Steelers enter Week 18 with 21% chance to make playoffs, per FiveThirtyEight

The Steelers have been one of the hottest teams in the NFL for the last eight weeks.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbydbzmnr1bhxef player_id=01eqbvhghtkmz2182d image=]

Just three weeks ago, the Pittsburgh Steelers had a 2 percent chance of making the playoffs. Now, as the team heads into the final week of the regular season, it has a 21 percent chance (per FiveThirtyEight) thanks to one of the biggest turnarounds of the league this season.

Pittsburgh got off to a 2-6 start, and all seemed lost. But the bye weekend cured all their ills and got them back on track. Pittsburgh is 6-2 over the last eight games and has won the last three in a row.

But it’s more than the fact they won, it is how they won. The Steelers have found a two-headed power run game with Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren.  Paired with an improving Kenny Pickett, it is a formula for successful ball-control football.

On the other side of the ball, the defense has stepped up since outside linebacker T.J. Watt has returned. The play of guys like inside linebacker Robert Spillane, defensive end DeMarvin Leal and safety Terrell Edmunds has elevated this unit against the run.

Will the Steelers make the playoffs? Let us know in the comments below.

[listicle id=524349]