There are two main bullet points when it comes to Pittsburgh Steelers fans talking themselves into how their team can be competitive after this bye week.

My suggestion is to enjoy the bye while it lasts. At least it’s an entire weekend when you know the Steelers can‘t possibly lose.

That’ll be nice for a change.

But when it comes to ginning up optimism over how the pathetic 2022 Steelers (2-6) could resurrect the season after the off week, it rests on two pieces of logic.

1. Reigning Defensive Player of the Year T.J. Watt is going to come back and fix the defense.

2. The team’s strength of schedule stinks, and they’ll be able to make up ground.

Let’s start with the Watt angle. Indeed, the pass rush has been rotten without the star outside linebacker. In the first game with him in Cincinnati, the Steelers had seven sacks and five takeaways. Watt had one of the sacks and an interception.

Since his pectoral injury near the end of that victory, the Steelers have had just eight sacks in seven games.

Surprisingly, though, the Steelers did get three against the 7-0 Eagles. So maybe the collective pass rush is coming around just as Watt is likely to return against the New Orleans Saints on Nov. 13.

That’s part of the reason why keeping Watt sidelined against Philadelphia was a wise move. I was never one who endorsed rushing him back to play against the Eagles. After all, look at the numbers that were posted when Watt tried to hurry back from injury in three road games against the Packers, Bengals and Chiefs last year.

The Steelers lost those games by a combined score of 104-37. Watt had just seven total tackles and two sacks in those three games. One of those sacks came when Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers slid and Watt touched him up. The other was when Watt got away with tripping Rodgers.

In other words, Watt isn’t good when he rushes back from injury. So waiting until after the bye was probably prudent.

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Two things have to be woven into the analysis of Watt’s return, though. Given the All-Pro’s propensity for injury over the last two years, can the Steelers really expect him to play at optimal health for nine straight games?

Secondly, for as good as Watt is, he doesn’t play offense. And, for as bad as the Steelers defense has been at points without Watt, the other side of the ball is still the bigger issue.

In terms of the schedule, the Steelers do have four divisional games remaining. Two against the AFC North-leading Ravens (5-3) and home games against the Bengals (4-4) and Browns (3-5). As the Steelers have proven in years when they have been at or near the top of the North, those games are always tough for favorites to win — even if the matchups on paper say otherwise.

Aside from that, the list of opponents is hardly a murderers’ row. Like the Steelers, the 3-5 Saints, 3-4-1 Indianapolis Colts (Nov. 28, away), 2-6 Carolina Panthers (Dec. 18, away) and 2-5 Las Vegas Raiders (Dec. 24, home) are all under .500.

The 4-4 Atlanta Falcons (Dec. 4, away) lead the comically bad NFC South. Don’t be too impressed. They have a minus-5 point differential and have just one win against a team with a winning record, beating the Seattle Seahawks 27-23 in Week 3.

So, in those nine remaining games, the only opponent the Steelers are slated to face who currently has a winning record is Baltimore. That means seven of their last nine games occur against teams who are currently no better than .500. Coincidentally, barring a tie, the Steelers will have to go 7-2 to avoid a losing season for the first time in Mike Tomlin’s 16 years as the head coach.

But if you can see this motley crew of Steelers winning seven times in nine tries between now and the end of the season, you may be the most optimistic person to grace Western Pa. since Fred Rogers sang “It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.” And you must be watching the games in the “Land of Make Believe.”

Short of that, the Steelers would just be playing for pride and the outside chance of (again, barring a tie) dubiously slinking into the playoffs with a losing record.

Here’s as optimistic as I’ll go. It’s my absolute best-case scenario. T.J. Watt comes back healthy and stays that way for the last nine weeks. The offense shows minimal improvement because, well, it’s nearly impossible for it to be worse.

Tomlin’s team splits the four AFC North games, and they go 3-2 out of the division. That’s 5-4 the rest of the way, and 7-10 overall.

That’s my idea of rose (or black and gold) colored glasses.

These aren’t beautiful days in the neighborhood.

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