When Aaron Rodgers reveled about playing meaningful football games in December for the first time in two seasons, the 42-year-old quarterback wasn’t alone in the Pittsburgh Steelers locker room.

As the Steelers (8-6) face another tough test against the Detroit Lions (8-6) at 4:25 p.m. Sunday at Ford Field, Rodgers is surrounded by veterans who have varying degrees of postseason success but also experienced the pain of missing the playoffs in recent seasons.

Not only did Rodgers and cornerback Brandin Echols miss the playoffs last season with the New York Jets, but so did safety Jalen Ramsey and tight end Jonnu Smith with the Miami Dolphins, safeties Kyle Dugger and Jabrill Peppers with the New England Patriots, offensive lineman Andrus Peat with the Las Vegas Raiders, quarterback Mason Rudolph with the Tennessee Titans and wide receiver Adam Thielen with the Carolina Panthers.

“We talked about it early on in the season as a collective, to just to have a heightened sense of urgency,” Smith said. “When November came, we talked about turning it up a notch. This is when good teams start to separate themselves. Everybody is bunched up in the middle. You see teams start to fall into their respective categories, so we’re fortunate to be in this position.

“As a veteran, I’m getting everyone on this train and continuing to keep that hard hat on and go to work and play meaningful football. You get that sense that everybody understands the agenda, everybody understands the mission and is locked in and ready to go.”

Smith considers himself fortunate that he’s played on teams that had a chance to clinch a playoff berth going into the final week in all but one of his first eight NFL seasons. The irony is that Rodgers threw four touchdown passes to lead the Jets past the Dolphins in the season finale last year. The loss, combined with Denver’s win over Kansas City, eliminated Miami from contention and extended their NFL-longest drought from playoff wins to 24 years.

“Every game has been meaningful for me, but I’ve been extremely fortunate on that side,” Smith said. “However, missing the playoffs and having your postseason life in the fate of others, I’ve been in that position, waiting on what this team does and what that team does. That’s not very fortunate. We’re still holding the cards right now, and that’s a good place to be in. Every game is its own Super Bowl from here on out. That’s the mentality we have going into this week.”

That’s how Ramsey views this time of the season.

Ramsey led the Jacksonville Jaguars to the AFC championship game in 2017, then endured a 5-11 season the following year. After being traded to the Rams, Ramsey dealt with December devastation in a last-minute loss to the San Francisco 49ers that knocked them out of playoff contention in 2019. The Rams won the Super Bowl two years later.

So Ramsey is embracing the expectations, especially with the Steelers having a chance to clinch the AFC North title by beating the Lions and Cleveland Browns the next two weeks. Even if the Steelers lose both games, they could win the division by beating Baltimore in the finale.

“Some important football being played right now,” Ramsey said. “Fighting for playoff positioning, division positioning and stuff, so there should be some urgency.”

After spending his first five seasons with the Steelers — who have never had a losing season under coach Mike Tomlin — Rudolph experienced the hopelessness of being out of the playoff race by December last season with the Titans, who finished 3-14.

“I experienced the other side of it last year for the first time,” Rudolph said. “It’s no fun to be in, whether you’re mathematically eliminated already or a couple games away.”

Rudolph credits veterans such as Rodgers and defensive captain Cameron Heyward for providing leadership, especially following the 26-7 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Nov. 30 at Acrisure Stadium where Steelers fans booed “Renegade” and chanted for Tomlin to be fired.

“Every year I’ve been here, we’ve been in it. It either comes down to the last game, or you’re in the driver’s seat,” Rudolph said. “It’s a blessing and a tribute to the coaching staff and to Mike Tomlin. It seems like every year, there’s been times where we’re behind the 8-ball or below .500, and you feel like guys don’t want to be that group to screw up the Tomlin record. It’s sort of this unspoken drive. We want to win because we want to win, but that’s an added element. It’s good to be playing meaningful football.”

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