Pittsburgh Steelers down to last hope in Week 17

The Pittsburgh Steelers were 7-2-1 in November. It looked like an easy jaunt into the playoffs, potentially with home-field advantage to boot.

With only one week remaining in the regular season, the Steelers are now going into the weekend on a proverbial wing and prayer. Pittsburgh must beat the Cincinnati Bengals at Heinz Field while getting a win from the Cleveland Browns over the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium. Anything else and Pittsburgh is home for the winter, wondering what the heck went wrong over the final six games.

There’s no excuse for the Steelers. Pittsburgh has been one of the healthiest teams in the league, with Antonio Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Ben Roethlisberger starting every game this year. Ramon Foster was banged up early and right tackle Marcus Gilbert has been in and out of the lineup, but Pittsburgh has by and large seen its starters stay upright.

The Steelers also played a relatively easy schedule. The AFC North is improved, but Pittsburgh played against a weak NFC South and drew a pair of overmatched teams in the AFC West with the Oakland Raiders and Denver Broncos. Somehow, they lost to both of them.

Pittsburgh now faces the very real prospect of missing the postseason despite one of the most talented rosters in the league. Should that become a reality by Sunday night, the Steelers would have to consider moving on from head coach Mike Tomlin. Tomlin, who took over for the retiring Bill Cowher following the 2006 season, has enjoyed a great run. Under his watch, Pittsburgh added a sixth Lombardi Trophy to its display case while reaching another Super Bowl in 2010.

Still, all good things eventually run their course. The Steelers fell in a significant upset last year to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the Divisional round, highlighted by Le’Veon Bell missing a walkthrough the day before the game. Now, a season that once appeared to be a championship dream has turned into a daily nightmare.

With the core of the team in a transition and Roethlisberger only signed for one more season, it’s fair to wonder whether the Steelers need a fresh start. Moving on from Tomlin would certainly represent that, and with a Hall of Fame quarterback only guaranteed back for one more campaign, the time might be right to draft his future replacement. Mason Rudolph is already in house, but other options such as Dwayne Haskins and Drew Lock are also floating around in this current class.

For now, the Steelers will try to win and hope for help in Baltimore. If that doesn’t pan out, all moves are on the table.