Steelers' schedule shows a three-game stretch that is already must-win for Pittsburgh

Playing the Raiders, Jets, and Giants in Weeks 6, 7, and 8 before a bye sets Pittsburgh up perfectly for their brutal second half, but only if they take care of those three opponents. 

The Jets will undoubtedly be the stiffest competition of the three, especially if Aaron Rodgers is healthy and back to his MVP form. But unlike Pittsburgh, the Jets play their brutal portion of the season at the beginning as opposed to the end:

The travel alone will likely have the Jets' legs feeling heavy, meaning Pittsburgh has to take them out. 

As for the Raiders and Giants, those are two teams who could very well be battling for the first pick in the draft come next April. 

Both squads are devoid of talent and have huge questions at the QB position, meaning Pittsburgh can't fall into a trap with either one of them, but certainly not the Raiders, who are sandwiched in between a series of primetime games for Pittsburgh.

No shot at either franchise, but when your starting QB is a journeyman like Gardener Minshew in Vegas or a player that either underwhelms or is injured in New York via Daniel Jones, you are the bullseye for every good team in the league. 

The problem is, history shows us that Pittsburgh tends to play down to their completion, both at home and on the road. This isn't something new, as it's kind o been the recipe since Coach T took over nearly two decades ago. 

Maybe that changes with a QB that is more capable of holding his team accountable, but like Russell Wilson, Big Ben also had a Super Bowl ring, only he had two of them and things stayed the same. 

So you can never rule a Mike Tomlin lead team out, and certainly not this early in the schedule, but how well they do over these three games could very well foreshadow their success come January.