Your Pittsburgh Steelers are in the playoffs, baby.
It’s official: Pittsburgh has the seventh seed in the AFC, and will play the second seed Buffalo Bills in the wild card round.
This was the most contentious weekend in Pittsburgh in a long time, with the Steelers needing a win in Baltimore against the 1-seed Ravens, and needing either a Jacksonville or Buffalo loss to secure position.
With the Steelers winning on Saturday against the Ravens in a downpour, rough and tumble type day, Pittsburgh had to continue to sit on edge for the following day as Sunday’s game played out.
Mercifully, however, we did not have to wait all the way until Sunday night, when Buffalo took on Miami for the 2-seed and the AFC East division title on the line.
Jacksonville lost in a huge upset, 28-20, to the 5-win Tennessee Titans, who punched Pittsburgh’s ticket to the playoffs and sent Jacksonville packing.
There are so many thoughts and emotions swirling around, especially because at this time about a month ago, the year looked doomed.
Kenny Pickett was hurt, Mitch Trubisky and figuratively and literally throwing away the season, and the Steelers had lost three straight games, including back to back losses to 2-win teams. You’ve heard the speech all before.
But in an act of pure desperation, not belief, Mike Tomlin turned to Mason Rudolph, in the hopes he could turn things around.
Absolutely no one thought that the turnaround would be this grand, and that Rudolph would be a catalyst of said turnaround.
Now, at 10-7, the Steelers are in the playoffs, and are on their way to Buffalo to face the Bills.
The Terrible Towel Strikes Again
They never learn, do they? All the way back in Week 8, the Jaguars were in town, defeating the Steelers 20-10. A lot of things happened in that game; Kenny Pickett went down with injury, Mitch Trubisky threw a backbreaking pick, but the biggest of all involved the Terrible Towel.
After Trubisky’s first pick on the day, Jaguars safety Andrew Wingard took a Terrible Towel from the stands and twirled it around, and fellow safety Rayshawn Jenkins threw one on the ground.
Many people deny the existence of the Terrible Towel curse, but after that game, the Jaguars went 3-6, tumbled out of the division stranglehold they had, and then had their playoff spot slip away.
Most fittingly, however, their upset loss vs the Tennessee Titans put the Pittsburgh Steelers in the playoffs.
If that isn’t proof, then I have no idea what is.
Former Steelers Help Get The Job Done
While the Steelers were hoping to get some help from the Titans, they were also enlisting the help of some former Steelers personnel. Titans head coach Mike Vrabel, a former linebacker for Pittsburgh, had his team fired up and ready to play all week long.
After a brutal 26-3 loss to the Houston Texans last week, Vrabel was clearly agitated at his press conference.
“It sucks to lose. It f***ing sucks,” gave some Steelers fans hope that maybe his team could pull off the upset.
And they did exactly that.
But it wasn’t just Vrabel who was formerly of the black and yellow. Safety Terrell Edmunds, a former first rounder by the Steelers in 2018, had a huge interception on a bobbled ball in the air to give Tennessee the ball back. On the ensuing drive, the Titans added a touchdown, giving them a 21-10 lead at the time.
Edmunds was also in coverage on the final pass play by Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, which fell incomplete, sealing the game.
Also in that game was former Steelers tight end Kevin Rader, who was targeted twice in this game.
Parallels To Two Years Ago
As Ben Roethlisberger was wrapping up his farewell tour, the Steelers went into Baltimore in Week 18, needing a win and some additional help to get into the postseason.
The Steelers and Ravens played in the rain and overall poor conditions, much like they did once again on Saturday. Tyler Huntley started in that game for the Ravens, much like he did on Saturday.
Two years ago, the Steelers ended up winning 16-13 in overtime, but they needed something from…the Jacksonville Jaguars. Only this time, the situation was reversed.
Back in 2021, the 9-7-1 Steelers needed an awful Jaguars team to upset the 9-7 Indianapolis Colts, which would deny Indy a playoff spot and give it to Pittsburgh instead.
The Jaguars comfortably beat the Colts, 26-11, which helped the Steelers get into the postseason.
Now, let’s hope that is where the parallels stop. In Pittsburgh’s ensuing playoff run, they got assaulted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the Wild Card round, 42-21.
Steelers Defense Gets Kazee Back
Back against the Colts in Indianapolis in Week 15, the Steelers lost their two best safeties on back to back plays.
Minkah Fitzpatrick left with a knee injury, and Damontae Kazee was flagged and ejected for a rough hit on Indy’s Michael Pittman Jr.
After the game, Kazee was suspended for the remainder of the regular season, but was permitted to come back should Pittsburgh make the playoffs.
We all scoffed at the idea, but now we’re here. A banged up Steelers defense will in fact get Kazee back for the postseason, which is a huge boost.
Looking Ahead To Buffalo
Thank god the Titans won, because had they not, the Steelers would be out.
Now, with the Bills winning on Sunday Night, the playoff schedule is set. The 7-seed Steelers will travel north to take on the 2-seed Bills, who won the AFC East with their win last night.
This is a crazy statement, I know, but I would have preferred to play the Chiefs in Kansas City than the Bills in Orchard Park. Had Buffalo lost, the Steelers, then as the 6-seed, would have met KC in the Wild Card round.
If there is any year that KC maybe looks like a vulnerable team, it’s this year. Their receivers lead the league in drops, Patrick Mahomes just doesn’t look like himself, and the Chiefs overall look weaker than in past years.
Meanwhile, Buffalo, and in particular, Josh Allen, can take over a game at any time. That’s what we saw on Sunday Night, and it’s assuredly what Allen and the Bills are capable of in the postseason.
Buffalo was 6-6 at one point, and their playoff aspirations were on life support. Now, they have won five straight, and are carrying heaps of momentum into the playoffs, where they will host a playoff game against the Steelers.
We’ll get more into that as the week goes on, but for now, it sure looks like a tall order.
(Featured photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
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