Steelers aren't waiting until January for playoffs to open

The Pittsburgh Steelers would like to make a correction to the schedule the NFL sent out in April. It’s the part that states the postseason begins on the first weekend of January.

For the Steelers, it begins two weeks earlier, starting Sunday when they travel to East Rutherford, N.J., to face the New York Jets.

“This is a playoff game,” linebacker and special teams standout Tyler Matakevich said Monday. “Our playoffs have started a few weeks earlier. That’s how you have to approach it. As long as you do that, you’ve got nothing to worry about.”

Despite a 17-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night in the home finale, the Steelers (8-6) control their playoff situation heading into Week 16. Beat the Jets this weekend and the Baltimore Ravens on Dec. 29, and the Steelers will secure the No. 6 playoff seed.

Tennessee also could finish with a 10-6 record, but the Steelers would hold the tiebreaker based on an 8-4 conference record compared to a 7-5 mark for the Titans.

The Steelers also could make the playoffs by splitting their final two games, but only if the Titans lose their regular-season finale at Houston.

That’s a scenario the Steelers hope to avoid.

“You never want to let it slip out of your grasp,” guard David DeCastro said. “We worked hard to get into this position. Last night was tough, but things are still ahead of you, which is great. You have to look at the positives.”

The Steelers need to look back only one calendar year as a painful reminder of how not to handle a playoff push. They entered Week 16 with three losses in their previous four games, yet the Steelers remained ahead of the Ravens for the division lead.

A loss at New Orleans, however, dropped the Steelers into second place, and they entered the final week needing a victory against the Cincinnati Bengals and help from the Cleveland Browns at Baltimore.

The lasting memory of the finale was the sight of dozens of Steelers players watching the final moments of the Ravens-Browns game unfold on the scoreboard.

The Ravens held off a late drive and secured a 26-24 win, eliminating the Steelers.

“You don’t want to rely on other teams to win or lose,” Matakevich said. “Shoot, you were there last year. You saw us all sitting there trying to hope for the Browns to beat the Ravens. We put ourselves in that situation.

“This way, you win, and you’re in. You lose, and then you’re praying.”

Although the Jets will take a 5-9 record into the game, they are 4-3 at home. The Jets had won four of five games until they lost 42-21 at Baltimore on Thursday night.

“New York’s not going to lay down for us,” defensive captain Cameron Heyward said.

Even with a loss to the Jets, the Steelers would remain in contention for a playoff spot in Week 17, although they would need outside help.

“You don’t want to compound a bad game with another bad game,” DeCastro said. “Then, you’d really be mad at yourself.”

If the Ravens’ win at Cleveland this weekend, they would wrap up home-field advantage in the AFC playoffs, which would render the season finale against the Steelers meaningless for Baltimore.

Steelers players, though, vow they aren’t looking that far ahead.

“Really, you can’t run the scenarios because you just don’t know what is going to happen,” inside linebacker Mark Barron said. “Like, San Fran lost to Atlanta. Nobody expected that. Not that it has anything to do with us and the playoffs, but it’s an example of an NFL week and any given Sunday.

“I don’t really try to play out those pictures because I know how anything can happen, and you never know.”

What the Steelers know is their only route to the playoffs is as the No. 6 seed. They lost any chance of the fifth spot when they blew a three-point lead in the fourth quarter against the Bills.

“We’re in a good position still,” guard Ramon Foster said. “It just would have been a better one if we didn’t drop this one.”

Hey, Steelers Nation, get the latest news about the Pittsburgh Steelers here.