The Steelers have yet another chance to claw back in the AFC North race

With four games to go and a .500 winning percentage in the books, many would’ve thought the Steelers would have been down and out of this 2021 campaign, had they been told of the scenario before the season started. However, the rest of the AFC North has decided to throw this team a bone as no one has stepped forward to claim this divisional crown. Week after week of some putrid Pittsburgh Steelers performances and I would’ve thought they would be dead to rights at this point in the year. But timely losses from the Ravens, Browns, and Bengals have kept the Steelers’ postseason dreams alive.

Not only has the rest of the division been losing games, but they’ve also been hammered by injuries, and continued problems with the COVID-19 illness. This has given the Steelers an amazing opportunity to claw back within the division once again. Looking at the schedule, and how everything is stacking up, one would expect the Steelers to knock off the Titans on Sunday with the rest of the AFC North losing in Week 14. If this scenario plays out as drawn out, we may have to start looking at the Steelers as a legitimate playoff threat.

The key now for the Steelers becomes winning the games they can actually control. But I need to further explain the usage of the term winning, as finishing these four games with a 3-1 record, may not cut it. Plus, the Steelers will have to make the playoffs the hard way faced with the hardest remaining schedule in football taking on the Tennessee Titans, Kansas City Chiefs, Cleveland Browns, and Baltimore Ravens. There is no easy game remaining but if the Steelers are serious about making the playoffs they will win these games, and if they don’t, they probably didn’t deserve to make it anyway.

If the Ravens specifically continue to lose because of injury and COVID problems, the door is thrown wide-open for Pittsburgh to make a run at the division crown. The key now becomes whether the Steelers can knock off the Titans and Chiefs, and carrying that momentum into the final two weeks which are both divisional matchups. For all the issues this team has gone through this year, they can still do something no one expected of them. But in order to do that they are going to have to start winning football games and beating opponents many don’t expect them to beat.

But what do you think? Can the Steelers really claw back and win the AFC North? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.