As the day began, the Pittsburgh Steelers woke up knowing that the pressure is on them. In order to retain control over their playoff destiny, they would have to score a difficult win in the Big Easy. But the Steelers are a team that always has the highest aspirations, no matter the odds, as long as they remain in play.
And they woke up not only with the opportunity to control whether or not they reach the postseason, but there also existed the possibility that they could still end up with a bye week, as they had a year ago.