Steelers news: Pickett in concussion protocol, playoff odds pulverized

It’s an upsetting start to the week for Pittsburgh Steelers fans. Here’s why the event on Sunday against the Ravens has squandered our hope.

For most diehard Pittsburgh Steelers fans, it was probably a rough Monday morning. Not only did our team suffer a loss to a divisional rival, but Pittsburgh can’t even remotely control their destiny the rest of the way.

Sunday’s loss against the Baltimore Ravens was disheartening for a number of reasons, and many fans feel like this is a completely lost season. Here is the biggest Steelers news and updates you need to know following the results of Week 14:

Steelers news

It’s bad enough that the results of the Steelers vs Ravens game had to be decided by a battle of backup quarterbacks. However, the worst news is that rookie QB Kenny Pickett has been placed on concussion protocol for the second time in since exiting the game in Week 6 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Concussions can be very scary and potentially shorten the length of a player’s NFL career. The fact that Pickett has already suffered his second big blow to the head this season is reason enough for concern. Because this is his second time in protocol, we may not even see him in action until Week 16. For a player who needs to get as many reps under his belt as possible, this is not the situation we were hoping for.

More Steelers news

We emphasized on the Still Curtain Podcast last week that the Pittsburgh Steelers were not guaranteed to make the playoffs even if they won out an finished 10-7. However, now that they are 5-8, their playoff odds were completely pulverized by Sunday’s results.

Before Week 14, hope still hung by a thread. Now we can kiss playoff chances goodbye. According to FiveThirtyEight, the Steelers have a 0.2 percent chance of making the playoffs this year. Even if they win out, that chance only jumps up to 5 percent, as it would take a monumental collapse from several other teams down the stretch to swap in the standings at this point.

Sadly, this season is done, and many fans may even be subtly rooting for losses down the stretch in an effort to better our positioning in the 2023 NFL Draft. This is not the way we wanted to go out.