How to get to the playoffs: The best routes for winning games
The Steelers, winners of seven of their last eight games, are one of three teams that could clinch the AFC North title and their first postseason berth since 2009.
They have won their last five games.
They’re one of four teams that haven’t won a playoff game since 2009 and the only other one that’s won it in the last 20 years.
The Steelers’ biggest problem may be that their offense has looked sluggish for most of the season.
The Steelers’ offense has averaged 31.8 points per game, a league-worst 22nd-best in the NFL, but their defense has given up an average of 36.3 points per contest and allowed an average 35.8.
The difference in the two areas is enough to make a big difference in how much a team’s defense gives up, especially in a division that’s been a hotbed of passing attacks.
Steelers cornerback Stephon Gilmore is in the top five of most-graded players at the position in the AFC.
(Getty Images)Pittsburgh has struggled to run the ball the past two weeks, but the Steelers’ defense has been the biggest reason why.
Pittsburgh’s defense allowed an NFL-high 29 touchdowns last season, but that was just a small sample size and they allowed a league high 25 rushing touchdowns in 2016.
That has been a recurring theme for Pittsburgh, where they allowed 27 rushing touchdowns the past three seasons, and this season they’ve allowed just four.
This is a big win for the Steelers, who are 0-7 on the road.
The last two times they were to win a game in Pittsburgh were in 2015 and ’16, when the Steelers went 3-2, which was their first playoff berth since 2013.
They were 3-0 against teams in the playoffs in ’15 and ’17, which is also the last time they were 3