The Pittsburgh Steelers are 9-3 and have a big opportunity to extend their lead in the AFC North to two games over the Baltimore Ravens if the Steelers can beat the Cleveland Browns later today. With the team coming off a 44-38 win over the Cincinnati Bengals and entering a stretch of their schedule that will see them play the Philadelphia Eagles, the Ravens and the Kansas City Chiefs in three straight games after this week, they’re focused on the now. Sara Walsh said on NFL Gameday Morning that she talked to Jones this week and he said the team has the mindset they want to dominate, because it’s December football in the AFC North.
“[Broderick] Jones told me the emphasis this week has been ‘why not now.’ They have the mindset they want to dominate. And I said, what is it about the now? Why not now? And he said it’s December football in the North, this is the time of year things need to start sinking in,” Walsh said.
When the weather gets cold, the Steelers need to thrive. It’s something they haven’t done well enough lately, with a 5-4 record in December over the last two seasons, and their schedule is going to make things difficult, even if they got the month off to a good start with the win over Cincinnati. Late in the season is where the Steelers need to show they can thrive and carry some momentum into the postseason, and with an elite defense and a strong run game that’s gotten better this season under Arthur Smith, the Steelers should be a team that can thrive late in the season when fatigue starts to set in leaguewide.
Add in the presence of Russell Wilson and his leadership, plus his ability to sling the deep ball and spread the ball around the field, and the Steelers should be a dangerous team. And while they haven’t had a postseason win since the 2016 season, the focus can’t be looking ahead. The Steelers need to worry about the here and now, and winning as much as they can to help them get as good of a seed as possible while looking to build momentum ahead of the playoffs.
This team has played with the right mindset all season long, and it’s a group that’s hungry to finally win when it matters. Keeping their head right and taking things one game at a time at a critical juncture in the season should help them down the stretch, and we’ll get a good look at just how good this Steelers team is with some top-tier competition coming up.
