Keep the main thing the main thing. I referenced it when the Pittsburgh Steelers were flying high beating up on the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals. The tune doesn’t change despite two bad losses to the Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore Ravens. No question, they were tough ‘L’s’ to hold. The Eagles and Ravens trouncing the Steelers at the line of scrimmage. More physical. More fundamental. Flat out, the better team by obvious margins.
That’s not how the Steelers season will be remembered. Whether Pittsburgh was continuing to prove pundits wrong or shrinking against top opponents, the only thing that matters are the playoffs.
That’s the measure of success. For this organization, getting to the postseason has been the easy part. Winning there is far more challenging. Tangible progress means advancing to the divisional round. Anything that falls short of that mark is same ‘ol Steelers. Just depending on how they got there, in slightly better or worse wrapping paper.
Beat the brakes off these regular season contenders only to fall in the playoffs – it’s happened before – and the season is a wash. Learn hard lessons from these defeats and win on Wild Card weekend, no matter the opponent, and the Steelers have made strides. That’s what it boils down to.
Of course, losing these games doesn’t inspire confidence for what Pittsburgh can do come playoffs. But the NFL is so fickle week-to-week and all it takes is one good game-plan, one big play, and some improving health to advance.
Health is a factor for the Steelers. No team is completely healthy and Pittsburgh has it better than others. The Detroit Lions are 13-2 despite having such a defensive MASH unit I’m expecting Alan Alda to show up and play rush end. But there’s no question missing WR George Pickens and SS DeShon Elliott are difference-makers that shape the structure of how the Steelers win and how teams defend them. No Pickens means defenses stack the box and bottle the run. No Elliott means reduced sub-packages and keeping FS Minkah Fitzpatrick near the line, hurting the team in coverage. By the playoffs, and potentially as early as Christmas Day, those two should return.
This is how Pittsburgh’s seasons get remembered. If the logic against Mike Tomlin was winning the regular season doesn’t matter and the eyesore on his resume are a lack of recent playoff wins, a fair criticism, then it remains true even when the Steelers lose. Last season wasn’t a success because Mason Rudolph rattled off three-straight regular season wins to vault Pittsburgh into the playoffs. It’s remembered from being one-and-done in snowy Buffalo.
Excusing the losses isn’t the point. The Steelers are showing cracks when faced with their toughest tests. Giving away the AFC North for what would be their longest first-place drought in over 30 years is painful. Playing on the road this postseason isn’t ideal, though I’d point out the Steelers have been upset in their past two home playoff games to the Jacksonville Jaguars and Cleveland Browns. Evaluating the here and now is all we can do but remember what the end goal is. It’s not about today. It’ about January.
Pittsburgh’s punched their ticket to the playoffs. They’ve done the thing they always do. Now, their true test awaits, the main thing, the main headline of how 2024 will go down in the books. Steelers’ seasons should always be viewed by postseason triumph or tragedy. This one is no different.
