It’s all about the next game

While you were out dodging raindrops, the down-and-out, they’re-cooked Pittsburgh Steelers somehow, against all odds, have thrust themselves back in the playoff race as the NFL season turns to the second quarter pole.
Yep, the same exact Steelers who lost to the woeful Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the last minute of Week 4 are now, along with Baltimore, trailing Cincinnati by one game in the loss column with all three teams sporting three wins.
Sports are a results-driven industry. “Yeah, buts” don’t matter … just the way the NFL head honchos on Park Avenue want it to be.
No team is as bad as they seem to be, nor is any team as good. The chances of the 1972 Miami Dolphins (undefeated Super Bowl champions who should’ve lost to the Steelers in the AFC title game) or 2007 New England Patriots (perfect regular season), or the 2008 Detroit Lions (winless) happening again are very slim.
Look at the 16-game NFL season as a school term, of sorts. The NFL has concocted its own version of Common Core and “dummy-ed” down the regular season.
Think of the NFL season as an exam, an objective one, at that. You remember the type: multiple choice, matching, etc. A correct answer and an incorrect answer, none of those subjective essay or short answer questions. Remember? Dummy-ed down.
Winning 11 games in a 16-game season sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? You members of Steelers Nation would surely take that win total after losing to (gulp) Tampa Bay, right?
Back to the exam model. Do the math and an 11-win season is a winning percentage of 68.75. Back in the Dark Ages (the florescent lamps didn’t have the power of these modern halogen lamps) when I was in school, a 68.75 percent on top of any schoolwork was not cause célèbre around the Downey household.
Then throw the “on any given Sunday” mantra into the mix and what transpired the past two weekends occurs.
The aforementioned loss to the Bucs was followed by maybe not the greatest performance, but one that held Jacksonville to three field goals and produced a defensive touchdown.
Tom Brady and the Patriots looked like, well, Tampa Bay or Jacksonville two weeks ago against the Kansas City Chiefs. Brady hasn’t thrown that many bad passes, since, I don’t know, never? Then he lines up against Cincinnati, this week’s baddest team on the block, and picks the Bengals’ defense apart.
Again, no team is that good nor is that bad.
Now, your favorite team is off to play the newest version of the Cleveland Browns, they of the greatest road comeback EVER. That comeback is worth a 2-point spread in favor of the home team for Sunday’s game. While the Steelers aren’t harkening back to the days of Bradshaw, Swann, Greene and Lambert, Brian Hoyer’s no Otto Graham, either.
Keep the faith, oh Steeler fans! As for me, as I’ve said before, I see the NFL season as an NBA game. No team is out of it until Christmas is on the horizon.