We’re into the final stretch for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the 2022 NFL regular season and this is the time of the year when fans, pundits, coaches and journalists are busy checking the standings and working out the odds.
Which team has the lightest schedule? Which team is hitting form at the right time? There’s a lot at stake right now, whether you’re thinking about your Super Bowl bet with PointsBet Ohio or making changes to your fantasy team. For Steelers fans, however, the focus is already on 2023. Still, finishing the season strong would give Mike Tomlin something to build on next year, and that never-had-a-losing-season tag may yet be saved, though it won’t be easy.
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach, Mike Tomlin during a 2022 regular season game against the New Orleans Saints at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, PA. | Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation.com (Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO)
Steelers showing signs of life
Okay, no one’s getting carried away. At 5-8 going into Week 15, this has been a bad season and there’s no way to sugar coat it. That position is still stronger than the 2-6 hole that the team was in going into the bye week, and although there have been other losses – to the Cincinnati Bengals and the Baltimore Ravens – those were close games against playoff contending teams.
The stats back up the visual impressions. Their running game is getting better and the Steelers now rank in the top half for rushing yards per game and for defending against the rush. The first improvement is probably a reflection of an offensive line that is slowly getting better, while the second is down to a combination of factors, but is welcome for a team that was conceding over 25 points per game over the first 10 weeks of the regular season.
Is the Raiders’ revival too late?
The AFC West was supposed to be loaded this season, but it has turned into the Division of Shame. The Kansas City Chiefs are doing their usual thing and the Los Angeles Chargers are respectable, but the Denver Broncos and Raiders have been busy turning gold back into straw, providing the rest of us with plenty of entertainment.
Denver has remained relentlessly awful, but the Raiders have launched a mini-revival, winning three in a row and losing to the Los Angeles Rams by a single point. The form of those games isn’t great, but the victories over the Seattle Seahawks and the Chargers were okay, and okay is a significant improvement on what the Raiders were showing us in the opening weeks of the season.
Is the Raiders’ revival too late? Almost certainly. Going into Week 15, they had the same record as the Steelers, and they close out the regular season with games against the San Francisco 49ers and the Chiefs. The Raiders are not going to the playoffs, but like the Steelers, they are hoping to end better than they started.
Pittsburgh Steelers running back, Najee Harris (#22) takes a hand-off from former Steelers quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger (#7) during a regular season game in 2021 against the Las Vegas Raiders at formally known Heinz Field (now Acrisure Stadium) in Pittsburgh, PA. | Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation.com (Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO)
What can we expect?
Most likely, this will be a grinding, run-dominated game and hopefully a Steelers win – probably a narrow one. Davante Adams is a big threat, obviously, but the Raiders still look fragile and they may not enjoy the experience of the Acrisure Stadium on Christmas Eve. Let’s hope the Steelers make it a rough one and send them back to Vegas with another L.
