Steelers coach Mike Tomlin knows making the playoffs won't come easy

By winning three in a row and six of their past eight games, the Pittsburgh Steelers are in position to compete for a playoff spot on the final weekend of the regular season.

Of course, they haven’t clinched one — and might not even with a win Sunday — because of their 2-6 start before the bye week. That stretch included losses to New England and Miami, teams that hold a tiebreaker advantage over the Steelers.

In addition to getting help in those games, the 8-8 Steelers need to beat the Cleveland Browns (7-9) on Sunday at Acrisure Stadium if they are to earn the No. 7 seed in the AFC playoffs.

It’s not the preferred scenario for coach Mike Tomlin, but it’s one he readily accepts.

“We acknowledge where we are. We acknowledge we had a lot to do with it,” Tomlin said Tuesday at his weekly news conference. “We’re willing to lay in the bed that we made. More importantly, we are going to stay focused on the work we have an opportunity to affect.”

The NFL has scheduled the Steelers-Browns matchup in the same 1 p.m. time slot that also has the Patriots playing the Buffalo Bills, and the Dolphins facing the New York Jets. The league announced Tuesday it isn’t making changes to the Week 18 schedule as a result of Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest that led to the postponement of the Bills-Cincinnati Bengals game Monday. The Bills-Bengals game will not be rescheduled for this week.

Tomlin has trained himself against scoreboard watching, although it might be difficult Sunday to avoid seeing what is happening in the other AFC games that are being played at the same time.

“That happens every weekend,” Tomlin said. “It’s just less relevant to us in Week 1 and 2. Every week when you kick off at 1 p.m., there is another game going on, and the outcome of that game could affect your positioning. I’m one to carry the urgency from Week 1 through the end, so I’m not living in that world.”

It is the second year in a row the Steelers need to win on the final weekend and get some help if they wish to play in the postseason.Last year, an Indianapolis Colts loss at Jacksonville opened the door for the Steelers to earn the No. 7 after they beat the Baltimore Ravens.

In 2020, despite losing four of their final five games, the Steelers didn’t need to win on the final weekend to qualify.

Asked which scenario he prefers, Tomlin retorted, “Does it matter? Really, does it matter? If there is a preference as it pertains to the playoffs, I’d simply prefer to be a team on the rise. I think a team playing better ball increasingly is a team you want to be. All that other stuff … you just want in.”

The Steelers qualify as a team on the rise given their consecutive wins against Carolina, Las Vegas and Baltimore that has lifted them to .500. They had been under .500 since the third week of the season when they fell to 1-2 with a 29-17 loss at Cleveland.

“I don’t know if it’s anything mystical or earth-shattering in any way,” Tomlin said. “You have to display a certain amount of resolve individually and collectively to have the type of focus that is required to work every day to get better every day, to repeat the cycle that is preparation regardless of what has transpired, good or bad.”

In injury news, Tomlin said inside linebacker Myles Jack’s availability could be impacted by a lingering groin injury. Jack played just six snaps Sunday night against Baltimore before leaving for good.

Free safety Minkah Fitzpatrick sat out three plays with an ankle injury before returning. He could be limited in practice this week, Tomlin said.

Cornerback James Pierre remains in concussion protocol after playing just two snaps against the Ravens before sustaining his head injury.

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