The Pittsburgh Steelers are at 9-3 overall and currently sit in the driver’s seat in the AFC North. For a team that hasn’t won a playoff game in eight years, this feels like it could be the season for the Steelers to get over the hump. Former head coach Bill Cowher thinks the Steelers are good enough to match up with anybody, as he told Bob Pompeani on KDKA that the Steelers have the talent to go “as far as they need to go.”
“They still have to play the Eagles, they still have to play the Chiefs. Those will be great litmus tests for them to see where they are. I think they go as far as they need to go,” Cowher said. “I don’t see a weakness…I think they can stay healthy, I don’t see that they can’t match up on any given Sunday against anybody in the AFC or even anybody in the NFC to be quite frank with you.”
While the Kansas City Chiefs have been a dominant franchise, won back-to-back Super Bowls and are still 11-1 this season, there have been some cracks. They’ve had to win a lot of close games and benefitted from a last-second field goal block against the Denver Broncos in Week 10 and a late fumble in Week 13 against the Las Vegas Raiders. There’s no team that looks to be head and shoulders above the field, and at 9-3 with wins over talented teams like the Baltimore Ravens, Washington Commanders and Los Angeles Chargers, the Steelers have proven that they can beat good teams.
The Eagles and Chiefs will be two of their biggest tests so far, and as Cowher said, both of those matchups will really be litmus tests to see if the Steelers can compete with the best of the best in either conference. They also may be able to clinch a playoff berth in Week 15 against the Eagles.
For the Steelers to be a legitimate Super Bowl contender, they need to continue to win the turnover battle and be a team that forces takeaways. Their defense has been good all season, and despite allowing 31 points to the Bengals, they were able to win thanks to three forced turnovers. That’s going to be the recipe for success for the Steelers against the top of the league, and they should be in good shape if they keep that up down the stretch.
There’s still a lot of football until the postseason, but the Steelers look like they can play with anybody at this point. It’s exciting to finally be back toward the top of the NFL after years of barely sneaking into the postseason.
