It wasn't easy, but the Pittsburgh Steelers mounted a 13-point comeback in the fourth quarter and defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in overtime in Week 6 to move to 4-2 on the season.
After the game, Aaron Rodgers talked about how the victory may ultimately change the Steelers' trajectory since it was a game they had to have in order to avoid being .500 at 3-3 heading into an international matchup with the New Orleans Saints in Paris during Week 7.
“The thing is, these are the most important moments for us as a team to grow. Because this is a trajectory-altering win today,” Rodgers said. “To go 3-3, we’ve got the Paris trip, that’s just not what you want to do.”
After capturing its first road win of the season, where does Pittsburgh sit in the AFC North standings?
Tight Race Across the Board
The Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns faced off at Huntington Bank Field, though two-time MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson was out for a second straight week for the former with an ankle injury.
Tyler "Snoop" Huntley started in Jackson's place for the 4-1 Ravens, and while he led the team to a win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday Night Football in Week 5, that wasn't the case this time around.
Cleveland made up a seven-point difference in the fourth quarter and won as time expired on a 37-yard field goal from Andre Szmyt, moving it to 4-2 while Baltimore dropped to 4-2.
As a result, the Steelers, Ravens and Browns are all technically tied atop the division, while the Cincinnati Bengals, who were on bye, are a half-game behind at 3-2.
Because Cleveland is 2-0 in the AFC North, it holds the tiebreaker over Pittsburgh (1-1 in division) and Baltimore (0-1) at the moment.
"Cleveland won today, so now the three of us are 4-2...," Rodgers said. "To be 4-2 now, to win our first road game, to beat a team we should've beat. There's no two-ways around it, you gotta beat teams like that if you want to get where we want to get. Didn't look like a win for a long time, so I'm proud of our guys. Defense kept us in it, and offense finally made a couple plays."
It's shaping up to be quite the race down the stretch, and it's starting to feel a bit like 2023, when all four teams in the division finished over .500.
Pittsburgh Must Take Advantage Before Week 9 Bye
As Rodgers alluded to, the Steelers couldn't afford to let their game against Tampa Bay slip through their fingers. With the Bucs at 1-4 heading into it while having an undrafted rookie starting at quarterback in Jalon Daniels, those are the types of situations Pittsburgh has to take full advantage of if it wants to remain in playoff contention.
Now, the Steelers have to find a way to take down another NFC South squad in the Saints, who are 2-4, over in Paris this week before heading back to Acrisure Stadium and playing the Browns in Week 8.
The Cleveland contest in particular is crucial because of the AFC North ramifications, though New Orleans is one of the easier matchups left on Pittsburgh's schedule and is another opponent the black and gold must defeat before things really ramp up following their Week 9 bye.
From a Sunday Night Football showdown with the Bengals on the road in Week 10 to a Black Friday matinee at home against the Denver Broncos in Week 11 before hosting the Houston Texans on Sunday Night Football in Week 12 and hitting the road for Monday Night Football vs. the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 13, the Steelers will face an absolute gauntlet of opponents immediately coming out of their bye.
That doesn't take into account the two contests it has against the Ravens in Weeks 15 (home) and 18 (road) either.
As a result, Pittsburgh would really benefit from stacking wins over New Orleans and Cleveland as a means of protecting itself against a pretty brutal stretch in the second half of its schedule.
Add us as a preferred source on Google