The Steelers had a chance to stay in the hunt in the AFC Wild Card race, but here’s why their chances of making the playoffs plummeted after the loss to the Vikings.
We knew what was on the line for the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 14. As Mike Tomlin’s team sat on a 6-5-1 record, dropping a game to a 5-7 Vikings team wasn’t an option for a team trying to stay in the thick of things in the AFC. However, traveling to Minnesota on a short week proved to be no easy task.
The Steelers got themselves in a 29-0 hole in the third quarter before they finally got the gears turning. Despite outperforming the Vikings in the second half, Pittsburgh will still fall to Minnesota in Week 14 — dropping their record to 6-6-1 on the season.
Sadly, this loss could prove to be the nail in the coffin for a team trying desperately to make a push for the playoffs. According to FiveThirtyEight.com, Pittsburgh’s odds of making the tournament took a nosedive after the Week 14 loss. They are currently given just a 9 percent chance to make the playoffs and a 2 percent chance to win the division:
According to @FiveThirtyEight, the #Steelers have just a 9% chance to make the playoffs after losing to the Vikings (2% to win AFC North): pic.twitter.com/a6GPUz3W4B
— Tommy Jaggi (@TommyJaggi) December 10, 2021
Even prior to their letdown performance in Week 14, their odds to win the division would concur. Prior to being locked for the week, betting odds at WynnBET had the Steelers at a distant fourth place with just +1000 odds to win the AFC North this year. This is a number that is sure to fall even further after the loss — especially if some divisional teams are able to find wins this week.
With another loss in their final four games, Pittsburgh could essentially eliminate themselves from any contention this year. So where does the team go from here?
Steelers need to start planning towards the future
I know nobody ever wants to have this mentality, but when your team is no longer in a position to make a serious run, it’s time to set your eyes toward the future. In the case of the Pittsburgh Steelers right now, Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert need to be thinking about the long-term health of his players and coming up with a plan that can turn things around this year.
This might mean putting players like T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith on IR or shutting some veterans down for the season to avoid a major injury that could linger into the 2022 season.
In addition, the team needs to be actively working on a plan to rebuild this roster that clearly lacks both depth and talent. Some players should be put on the trading block, while others should be released outright in the upcoming offseason in order to save money. Stockpiling draft capital will prove to be key in what the Steelers are able to do next April.
This team has a lot of kinks that need to be worked out, and patching their holes with duct tape isn’t going to cut it this time around. After their playoff hopes have been almost completely shattered and with current injuries to both Watt and Highsmith, the Steelers need to set their eyes toward the future and not continue to sell out for a long shot this season.