There is a lot going on in that above headline, I know. The Pittsburgh Steelers lost their final four games of the regular season, free falling from 10-3 to 10-7 and hitting the road for the postseason. It’s uncommon for any team, even bad ones, to fall apart in such spectacular fashion. It’s even rarer for a team to lose four straight and still win double-digit games. It’s where the Steelers find themselves, staring down the barrel of another one and done. If there’s a place to search for hope in these dark corners, it’s the 1986 New York Jets.
Yup, the 80s Jets. Welcome to the party.
A depressing history lesson. The Steelers are the first 10-win team to lose their final four games of the regular season since the 1986 Jets. Nearly a 40-year streak between instances. The NFL’s 17-game season helps make this more likely, but I bet if you revisit this list five years in the future, the 2024 Steelers and 1986 Jets will still be the last two examples.
Led by head coach Joe Walton, who would later become the Steelers’ offensive coordinator, the Jets won their season opener against the Buffalo Bills. They fell to 1-1 thanks to a Week 2 loss to the New England Patriots before getting back in the win column in thrilling fashion, a 51-45 overtime classic to best Dan Marino and his six touchdowns for the Miami Dolphins in Week 3.
That victory propelled New York to win its next eight games, pushing the Jets to 10-1 on the season. Super Bowl contenders for the first time since Joe Namath? It seemed so. Pundits dreamed of an all-New York Super Bowl and indeed, the New York Giants held up their end by representing the NFC in the big game.
Until Marino got his revenge. In Week 12, the Dolphins blew the doors off the Jets, 45-3. Marino threw for 288 yards and four touchdowns, Miami building a 21-0 halftime lead and never looking back. That began New York’s collapse, dropping its next four games to end the year on a five-game losing streak. That included being defeated by the Steelers 45-23 in Week 15. QB Mark Malone threw for two touchdowns while RB Walter Abercrombie rushed for a pair as New York turned the ball over four times in the loss. Not only did the Jets lose these games, like the 2024 Steelers, they weren’t competitive finishes. The Jets lost all five games by double digits: 42 points to Miami, 14 points to the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers, 21 points to the Steelers, and 31 points to the Cincinnati Bengals in the finale.
From 10-1, the Jets finished the season 10-6. Like Pittsburgh, New York lost its divisional lead in the 11th hour. In ’86, Raymond Berry’s New England Patriots turned around a 3-3 start to finish 11-5, their version of the Baltimore Ravens getting hot late and making a charge.
Limping into the playoffs, the Jets seemed cooked. In those days, the NFL had a different playoff format. Only five teams, not six or seven, with the four and five seeds squaring off against each other in the only Wild Card matchup as the other three teams received byes.
That pitted the fourth-seeded New York Jets and the 10-6 and fifth-seed Kansas City Chiefs against each other in the Wild Card Round. The Chiefs had momentum going into the postseason. Winners of their last three, they beat a quality Denver Broncos squad led by Dan Reeves, a competitive Oakland Raiders club coached by Tom Flores, and knocked off Chuck Noll’s Steelers in the regular-season finale.
The Chiefs were the road team, and even without starting QB Bill Kenney were still expected to keep rolling while the Jets kept falling apart. That’s how the game initially seemed, the Chiefs grabbing a 6-0 lead thanks to Jeff Smith’s 1-yard run.
From there, it was all Jets. QB Pat Ryan threw three touchdowns before halftime, including this 11-yard toss to WR Al Toon to put New York up 21-6 at the break.
New York kept the pressure on out of the half thanks to this pick-six that stopped any thoughts of a Kansas City comeback.
New York cruised to a 35-15 Wild Card win. In an instant, the Jets went from skidding to soaring.
Heading to Cleveland for the Divisional Round, the Jets nearly pulled off another victory. Trailing 20-10 with under five minutes to play, QB Bernie Kosar led the Browns on an amazing comeback. Aided by a roughing the passer penalty against the Jets’ Mark Gastineau that wiped out a New York interception, the Browns tied the game at 20 as regulation expired. Cleveland won in overtime, 23-20. New York’s season was over.
Here’s the point. There’s hope if you choose to allow yourself to find it. The last time in the Steelers’ shoes, racing out to a 10-win season before completely collapsing the rest of the way. Despite that, the Jets turned things around for the playoffs and won in the Wild Card Round before nearly doing the same in the Divisional Round.
Can the Steelers copy the model? That’s the goal. They’ll have a tougher path than New York, on the road and probably playing in Baltimore next weekend. The Ravens will have an MVP candidate in Lamar Jackson unlike the Jets, who faced backup quarterback Todd Blackledge (who would briefly play for the Steelers two years later).
Going down the rabbit hole shows the postseason is truly a new ball game. Anything can happen. That doesn’t cure all the Steelers’ issues, those don’t magically disappear. But if Pittsburgh looks like a brand-new team for the postseason, think of the ’86 Jets. They lit the path.
