On Sunday morning, the Steelers were 7-4. They had a pair of home games only four days apart against teams that entered the contests with identical records of 2-10.
And the Steelers lost both games.
As mentioned on the Amazon postgame show, the Steelers became the first team in league history with a record above .500 to lose consecutive games to teams at least eight games below .500. While the opportunities for such an accomplishment undoubtedly don’t pop up very often, the Steelers found a way to pull it off.
Making the history-making losses even more mind-boggling is the fact that both happened in Pittsburgh.
The full ramifications won’t be known until the next four games are played. Maybe they can turn it around and still make it to the postseason. Or maybe they’re mentally broken after blowing a clear shot to move to 9-4. Instead, they’re 7-6, their starting quarterback is still injured, and they find themselves in a cluster of teams vying for the three wild-card spots in a wide-open AFC.
They face the Colts, Bengals, Seahawks, and Ravens to finish the season. They’ve proven under long-time coach Mike Tomlin that they have an ability to find a way to fight through any and all adversity and to emerge with at least a winning record. Maybe they’ll do it again, winning two of the last four. Maybe 9-8 will be good enough to make it to the playoffs.
Or maybe the events of Sunday and Thursday are proof that the magic is gone and they won’t be able to get it back within the next month. They’ve got a couple of extra days to get ready for a visit to Indy. The Colts, along with every other team the Steelers face, will be playing for something — unless the Ravens somehow have the No. 1 seed locked up by Week 17 and bench their starters for the finale, like they did in 2019.
Regardless, consecutive home losses to teams in the midst of lost seasons do not provide reason for unbridled optimism in Pittsburgh. It’s going to be a grind. It’s going to be a fight. And, if the last two games mean anything, it’s also quite possibly going to be an ugly, stinking mess.
