Riding high after a solid, much-needed win over the Cleveland Browns Sunday at Acrisure Stadium, the road gets much narrower — and harder — over the next two weeks for the 10-3 Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Steelers have a gauntlet of games coming up against the Philadelphia Eagles, Baltimore Ravens and then the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas Day, making for quite a difficult stretch of football.
“We’re ready for it,” TE Pat Freiermuth told Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer Sunday after the Steelers’ 27-14 win, according to si.com. “It’s going to be tough with physical teams and really good teams—three games in 10 days. That’s why we get paid the big bucks, is to get out there and get our bodies ready to perform.
“There are really no excuses.”
Technically, it’s three games in 11 days, but that’s still a brutal stretch, especially late in the season and against some of the top teams in the NFL.
Taking on the Eagles in Philadelphia, where the Steelers have not won since 1965 and are 0-10 during that span, is going to be quite difficult. The fact that it could occur without standout wide receiver George Pickens makes things even more daunting.
Outside of the Pickens injury, the Steelers are relatively healthy. Defensive lineman Larry Ogunjobi left Sunday’s game against the Browns with a groin injury, missing the second half, so there’s some concern there. But overall, Pittsburgh is very healthy, which bodes well for the difficult stretch of games.
After the matchup with the Eagles, the Steelers play on Saturday against the Ravens in Baltimore, where the AFC North crown could be on the line, and then turn around to play on Christmas Day on Wednesday against the Chiefs. HBO’s Hard Knocks will fortunately catch it all, too.
It’s a difficult stretch, but for the Steelers to go where they want to get this season, that being the Super Bowl, they’re going to have to beat great teams. They get a nice test here with the three games in 11 days.
Based on Freiermuth’s comments, the Steelers have the right mentality entering the brutal stretch. It’s just football in the end. Figure out a way together their bodies right in the short span, play good football and find ways to win games. No excuses, after all.
