One week ago, the Pittsburgh Steelers were at a low point following a disappointing loss to the Cleveland Browns on Thursday Night Football, dropping a game to an inferior opponent that they shouldn’t have lost.
It happens in the NFL, though, especially within the division.
Despite knowing that, the perspective of the Steelers from the national media changed after the Browns loss as they dropped an average of nearly four spots in power rankings last week.
This week, the Steelers responded in a big way with a thrilling 44-38 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in AFC North play to right the ship. Sitting at 9-3 and winning a shootout the way that they did, the Steelers are riding high, and many are starting to buy into them as legitimate Super Bowl contenders.
That isn’t exactly reflected in the Week 14 power rankings, though.
Below is a chart of aggregate power rankings from several major outlets.
| Outlet | Rank | +/- |
| CBS Sports/Prisco | 7 | +2 |
| ESPN | 5 | +2 |
| NFL.com/Edholm | 7 | +1 |
| Pro Football Talk/Florio | 7 | +1 |
| The Athletic | 7 | +1 |
| Average Rank | 6.6 | +1.4 |
On average, the Steelers improved a couple of spots after falling heavily last week. That’s positive.
In CBS Sports’ power rankings compiled by Pete Prisco, the Steelers moved up two spots to No. 7 ahead of the Week 14 action. Prisco dropped them four spots after the loss to the Browns last week.
“Russell Wilson was outstanding against the Bengals. If he plays like that, they can win it all,” Prisco writes of the Steelers in his latest power rankings.
Wilson was outstanding against the Bengals, throwing for the second-most yards in a game in his career. The fact he did it on the road in an AFC North matchup was huge, too. Wilson answered quite a few questions on Sunday with his performance, showing that he can be more than just the moon-ball guy by spreading the football around, taking what was there and working efficiently within the offense.
If Prisco is saying that the Steelers can win it all with Wilson playing like he is, you know he means it, considering he’s never been all that much of a believer in Wilson throughout his career and even picked the Steelers to finish last in the AFC North this year.
In ESPN’s power rankings, the Steelers moved up two spots from No. 7 to No. 5, putting them ahead of the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers. In the power rankings, ESPN’s Brooke Pryor highlighted one player for the Steelers who should get a Pro Bowl nod this season.
That player? Second-year OLB Nick Herbig.
“T.J. Watt gets most of the spotlight in the Steelers’ pass rush group, but Herbig is a promising young player following in Watt’s footsteps. Though Herbig has been limited by a hamstring injury in his second season, he is incredibly productive when on the field,” Pryor writes. “He has forced a fumble in three consecutive games since returning from injury. Prior to that, he forced a fumble and had two sacks against the Chargers and recovered a fumble against the Cowboys.”
Herbig is a big-time player who has a knack for making huge plays. He did so on Sunday against the Bengals, racing home in the fourth quarter for a strip-sack of QB Joe Burrow, leading to a 21-yard scoop and score from rookie linebacker Payton Wilson.
With Alex Highsmith out of the lineup due to injury once again, Herbig has stepped up in a major way and just makes plays. He’s been quite the find for the Steelers and is developing very well as a pass rusher under the tutelage of T.J. Watt.
In The Athletic’s power rankings compiled by Josh Kendall, the Steelers moved up one spot to No. 7. Within the power rankings, Kendall writes that the worst-case scenario for the Steelers this season is that they wilt against playoff quarterbacks, of which they will see quite a few down the stretch, including Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes.
“The offense took a step forward Sunday with its highest scoring output since 2018 (and 520 yards), and Pittsburgh needed every one of those points because Joe Burrow had 309 yards and three touchdowns. Russell Wilson passed for 414 yards Sunday, the second-highest, single-game total of his career,” Kendall writes.
The performance from the defense on Sunday against the Bengals was a bit of a concern, but it wasn’t all that surprising. The Bengals have one of the league’s best offenses and can move the ball with ease and score points in bunches. It’s harder and harder to play defense in the NFL, and the Bengals took advantage of that on Sunday as cornerback Joey Porter Jr. was called for six penalties on the afternoon.
There were plenty of issues in coverage on Sunday, but hopefully it was a good wake-up call for the Steelers.
Right now, though, sitting at 9-3 on the season and holding a one-and-a-half game lead in the AFC North, things are really looking up for the Black and Gold. They have the appearance of a legitimate contender in the AFC, one that could make quite a bit of noise in the playoffs.
