The Pittsburgh Steelers lost a game yesterday to the hottest team in the NFL. That’s essentially all that happened, although it made other things more difficult. Winning the AFC North is a little bit tougher, or at least they have fewer paths to claiming it. And they can just about forget securing a first-round bye, though that was already unlikely.
But really, all the Steelers did was lose a game, and they are still 7-2 in their last nine. That’s the message from HC Mike Tomlin after the game, at least when prompted by some media histrionics. Asked how he can prevent the loss to the Eagles from snowballing into their next games, he had little patience.