A postseason trip lies ahead and a chance -- albeit slight -- at winning the AFC North remains for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
However, the Steelers' onus for their regular-season finale Saturday against the Cincinnati Bengals is simply to play well and rediscover the form that has been lost in three weeks' worth of struggles.
If Pittsburgh can do that, defensive lineman Cam Heyward and his teammates believe everything else will fall into place.
"For me, and I think for a lot of guys in here, hopefully the whole team, it's about just playing good ball," Heyward said Tuesday, via the team website. "We've got to get back on good footing, play with good technique. We control what we can control.
"I think going forward, ball just needs to be played the right way. It doesn't matter what happens outside of our stadium. We understand we're in the playoffs. So just focus on what we've got to focus on."
Sitting at 10-6, the Steelers can with the AFC North -- and clinch the No. 3 seed -- with a win and a loss by the Baltimore Ravens (11-5) earlier on Saturday. Thus, Pittsburgh could be out of division contention by kickoff at 8 p.m. ET. In reality, that's very much secondary.
Pittsburgh had a chance previously to clinch the AFC North, but began a current three-game skid in which it's fallen from the grace of a team with Super Bowl hopes to one backing into the postseason playing its worst ball of the season.
Each of the Steelers' three straight losses (27-13 to the Philadelphia Eagles; 34-17 to the Ravens; and 29-10 to the Kansas City Chiefs) have gone by 14 or more points. It's the first time Pittsburgh has lost three straight in such lopsided form since Weeks 5-7 in 1988, according to NFL Research. The team's ballyhooed defense has been as much of a culprit as a suddenly stagnant offense, having allowed more than 25 points in three consecutive games for the first time since Weeks 2-4, 2018, according to NFL Research.
If the Steelers are to get right, Saturday is the time to do it.
Unfortunately, Pittsburgh is facing a red-hot Cincinnati squad that's won four in a row.
Fortunately, the Steelers are facing a Bengals team that they've won the last three meetings against.
The latest in that streak was in Week 13, when Russell Wilson and Co. outgunned Joe Burrow and the Bengals, 44-38. Thus, the Steelers are well aware of who they'll be lining up against on Saturday.
"He was on a heater when he played us," Heyward said of Burrow. "It's not like they didn't score 30 points.
"I have a lot of respect for what they do on offense. They're able to get up and down the field."
After Week 18 concludes, the Steelers could be the AFC's No. 3, 5 or 6 seed. Most of that is out of their control because of the three-game losing streak they take into Saturday. Thus, Heyward and his squad's biggest priority is playing to its potential, playing like it was prior to its recent travails.
