The Pittsburgh Steelers could hardly get out of their own way late in the season, and sometimes even literally. Particularly on defense, they suddenly suffered frequent failures to communicate, which had a crippling effect on their ability to execute. While they showed considerable improvement in the finale, their biggest test is coming up.
In Week 18 against the Bengals, the Steelers held one of the NFL’s most high-powered offenses to under 20 points. The Bengals failed to produce even one explosive play, and after one early success could not convert in the red zone. If you knew the Steelers would do that to Joe Burrow before the game, you probably would have felt good about it.