The Steelers no longer control their path to the No. 1 AFC playoff seed, but they certainly remain in control of the AFC North. As Russell Wilson said after the game, everything they want is still ahead of them. They just have to work for it that much harder now.
Despite the loss to the Browns, the Steelers remain right where they were before kickoff: in the third seed. Granted, they were only a half-game behind the Buffalo Bills, and that in the win column. Had they and the Bills won out, the Steelers would have won the tiebreaker.
Now the Steelers will need help from both the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills to claim the top seed. But the odds are they will get that help. The Bills still have to play the Detroit Lions while the Chiefs still have to play the Chargers and Texans.
And if the Chiefs should happen to beat the Chargers and Texans, that would still help the Steelers. Los Angeles is battling Kansas City for the AFC West and sits at three losses. The Texans are the fourth seed, now just one game behind the Steelers with four losses.
While every game matters, the one that means the most to the Steelers is clearly the rematch against the Ravens. They still have a one-game advantage over Baltimore, and a head-to-head win at that. The Ravens also have two divisional losses to the Steelers’ one.
This would have been true whether the Steelers won or lost against the Browns, but it goes without saying that they have some business to take care of. As we know, most of that is AFC North business, with four divisional games remaining.
For now, the Steelers head into a mini bye following a Thursday game, but they are now preparing for the Cincinnati Bengals. And then right after that, it is the rematch against the Browns, in Pittsburgh. We can take stock of where we see ourselves at that point before the final gauntlet of games.
Make no mistake, the Steelers still have a tough road ahead, including games against the Chiefs, Eagles, and Ravens. That potent Bengals offense is going to be tough to stop as well.
But things still aren’t so bad. The Steelers are 8-3. Would you have thought that was likely, even plausible, back in May or June? Virtually nobody inside of the established media did. So much so that they had no choice but to name Mike Tomlin a frontrunner for Coach of the Year.
