Steelers: Can the Steelers make the playoffs?
By Jack Tolman
With a big win against Cleveland, where the powers of milk allowed quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to post a huge game, the Steelers have moved into the top wild card slot.
Despite being in playoff position at the moment, Pittsburgh is among many teams that are fighting for a spot in the postseason.
Heading into their bye week, the Steelers could find themselves tied with both the Bills and the Jets by the end of the week, if both are able to manage a win. The bye week could not have come at a more perfect time, with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger still nursing a sprain in his foot.
Looking at the schedule ahead, the Steelers most likely have the toughest schedule of all the teams competing in the Wild Card race. Each game down the stretch is vitally important for the Steelers if they want to secure a position in the postseason.
Immediately after their bye week, Pittsburgh is heading to Seattle is face the Seahawks, and despite their struggles this season, Seattle is never an easy place to play, and by far one of the loudest stadiums in the league.
Following that, the Steelers will be facing three straight division leaders in the Colts, Bengals, and Broncos, but all of them have been struggling as of late.
The Colts are experienced struggles all season, and are barely holding onto a division with a 4-5 record. They have looked slow, and without star quarterback Andrew Luck through the next few weeks, it’s sort of up in the air with how this team will perform.
Last night, the Bengals experienced their first loss of the season, and Andy Dalton really started to look like Andy Dalton again. An offense that was extremely explosive all season fell to an offense led by TJ Yates.
It’s also fair to note that the Steelers were doing very well in Cincinnati until Le’Veon Bell went down, sucking the air out of the stadium, and allowing all the momentum to shift in the Bengals’ favor. If Ben Roethlisberger can get to work against the team early, the Steelers could easily steal the show.
The Broncos have had a very interesting season. Despite poor play from quarterback Peyton Manning, the defense has been almost unstoppable, and somehow led the Broncos to a 7-0 start. Since then, the Broncos have dropped two straight games, and have been forced to bench Manning in favor of Brock Osweiler. If the Steelers offense can somehow unravel the defense of the Broncos, it could easily become a game.
Following that stretch, the final two games of the season are divisional match ups against the Ravens and Browns. Both are definitely winnable games, but it’s hard to know for certain, especially when it comes to games within the AFC North.
To make the playoffs, the Steelers will likely need to win at least four of the final six games, which may seem like a tough task, but this team has proven strong down the stretch in past seasons.
While facing many tough teams, almost every team they are facing has either been struggling all season, or has had an issue arise that leaves them weak, and unpredictable.
If the Pittsburgh Steelers can head into the games that they should be able to win, and not underestimate their opponents like they tend to do, they are in prime position to make a playoff run.