It seems as though every year that the Pittsburgh Steelers contend for a division crown or at least a Wild Card berth, they were considered a frontrunner from the beginning. The question is not usually whether or not they will make the playoffs, but how far they will go. In 2013, however, an 0-4 and 2-6 start all but completely erased any thought of sniffing the playoffs, barring the optimistic possibility of a Steel City miracle. Now at 3-6 after a home win vs. Buffalo, the Steelers enter Week 11 preparing to host Detroit (6-3) on Sunday at Heinz Field. A glance at the standings shows Baltimore (4-5) and Cleveland (4-5) one game in front of Pittsburgh, while Cincinnati leads the division at 6-4.
While that may seem like a commanding lead with less than half of the season remaining, anyone who has seen Andy Dalton erroneously sling the football around for the Bengals should realize that no such lead should be considered safe, even though no other team in the division has proven yet that they can get hot and stay hot enough to catch up. Cincinnati’s overtime loss at Baltimore on Sunday kept the Ravens in the discussion, and the Steelers were able to pick up a game and cling on to any remaining hope with the win over Buffalo. That leaves seven games left for each team, except for Cincinnati having six due to a Week 12 bye. During that week, Baltimore will have an opportunity to gain ground on the division leaders, as will the winner of the Steelers-Browns matchup in Cleveland.
Focusing on Pittsburgh, specifically, a win this Sunday against the NFC North-leading Lions would be an upset that would certainly signal to the league that the Steelers are still alive and kicking. Following that, head coach Mike Tomlin’s group would face two tough division road games at Cleveland and Baltimore that would provide an opportunity to possibly surpass one or both of them and get closer to the Bengals. In Week 15, Pittsburgh hosts Cincinnati and finishes out the season in Week 17 home against Cleveland. By my count, that is four more division games that could go a long way in determining the possibility of being in position to steal a division title. Cincinnati would have to impressively falter down the stretch in order for that to occur, but is that really that far out of the question? While the Bengals should be able to handle Cleveland at home this week, they come to Pittsburgh and host Baltimore late in the year, and have non-division games left at San Diego and home to Indianapolis.
I hardly expect the Steelers to legitimately have a shot at achieving any of this; heck, even being in the vicinity of it in the closing weeks of the regular season would be a minor miracle in itself. But until Cincinnati puts a foot down and runs away with this, nothing is out of the question. By no means have the 2013 Steelers resembled anything close to a playoff team at any point really, but (and there’s always a “but”) imagine for a second that the defense shows up this week too and shuts down Calvin Johnson enough to pull out a victory and that momentum carries over to the next week against Cleveland and…Jason Campbell? Seems plausible. How about the next week and a chance to get back to even at 6-6 at Baltimore, on the national stage on Thanksgiving night. Hey, they beat them once already. Week 14 brings the train-wreck that is the Miami Dolphins to a chilly Heinz Field in December. If all goes according to plan, Ben Roethlisberger and his teammates are flying high at 7-6 as Cincinnati comes to town, possibly feeling awfully threatened by those pesky Steelers. The season concludes at banged-up Green Bay and hosting the Browns.
No doubt, a ton of good luck has to swing Pittsburgh’s way for any of these dreams to become real life. The Steelers will need to get healthier, find consistency in all phases of the offense, continue forgetting about the defensive lapses in New England, force more turnovers, etc., etc., etc. It all seems highly unlikely. Consider though, just for a moment, how the glory of such a comeback from the dead would feel for Steeler Nation. I hope I haven’t gotten your hopes up too high but, at the same time, if our selfish football-related dreams do come true, I hope you refer back to these words of optimism in January.
