The Pittsburgh Steelers enter Week 14 with the sweet smell of victory in the air. Though it wasn't always pretty, Mike Tomlin's team emerged victorious in a 44-38 shootout over the Cincinnati Bengals on the road in Week 13.
Unfortunately, foolish penalties and a six-penalty performance from Joey Porter Jr. detract from the victory as Pittsburgh prepares for a revenge game against the Cleveland Browns in Week 14. Here's the latest Steelers news.
Mike Tomlin calls out George Pickens
The Steelers' offense put up their best performance since 2018 when they faced the Bengals. However, George Pickens was at the forefront of the news after recording two personal foul penalties that were uncalled for.
After the game, Coach Tomlin was asked about Pickens' penalties. The Steelers head coach didn't sugarcoat it: Pickens needs to grow up.
"He's just got to grow up, man," coach Mike Tomlin said. "This is an emotional game, man. These divisional games are big. He's got a target on his back because he's George, he understands that. But he's got to grow up. He's got to grow up in a hurry."
Let this be a warning to a player who has made many questionable on-field decisions over his first three seasons. Fortunately, Pickens' in-the-moment actions didn't cost Pittsburgh a win, but Tomlin is clearly fed up with the impulsive behavior of his top wide receiver.
Steelers tie NFL record with 21 consecutive non-losing seasons
If you want to see a consistent franchise, look no further than the Pittsburgh Steelers. The win over the Bengals improves the Steelers to an impressive 9-3 record on the year. This means that, even if they were to lose out, they would still have a winning record.'
In doing so, Pittsburgh improved their stretch to 21 seasons with a record of .500 or better -- tying the Dallas Cowboys who accomplished this feat from 1965-1985. With one more non-losing season, the Steelers would be the only franchise in NFL history to go 22 straight years without a losing season.
Regardless of how you feel about this statistic, it's still an impressive accomplishment. Now we'll see if this Steelers team is more threatening in the playoffs than Tomlin's squads in recent years.
Updated AFC playoff picture
Speaking of playoffs, the Pittsburgh Steelers are sitting pretty with a comfortable lead in the AFC North. At 9-3, the Steelers are one-and-a-half games up on their biggest rival: the Ravens. Pittsburgh also currently holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Ravens.
If the season ended today, the Steelers would own the third seed in the AFC and would host the Ravens for a playoff game in the Wild Card round. In order to move higher in the standings, Pittsburgh needs to continue to win down the stretch while counting on losses from the Bills or the Chiefs.
At this rate, however, the Steelers stand a good shot at locking up the AFC North -- especially if they can take care of business against the Ravens the second time around.