The Pittsburgh Steelers got a much-needed win against the Dolphins on Monday Night Football and now control their own destiny as far as the playoffs are concerned. They're one game up on the Ravens, and the two will play each other in Week 18, which could very well determine who wins the AFC North and gets the four-seed in the playoffs.
As mentioned, the Monday night win was a big one for the Steelers, but are people changing their tune about this team after the win? It doesn't sound that way. Dan Patrick spoke about the Steelers on The Dan Patrick Show after their win and asked himself and the audience if this team was threatening.
"Are the Steelers threatening? Because we're gonna get to the playoffs and if they're hosting a playoff game, they won the division and you're gonna be in the wild card round. Are they threatening? I would say they're not. But if I was gonna go 1 to 10, let's say 10 is Super Bowl threatening, I would say they're probably a 5," Patrick said on his show on Tuesday morning. "Maybe it's one of those where you get a run and all of a sudden Aaron Rodgers is magical like he was [on Monday night]..."
Dan Patrick questions how dangerous Pittsburgh Steelers really are right now
This is a fair take from Patrick and anyone else who might feel this way. Despite winning back-to-back games, the Steelers certainly don't feel threatening.
One of the co-hosts on The Dan Patrick Show pointed out how the Dolphins had very little pass rush, giving Aaron Rodgers a chance to really ball out and look like vintage Aaron Rodgers. He said that if the Steelers have to play a defense as good as the Broncos' in the playoffs, it'd be a much different story. Another fair take.
The good news is that it does appear that Pittsburgh is peaking right now and, as Patrick said, all it could take is the Steelers getting hot at the right time and going on a run. That's how Rodgers won the only Super Bowl of his career, as the Packers got red-hot at the perfect time and rode that momentum all the way to the Super Bowl.
The fact of the matter is that the Steelers only have themselves to blame for why no one believes in them. This team has been wildly inconsistent, and it's one thing to beat up on shaky Ravens and Dolphins teams in back-to-back weeks. It's another thing to beat a good team in the playoffs and to win a postseason game for the first time in nearly a decade. Is this team capable of doing that?
The hope is that the Steelers can change that five rating that Patrick gave them and become a legitimate Super Bowl contender, but right now, no one should be surprised that they're not in those conversations.