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Ryan Clark: Steelers Look Like ‘One-And-Done Group,’ Bengals Game ‘Extremely Important’ For Seeding

Mike Tomlin

The Pittsburgh Steelers enter their Week 18 regular-season finale against the Cincinnati Bengals on a three-game losing streak, and their hopes of winning the AFC North are incredibly slim. The Baltimore Ravens hold the lead and are playing the 3-13 Cleveland Browns, who are starting QB Bailey Zappe, with the Steelers needing to beat the Bengals to secure at least the No. 5 seed. Former Steelers S Ryan Clark said on ESPN’s Get Up this morning that the Steelers look like a “one-and-done group” but added that it depends on who they play, and if they get the No. 5 seed, they’ll go up against the struggling Houston Texans. Clark said that Pittsburgh’s matchup against the Bengals now becomes “extremely important.”

“It looks like a one-and-done group depending on who they play, which means that tomorrow against the Cincinnati Bengals is extremely important. We knew that three-game stretch in 11 days would tell us a lot about Mike Tomlin’s Steelers, understanding Philadelphia, Baltimore and Kansas City were three of the top teams in the NFL,” Clark said. “And it wasn’t that they lost those games, it was the way they lost those games. Not being able to create any offense, turning the ball over, and absolutely getting ran through on the defensive side of the football, which was the side of the football that had been carrying the team.”

It’s fair to not have much faith in the Steelers right now after they fell flat against three legitimate contenders. But they also didn’t have WR George Pickens or S DeShon Elliott for two of those games, and their biggest issue on the offensive side of the ball has been turning the ball over. We’ve seen the Steelers play clean, turnover-free football, and their turnover woes are certainly fixable.

There’s still a legitimate question if the Steelers can hang with the top of the AFC though, and losing to Cincinnati would not only hurt their seeding, as they would likely end up as the No. 6 seed and have to head to Baltimore to play the Ravens, but also be a momentum killer as Pittsburgh would enter the playoffs as losers of four straight.

It’s not all doom and gloom, though. The Steelers have had time to get ready for Cincinnati and work on fixing some of their issues, particularly their defensive communication, which has been awful over the last few games. The Steelers who showed up over the last three games aren’t a team that’s going to beat anyone in the playoffs, but they aren’t a broken team. We’ve seen them play much better football this season, and with time to prepare and get healthy, beating Cincinnati is something that should happen and give the Steelers some juice and some faith heading into what Mike Tomlin likes to call the single-elimination tournament.

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