What’s the Best Outcome for Steelers in Week 18?
With the schedule dates and times officially set in stone, the stage is set for an eventful conclusion to the 2024 regular season. Even though most of the playoff berths for both conferences are clinched, there is still much to be decided on. The Pittsburgh Steelers, fresh off a three-game skid, are looking to right the ship and get things back on track as the postseason looms. So, what exactly are they playing for in the regular season finale against the late surging Cincinnati Bengals led by red-hot quarterback Joe Burrow?
Before even diving into the seeding implications of what Saturday’s contest entails, Mike Tomlin’s squad just needs to refocus and find themselves amidst the storm that is late season struggles. December is the time of year that every team wants to be playing their best ball and peaking at the right time so that they go the distance and make a run at the trophy. Obviously, that has not been the case so far for this team. They’ve gotten manhandled by three legit contenders in a row for a myriad of different reasons. Not only have the results been less than ideal, there’s been some bad vibes growing from internal frustrations that have been circulating around the locker room in recent weeks.
While it’s getting late in the game to get their issues corrected, there’s still time to make a run and their early season record was good enough to give them some necessary leeway through this time period. Russell Wilson and the Steelers offense has cooled off over the last month but this weekend could resemble an opportunity to regain their confidence. In week 13, this group erupted to the tune of 520 total yards and 44 points on the road. On the flip side, the sliding defense faces a much tougher task with the way that Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins are lighting it up at the moment. But you can bet that recreating their turnover culture will be at the top of the priority list all week, with that being a key difference that decided the last bout between these two division rivals.
There are three potential scenarios that are possible for the Steelers on wild card weekend. They are as follows:
1) Host the Los Angeles Chargers as the 3 seed
2) Travel to Houston to take on the Texans as the 5 seed
3) Endure a third meeting with the Baltimore Ravens as the 6 seed
With the recent losing streak, Pittsburgh left the door open for Baltimore to take back the AFC North crown, who can clinch the division with a win in week 18 against the Cleveland Browns. The Ravens are currently three score favorites and have an 88% win probability according to the Athletic’s Austin Mock’s predictive model. As beneficial as it would be to host their first home playoff game with a full stadium of fans since 2016, that doesn’t feel very likely. The good news is that the second scenario on this list might be even more appealing to them and it’s all they have to do is beat the Bengals on Saturday to secure it.
If you ranked all 14 of the playoff teams in order of best-to-worst, the Houston Texans would certainly be at the bottom of that list despite winning their division with ease. For the majority of the season, their offense has been underwhelming, if not dysfunctional at times. Demeco Ryans defense is a certainly formidable opponent with star talent at premier positions but even that side of the ball has tailed off a bit over the last six week stretch where they’ve faced tougher opponents. As I wrote weeks ago, this is still the most advantageous matchup for the Steelers and their best chance to end their eight year postseason win drought.
In the event that the Ravens win and Steelers lose, Pittsburgh will have to head to Baltimore next weekend for the third installment of one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports. Obviously, these two teams have plenty of history featuring some classic battles in the postseason. Even though the Steelers have had the Ravens number in recent years, winning 8 of the last 10, their week 16 matchup wasn’t all that close. Lamar Jackson and company have been on fire since their bye week and with the defense finding it’s footing midseason, this is a really tough matchup beyond the familiarity that exists between the two sides.
Needless to say, this weekend’s contest vs the Bengals is an important one for many reasons. If they’re able to come out of this one with a win, they can set themselves up for a positive end to the season that should be viewed as a success given preseason expectations. On the slip side, losing out would be considered the worst collapse of the Tomlin era of Steelers football and something that would put a dark cloud over the organization.
From their perspective, there’s no need to dwell on the past on worry about the future. All they can do now is take is take it one week at a time and get back on track.
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