Steelers still in the hunt
PITTSBURGH – The Pittsburgh Steelers still don’t know whether their first victory in seven weeks was the start of a history-making run to the playoffs or merely delayed the inevitable. No NFL team has made the postseason after starting 2-6 since the NFL adopted the 16-game schedule in 1978. The Steelers (3-6) have a considerable deficit to overcome but, playing in a division where only the Baltimore Ravens (5-4) are above .500, they hardly think their season is over.
The way they’re talking, it’s only started.
Unless the Bengals (4-5) or Browns (3-6) suddenly get hot, the Steelers could win the AFC North by merely picking up a game in the standings over the next six weeks, then winning at Baltimore on Dec. 28. The Steelers already own a 34-15 victory over the Ravens, and sweeping the season series would give them the first tiebreaker.
Improbable? Maybe. Impossible? Hardly.
“Our confidence is sky high again,” linebacker Joey Porter said.
Beating the Arizona Cardinals, especially as unconvincingly as the Steelers did in Sunday’s 28-15 decision, wouldn’t have been the cause for celebration in many Pittsburgh seasons past.
But after ending a five-game losing streak that was one loss away from matching the franchise’s longest in 15 years, the Steelers are convinced that winning – even one game – was all they needed to get their season turned around.
The Steelers play Monday at San Francisco (4-5), which was idle last weekend, then travel to Cleveland on Nov. 23 before returning home to play the Bengals on Nov. 30.
With the extra day off before their next game, coach Bill Cowher gave his players Monday off for only the second time this season. However, some players went to their practice complex to get treatment or check in with the coaches.
“We’re 3-6,” Porter said. “It’s not like that one win was worth eight wins. We’ve still got seven games to go.”
Porter was among several Steelers veterans who, after their 23-16 loss at Seattle on Nov. 2, said it would take an 8-0 finish to make the playoffs. That might not be true given the AFC North’s overall mediocrity – the four teams are a combined 15-21 – but a number of players said that remains the goal.
“We didn’t all of a sudden become a bad team,” said Hines Ward, who made two touchdown catches in barely a minute’s time to swing Sunday’s game. “We’re just not playing particularly well right now.”
That’s a statement he could have made during any week since the season-opening victory over Baltimore.
But, to the Steelers, there were encouraging signs Sunday that haven’t been there in weeks.
The defense had five sacks for the second straight week after having only 13 in their first seven games.
Tommy Maddox failed to throw an interception for the second consecutive game. And an offense that was held to 17 or fewer points in five of the previous six games opened a 25-point lead midway through the third quarter.
“We’re in the middle of a bad season,” said linebacker Jason Gildon, who set a franchise record by getting the 74th, 75th and 76th sacks of his career. “But we still have a lot of football ahead of us. We still have a chance to make something out of it. That was just the first step back.”