Pittsburgh Steelers entering the toughest phase of 2024 yet

The Pittsburgh Steelers finish up the 2024 regular season with games against the Baltimore Ravens, Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals. Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images

PITTSBURGH — Left tackle Dan Moore Jr. admits he’s in an unfamiliar situation as the Pittsburgh Steelers enter Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Since arriving in Pittsburgh as a fourth-round selection in the 2021 NFL draft, Moore hasn’t experienced a season where the Steelers weren’t careening toward a white-knuckle finish as they still hunted for a playoff berth in the final weekend of the regular season.

Until this year.

Not only is an unofficial Pennsylvania State Championship on the line Sunday (4:25 p.m. ET, Fox), but the Steelers can lock up a playoff spot with a win or tie against the Eagles or losses or ties by the Miami Dolphins, who play the Houston Texans, and Indianapolis Colts, who play the Denver Broncos.

In addition to bragging rights and playoff security, the trip to Philadelphia will usher in the start of a high-stakes, 11-day gauntlet against three of the league’s best in a preview of what could await them in the postseason.

“Our destiny’s in our hands, and that’s for the first time since I’ve been here,” Moore said. “I mean you look at the two years that we made the playoffs, we needed other teams to win. Now we’re in a situation where we could be playing for a first round bye.”

The Steelers’ last two playoff appearances weren’t secured until Week 18, one of them not even finalized until the conclusion of an overtime “Sunday Night Football” game in 2021. The last time the Steelers’ playoff fate was determined before the last week of the regular season came in 2020, when the Dolphins lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 14. That year, the Steelers got off to a hot start, going 11-0. But they faltered down the stretch and lost four of their final five games before a first-round exit in a home wild-card loss to the Cleveland Browns.

Though that late-season skid happened months before Moore was drafted by the Steelers, it still serves as a cautionary tale as the Steelers enter their final month of the season.

“I have actually been thinking about that a lot over the past couple of weeks because seasons can always change,” Moore said. “Just like you start off hot, you can always finish crappy at the back half of the season. We know that this is the most important time of the year, December football, so this is what’s going to make or break our playoff hopes.”

With one December win notched, the Steelers now face the herculean make-or-break test of maneuvering an obstacle course stacked with perennial playoff teams and MVP candidates.

The Eagles have already clinched a playoff spot and could win the NFC East title on Sunday. Winners of their ninth straight AFC West title, the Chiefs have also already secured their spot in the playoffs. The Baltimore Ravens, who the Steelers face six days after playing in Philadelphia, haven’t officially earned their spot in the postseason. They’re part of a two-team race with the Steelers for the AFC North crown though Baltimore is two games behind in divisional standings.

“Obviously three playoff teams we’re going to play, and obviously some high level pressure moments,” tight end Pat Freiermuth said Wednesday. “We know the task ahead of us. But we’re just focused on Philadelphia and trying to get a win in Philly.”

The Steelers, though, haven’t won a game in Philadelphia since 1965, and breaking that streak Sunday won’t be easy against an 11-2 team fueled by running back Saquon Barkley, who is on pace to break Eric Dickerson’s all-time rushing record.

The last time the Steelers faced the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field, the Eagles came away with a dominant 35-13 win in Week 8 of the 2022 season. Quarterbacked by Kenny Pickett, who has since been traded to the Eagles, the Steelers couldn’t get anything going on the ground or through the air. And playing without linebacker T.J. Watt, the defense didn’t have any answers for quarterback Jalen Hurts and receiver A.J. Brown, who connected for three touchdowns. Kicker Chris Boswell also missed the game with a groin injury and landed on injured reserve.

Tangible frustration seeped from the Philadelphia visitors locker room that afternoon, and speculation swirled that the Steelers could make a change at offensive coordinator. Wide receiver Chase Claypool, who lamented he needed more go balls in the aftermath of the loss, was traded to Chicago in exchange for a second-round pick two days later.

Though they mounted a furious, late-season surge, the Steelers missed out on the playoffs that season.

“I remember that game like yesterday,” Moore said of that loss. “We were going into it 2-5. It was our last game before our bye. We lost that went into the bye at 2-6.

“When you talk about us being what, 10-3 now, I mean obviously the record difference, but a bunch of new guys, a bunch of new faces, whole new coaching staff on offense. I mean you talk about it being different teams every year in the NFL, but this is a truly different team that they’re going to be seeing this December.”

To Moore, the difference fueling this year’s group isn’t just that they’re winning games this season, but in how they’re winning.

“We figured out how to just crawl our way out of situations, and sometimes that’s how it is,” Moore said. “You look at the Kansas City Chiefs, I mean almost every game they’ve played this year is tight. So I feel like when you have that ability as a team to figure out just how to get it done, I think you can grow with that. And I think you have something special.”

There’s also a noticeable vibe shift in the locker room. Of course, winning cures all, but the camaraderie and a collective buy-in is a key component in the 10-3 record.

“Everybody had a playmaker’s mentality,” Tomlin said of the win in Cleveland. “Everyone wanted to be the reason why we’re successful, and when you get collectives playing like that, man, that’s when you get an opportunity to play really good team football, complement one another, smile in the face of adversity.”

Led by quarterback Russell Wilson, the offense — though sometimes slow to start — is scoring 24.8 points per game. Defensively, the Steelers rank among the league’s best in rushing yards allowed (91.5 per game), total points allowed (18.3) and takeaways (28).

“We just have a complete team,” defensive captain Cameron Heyward said Sunday. “We have a team that’s complementary of everybody. I’m not saying that against the teams we’ve had in the past, but you can look at the time of possession on the offensive side of the ball. You can look at the big special teams plays, you can look at the defensive big plays as well. All three facets.”

So far, those guys have gelled to put together a 10-win season. But that’s far from the end goal of an organization that boasts six Lombardis, while also lacking a playoff win since 2016.

“It’s a relief, but we’re not done yet, man,” Freiermuth said. “And we’ve got to continue to keep going. We haven’t really done anything yet.

“We’re still a 10-3 football team, but we got the North to win. We got playoffs to win, so we haven’t done anything yet, but it’s a good stepping stone.”