The Steelers are in control of their own destiny Nation!

If we win our next three games, we win the AFC North, get to play at least one home playoff game, and are on the road to the promised land.

But is Sunday’s Bengals/Steelers game a must-win game?

Nope.

Thanks to the Ravens losing to the Patriots, it’s not.

We really have one “must win” game on our schedule. December 25^th, Steelers vs. Ravens.

That is a must win game, but this week? Not so much.

I hear you out there – I’m not saying they shouldn’t win (I’m not really even saying that it’s not a must win game, hear me out on this).

What happens if we lose? (You know, besides all the Tomlin and Haley bashers who will want to fire everyone creeping back out of the woodwork and screaming at the top of their lungs?)

Well, we’d be 8-6.

Even if the Ravens beat the Eagles this week (which of course, we all hope doesn’t happen) we would at worst be tied for first. And tied for first with a showdown with those selfsame purple turds the very next week.

And if we win that game, and after we beat Cleveland at the end of the year, you know what will happen?

We will have won the AFC North, with a record of 10-6!

So is it a must win game? Not technically.

But at the same time as it won’t technically hurt us at all in the overall picture of winning the North, I still think we really need to win this game.

First of all, we should ALWAYS win our AFC North games. They are all must wins, even if they occur in week one. Why? Because dagnabbit – we need to take care of our biddness!

No doubt about it, we should always look at AFC North games as must wins.

But there is more to it than that this week. It’s December. It’s close to the playoffs, and we have a lot of young guys on our team, and they need to learn some lessons about what it means to wear the Black and Gold.

It means when December rolls around – you win.

It means when it’s cold, and snowy, and miserable outside – you win.

It means that when the playoffs are on the line – you win.

I think it’s important that we keep this roll, well, rolling!

Momentum is an overused word in sports, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a real thing. We have it right now, and we need to keep it. This team is being praised, surrounded by positivity, and that’s good. It has already fought through enough adversity this season to last several seasons – we are good, and we don’t need anymore, thank you very much!

Win Sunday, and we roll back into Pittsburgh on fire, ready to absolutely run the Ravens right out of the building. Win Sunday and we will win out – no question, and end the year at 11-5.

And guess what?

If the Chiefs lose 2 out of their last 3, and the Raiders and Broncos do the same, we could still be the number 2 seed in the AFC. It’s not impossible. Yeah, it’s not in our control, but we lose one more game, and its bye-bye 2 seed!

The Raiders have games against the Charges, Colts and Denver. At Sand Diego, and at Denver. They could lose both those games.

The Broncos have the Patriots this week, and then play at Kansas City – they could lose both those games!

The Chiefs are the tough out, because we probably need the Titans to beat them. In Kansas City. If that happens, and they lose in San Diego to end the season… well…

Steelers would be the number 2 seed in the AFC. That means a bye. That means home field for at least one game, and maybe hosting the AFC Championship game if the Patriots lose their first round game.

So while the Bengals game isn’t “technically” a must-win game – it’s still a must win game!

Until next time Nation!