If there is such a thing as “purgatory” in sports, the Pittsburgh Steelers live there. After all, they can’t live in their fears, so they have to live somewhere else. In sports terms, purgatory is having a good enough team to make the playoffs but not win. That way, you only ever benefit from mediocre resources to improve, and thus stay where you are.
That has been the Steelers’ story for some time. Since advancing to the conference finals in 2016, they have made the playoffs five times without winning a postseason game. And when they haven’t made the playoffs, they have only done so just barely.