The Pittsburgh Steelers are definitely making things interesting as the 2022 season begins to wind down, even with all of the early season struggles, this team sits with a record of 6-8 following their 24-16 victory against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.
The Steelers still hold a slim chance of securing an AFC wild-card playoff berth. With just three games left, all against AFC opponents, the Steelers, led by Head Coach Mike Tomlin, find themselves with a very small margin of error. Playoff hopes and a chance to be at or above the .500 mark are still up in question.
The one thing all of Steeler Nation knows is that no team led by Coach Tomlin is going to back down whatsoever. It is well documented that in Tomlin's 15-year NFL coaching stint with the Steelers, he has been responsible for 12 winning seasons, with the three remaining seasons being at a .500 record as well. This means Tomlin hasn’t had to live through one losing NFL season as the coach of the Steelers to date. It’s not exactly written in the cards that this will be his first, and according to Diontae Johnson, the locker room seems to not want to be the group that lands Tomlin his first losing season in 15 seasons.
Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin watches his Steelers team win vs the Carolina Panthers 24-16 / Photo Credit: Karl Roser/ Steelers.com
"It's real important to us. Obviously he has been having winning seasons every year and we want to finish out strong for him, and us as well, because you know we ain't out of it. At the end of the day, we just gotta win our games, take each week at a time and finish strong. You never know what could happen.”
The Steelers' remaining schedule will feature some familiar faces as they will face both the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns for the second time this season, looking to even the season series with both teams. But before those matchups, the Steelers will face the Las Vegas Raiders on Christmas Eve, who are looking to build off a big win, keeping their season alive.
In my opinion, the football team we have seen in the second half of the season is good enough to beat all three of those opponents. Granted, the Steelers did already lose to both the Ravens and Browns, so an argument could be made that they are not even close to the same team, especially with the absence of rookie Quarterback Kenny Pickett in both matchups.
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett (8) leaves the matchup with a head injury in a 16-14 loss against the Baltimore Ravens. / Photo Credit: Justin K. Aller/Getty Images
Although this season may not be looked at as a success, especially at the standards all of SteelerNation seems to have, if this Steelers team can put their money where their mouth is and actually come out of this season with an above .500 record, should this 2022 season be looked at as a success for Coach Tomlin? I know the quick and easy answer is "No", and I don't think you would necessarily be wrong in saying that, but if you look at where this season started, to where it is now, there has to be some sort of appreciation.
This same Steelers team was heading into their Week 10 bye with a record of 2-6, with playoff hopes not even being in the question for most fans of the black and gold. Our offense had scored less than 20 points in four of the six matchups and our defense was coming off of a performance in which they had given up 35 points to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Mike Tomlin discusses taunting penalty with Diontae Johnson (18) / Photo Credit: Karl Roser / Pittsburgh Steelers
Since then, the Steelers have gone 3-1, and (although the chances are very slim) they still remain one of the teams in the hunt for one of those coveted AFC Wild Card playoff spots, with a rookie quarterback who seems to be improving week after week. I'm not going to try and convince you that this Steelers team will be one of the last standing once the season ends, but what I can tell you is that I guarantee there's not one team in the AFC who wants to see the Steelers pop up on their schedule once January rolls around.
Do you think this season can be looked at as a success even if they do not make the playoffs? Comment below!
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