It feels crazy to say, but there’s only one week left in the NFL regular season. It feels like time flew by, especially for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Their season has been an absolute roller coaster. Before it started, people were picking them to finish in last place of the AFC North. The Steelers have certainly proved those doubters wrong. That doesn’t mean the naysayers believe in them now.
“I don’t know what to make of them lately,” Jason McIntyre said Thursday on FS1’s The Herd with Colin Cowherd. “They’ve lost three straight, but they’ve lost to good teams. When you lose to like Philadelphia, not the end of the world. You lose to [Kansas City], Baltimore, it’s not the end of the world. But I think we’d agree, Pittsburgh overachieved for most of this season. We didn’t think they’d be here.”
For some, the Steelers might have overachieved, but the team probably doesn’t feel that way. They weren’t shy about letting people know what their expectations for themselves were. They wanted to come into this year and be one of the best teams in the league. Although they’ve clinched a playoff spot, they’ve been more disappointing lately.
The Steelers still have one regular-season game left, and they’ve already punched their ticket into the postseason. If they beat the Cincinnati Bengals and win a playoff game, that would be step forward compared to previous years.
However, it doesn’t sound like McIntyre has much faith they’ll be able to do that.
“Pittsburgh may have peaked a little early, and I think [Joe] Burrow, [Ja’Marr] Chase, and [Tee] Higgins go into Pittsburgh, a tough place to win, and get the job done,” he said.
It’s easy to see why people believe the Steelers peaked early. After Wilson became the starter in Week 7, they looked like one of the NFL’s best teams. However, they’ve been on a steady decline over the last few weeks. A three-game losing streak has exposed a lot of their issues.
That doesn’t mean the Steelers aren’t a good team or that they’ve already peaked. Like most NFL teams, they’ve dealt with ups and downs. It’s not like the Bengals have been more impressive than the Steelers. They’ve been on the outside looking in at the playoffs for most of this year.
The Steelers have a chance to prove doubters like McIntyre wrong by beating the Bengals. If they do that, they might be able to carry some momentum into the playoffs. Once a team gets into the dance, anything can happen. The Steelers look like an underdog now, but if they get back on the same page, they could be dangerous.
