Will Mike Tomlin’s Steelers make it 9-8 and what good will it do them?

The 2022 NFL Season is in its final stretch. More specifically, there are only a couple of weeks that separate the regular season from the playoffs, and one of the teams that is torn between life and death is the Steelers, who with a 7-8 record dream of avoiding their first season. loser since 2003 and also remain hopeful of entering the postseason. Will they be able to close the year with a 9-8 record? What good would it do them? In this article we tell you.

Will the Steelers make it 9-8? What good would it do them?

Luis Obregon

Two divisional matchups are what separate the Steelers from the first losing season in HC Mike Tomlin’s 16-year career at the helm of the team. Rather than trying to predict whether or not they’ll make it, I’d like to reflect on what it means to get past that line this year.

From my point of view, doing so means keeping under the belief that the team is not so badwho are only a few players or adjustments away from being contenders, however they have not been true contenders with all that that implies since 2016. Since then, to date, they have qualified for the postseason three times (2017, 2020 and 2021). only to lose in the first match they played in that instance.

The credit goes to Tomlin tremendously for keeping this team always in playoff talk, constantly playing better than expected, which is why a losing record isn’t the end of the world, maybe, on the contrary, it would even come in handy. to find pause. I know that “reconstruction” sounds like failurebut in the case of the Steelers, this could just be a realignment. After all, the young pieces are there and can be taken as a basis to find a new direction.

Miguel Angel Esses

It seems difficult for them to achieve it, But not impossible. Baltimore and Cleveland are complicated by divisional rivalry, but it looks like both are in a position to beat them. The Ravens don’t have Lamar Jackson and are already in the playoffs, so they could try to take it easy, and the Browns are an eliminated team that could put up resistance because of the rivalry with Pittsburgh, but they have shown no signs of being fully connected with the season.

Imagining that they managed to reach 9-8 would be a success for the organization, since it is the first year of Kenny Pickett and in theory they were starting a rebuilding process that should take a little longer. Playoff berth or not, finishing with nine wins would be amazing for Year 1 of the Pickett era.

Luis Nunez

To be honest, the idea doesn’t look crazy where the Steelers close with nine victories. The Ravens have become a tricky team without Lamar Jackson, and the Browns don’t walk with a Deshaun Watson who continues to pick off the rust. In other words, the 9-8 is feasible, although it would be of little use. Pittsburgh is more than one player away from seriously aspiring to the SB, and the more wins, the worse the Draft position and the more years in limbo between suitors and contenders.

Although it is true that if this team manages to conclude the campaign with a winning record, spirits would rise, it would be of little use in the immediate future. This organization is designed for the moment to be a one and done in the playoffs, especially in the AFC. A) Yes, Tomlin must be smart: preferable the blow to the pride of his first losing seasonthan more years sailing away from the elite of the NFL.

Enrique Franco

Any chance of even a positive record after this year has to be considered a sporting success for the Steelers; however, in the big picture it’s a failure. It doesn’t matter if they make the playoffs at the end of the season, because Tomlin would be given the perfect excuse not to make trades, as happened in the last years of Ben Roethlisberger.

The schedule is generous, putting rivals like the Colts, Saints, Panthers, Falcons and Raiders on the road in recent weeks, and it has given them the false feeling of being better; however, their 0-5 record against teams with records over .500 doesn’t say that. It should be considered a failure if they are satisfied with just aspiring to defeat averages in a season. Where is the ambition of a franchise that won the Super Bowl six times? And the worst, it looks the same for 2023.

Can the Steelers close the year with a positive mark? What good would it do them in the long-term future? We read you in the comments below this article and on our social networks.

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