Steelers' sloppy loss to Broncos is more costly than it seems

It’s a deceptively critical loss for those who already had designs on Pittsburgh getting a first-round bye and therefore putting itself in the conversation as a serious Super Bowl contender. After all, Pittsburgh’s first Super Bowl win with Roethlisberger did come with three road wins out of the wild-card round. But that was also 13 years ago — and the Steelers’ road playoff record since is a much less impressive 2-3.

The Steelers are now a half-game behind the Patriots with a head-to-head meeting remaining, and Pittsburgh has already lost to the Chiefs, who are a safe bet to occupy one of the two byes in the AFC. At first blush, it might seem encouraging that the Steelers could possibly control their own destiny — even if it is against a foe they usually don’t have an answer for — but that reasoning ignores the otherwise exceedingly tough stretch they are about to enter.

Three of the Steelers' next four opponents are the Chargers, Patriots and Saints, all Super Bowl contenders in their own right that have better records at present than Pittsburgh. Even if the Steelers win two of three, an impressive feat, they might still not catch the Pats. 

Luckily, the Chargers and Patriots contests are at Heinz Field. Less fortunate is the Saints matchup. Playing New Orleans in the Superdome is a daunting task during that team's up years, and indeed, the Saints are up, up, up in 2018. Pittsburgh has the ability to put up fireworks, as it showed in a 52-point outburst against Carolina. But the offense often lacks the discipline on a consistent basis to expect such outings every week.

Then there’s the game against the Raiders, which looks like an easy win on paper... until one considers the propensity of Steelers teams under Mike Tomlin to occasionally get caught by surprise by objectively bad teams.

Sunday’s loss to Denver probably doesn’t tell much about the Steelers beside their need to improve ball security. The offense wasn’t even partially stymied like it was against Jacksonville, as it moved the ball with great ease. But then there was Xavier Grimble's killer fumble on the goal line and a bad pinwheeling fumble by James Conner, who also dropped what would have been a game-winning pass the week before against the Jags.

The Pittsburgh offense has shown it can hang with any team, but careless turnovers and an occasional over-reliance on improvised plays can gum up the works. They’re going to need a little luck and some discipline to escape the next four games still in position for a bye. And lest they get too comfortable, the Ravens have won two straight and are only a game-and-a-half back, as unexpected as that was just a couple of weeks ago.