Fifth Avenue Sports

Let’s do something a little different today. With the Steelers constantly takings down to the wire, there’s been plenty of Steelers teams that just barely missed out on the postseason.

In the Mike Tomlin era, Pittsburgh has historically always been in the running until the dying moments of the regular season. While that hasn’t often ended in playoff success, and in some cases, even playoff appearances, even the teams that fall short have always been right there till the bitter end.

So, I decided to take a look at the three most recent Steeler teams who found themselves on the outside looking in. I’ll give a synopsis of that season, who they would have played in the opening round, the biggest questions surrounding the team heading into that hypothetical postseason, and what would have been positives and negatives for the team that year.

Let’s get into it:

— 2022 Steelers: 9-8, 8th in AFC (3rd in AFC North)

Season story: This season was truly the tale of two halves. The Steelers went into their bye week 2-6, but went 7-2 after the bye and finished the year on a four game winning streak. That turnaround was aided by the return of a healthy TJ Watt (who was injured in Week 1 and did not return until the bye), and the settling of the quarterback situation.

Mitch Trubisky began the year as the starting quarterback, but he played rather timid and afraid on the field, looking to be scared of losing his job with first round pick Kenny Pickett waiting on the bench. In the end, Trubisky’s fear came true anyways; Pickett took over at halftime at Week 4, and was kept in the starter’s role for the rest of the year (except for when he was injured).

As a rookie, Pickett developed down the stretch, and cleaned up his early interception problems to help dig the Steelers out of a massive hole. Pittsburgh found stability in the running game down the stretch, with former first round pick Najee Harris rebounding after a bad first half, and undrafted free agent Jaylen Warren showing promise as well. In addition, they found some passing lanes with fellow rookie George Pickens and Diontae Johnson, despite the fact that the latter infamously finished the year with no touchdowns.

The Steelers found a way to stay in the hunt down to the very last week of the season. In the end, they finished in the 8-seed in the AFC. They lost a tiebreaker to the Miami Dolphins, who beat them head-to-head in Week 6. In Week 18, Pittsburgh needed the Dolphins and Patriots to lose. New England did, but Miami held on to win, snagging the final spot.

If they made it: If Miami had lost, the Steelers with their Week 18 win would have taken the 7-seed in the AFC. That would have set them up for a visit to Buffalo to play the 2-seed Bills. Buffalo had assaulted the Steelers back in Week 5, handing them their worst loss since 1989 with a 38-3 score.

Biggest question heading in: Could the Steelers have kept their momentum rolling in the playoffs? The team rallied from 5-8 to finish the year on a four game win streak, and confidence was building in that Steelers locker room. Buffalo would have been a brutal task, but could Pittsburgh have harnessed that momentum into having a chance?

Reason for optimism: The Steelers were a totally different team in the second half of the season. They didn’t face the steepest competition, but they won the games and they should and kept the harder games close. They were on a roll down the stretch, including dramatic game-winning fourth quarter drives by Kenny Pickett against both the Las Vegas Raiders on Christmas Eve, and the Baltimore Ravens on New Years Day.

Reason for concern: A sequel of that aforementioned meeting between these two teams earlier in the season was definitely possible. Buffalo was a lot more of a talented team, and had a lot more playoff experience than the Steelers’ roster. Pittsburgh was a very young team who was just trying to figure things out; Josh Allen, Stefon Diggs, and the Bills were looking for a Super Bowl title.

— 2019 Steelers: 8-8, 7th in AFC (2nd in AFC North)

Season story: The 2019 season seemed doomed once Ben Roethlisberger went down with a season-ending elbow injury during Week 2. The injury forced Mason Rudolph, a third round pick from the year prior, into the starter’s role. Rudolph, with some help from his team’s defense, was able to start a turnaround, blowing out the lowly Cincinnati Bengals for the team’s first win of the season in Week 4.

In the following game, however, Pittsburgh’s quarterback situation got much more dire, when Rudolph was knocked out with a concussion, forcing the undrafted free agent Devlin “Duck” Hodges into the QB role. Hodges would take the team to a Week 6 win, and was returned to the bench when Rudolph was healthy again. The Steelers continued to rack up wins, going from 0-3 to 5-4 by Week 10.

Rudolph, however, was more or less just along for the ride. He was a game manager as he tried to make his way through games. This season featured the infamous Browns-Steeelers brawl, the one where Rudolph was slammed in the head with his own helmet. But the thing forgotten about that game was that Rudolph threw 4 picks, and midway through the team’s following game, the Steelers benched Rudolph in favor of Duck.

Hodges’ first few weeks were electric. Duck mania surged through Pittsburgh as Hodges led the team to an 8-5 record, and the NFL world was shocked. Tragically, it was not to last. The Steelers would collapse and lose their final three games to finish the year 8-8. Duck had lost his magic (including a 4 pick game of his own vs Buffalo), and lost his job back to Rudolph. Rudolph would be injured soon after though, forcing Hodges to finish things out.

If they made it: In today’s NFL, where there are seven seeds, the Steelers would have made it in 2019. Back then, only six made it. If this season followed the present day rules, the 7-seed Steelers would have faced the 2-seed Kansas City Chiefs, who were 12-4.

Biggest question heading in: The quarterback situation is by far the biggest question. Hodges lost his job in Week 16, when it was handed back to Rudolph. Rudolph was injured in his first game back, forcing Hodges to step back in. By the time the year was over, both QBs had lost their magic. Assuming both are healthy, who starts their first ever playoff game?

Reason for optimism: The Steelers had beaten the odds most of the season. Despite the disappointing end, no one expected the Steelers to get as far as they did. They were written off after Ben’s injury, but Pittsburgh battled to the last week of the season. Whose to say they couldn’t surprise the world again in the playoffs?

Reason for concern: No matter who you played at quarterback, there would have been great concern. Poor quarterback play killed the season at the end, and fans would not have had much confidence in either Rudolph or Hodges.

— 2018 Steelers: 9-6-1, 7th in AFC (2nd in AFC North)

Season story: Over the course of my writing career, I’ve written countless words about this iteration of the Pittsburgh Steelers. This absolutely chaotic, drama-ridden team took the fans on an emotional rollercoaster the whole year, one that ultimately ended in collapse. Despite the mess off the field, things started great on the field.

This was the last team to feature a legitimate NFL offense for the Steelers. A high flying Ben Roethlisberger slinging the ball to Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster, and James Conner hitting the ground running in the absence of Le’Veon Bell, who partied in Miami while begging for the Steelers to pay him the guaranteed money he desired (and arguably deserved). AB and JuJu both had terrific years as the Steelers continued to rack up wins, jumping out to a 7-2-1 start on the year.

But, it was not to last. Disaster struck as the Steelers dropped three straight games, all in embarrassing fashion, to fall to 7-5-1. Pittsburgh rebounded with a win against Tom Brady’s New England Patriots, but lost in a firefight for the ages against the New Orleans Saints, which was unknowingly AB’s last game as a Steeler.

In the final week of the season, the Steelers needed to beat the Cincinnati Bengals, and have the Cleveland Browns beat the Baltimore Ravens in order for Pittsburgh to make the playoffs. Due to a crazy season in the AFC North, with a win, the Ravens claimed the division, and Pittsburgh missed out. Had Baltimore lost, the Steelers would have won the division instead.

If they made it: Much like the 2019 team, in today’s NFL world, the Steelers as the 7-seed would have made it. In that scenario, the Steelers would have had a rematch against the Patriots, this time in Foxborough. And just for fun, if Baltimore had lost and Pittsburgh won the division as a result, the 4-seed Steelers would have played the 5-seed Los Angeles Chargers, who they blew a 16 point lead to earlier in the year.

Biggest question heading in: What happens with Antonio Brown? I mentioned that the Saints game in Week 16 was Brown’s last, and that’s because Mike Tomlin finally had enough of Antonio Brown’s actions that year (which I also wrote about). Brown had blown up earlier in the week at Roethlisberger, and blew off practice the rest of the week. Yet, he showed up on Sunday expecting to play, only to see the bench instead.

You have to expect that Brown plays in the postseason, but how does that change in fortune impact the rest of Brown’s tenure in Pittsburgh?

Reason for optimism: I sort of mentioned this before, but this is was the last truly effective offense the Steelers had. Of the three teams on this list, these Steelers definitely had the best chance to win in the playoffs. They dropped incredibly easy games, but they also went toe-to-toe with the NFL’s best that year.

Reason for concern: The defense struggled mightily this year. The Steelers routinely blew leads late in games as their defense allowed late game opposing drives. The catalyst of their collapse was the defense’s lapses, and while they had improved from the year prior, they still had a long way to go.

(Featured photo by Philip G. Pavely-USA Today Sports)