The Pittsburgh Steelers have suffered through two different three-week winless stretches this season to knock them to the fringes of playoff contention. They did not, however, lose to the Detroit Lions.
That honor instead belongs to the Minnesota Vikings. On Thursday night, the first “1” in Detroit’s 1-10-1 record will take on the latter in prime time as each team tries to claw its way back into the postseason.
It’s been a season of seemingly random swells and deflation in both Pittsburgh and Minneapolis this fall. The Steelers held the dynamic offenses of the Bills and Ravens to fewer than 20 points in statement victories but also got swept by the Bengals by an aggregate score of 65-20 and couldn’t beat the Lions en route to a 6-5-1 record. The Vikings are borderline lucky to be 1-1 vs. Detroit, but also beat the Packers and Chargers to cut a 5-7 record that still leaves them within one game of a Wild Card spot.
So here we have two teams, left in the middle of an ice-coated pond, struggling to find traction that can get them out of the wilderness and to the shores of a playoff berth. Pittsburgh has some positive momentum after knocking off the Ravens, but Minnesota has homefield advantage and more to prove in a game that isn’t quite a “must win,” but is getting pretty dang close.
So who’ll escape to muddy up the postseason picture another week longer? Let’s talk about it. All odds via Tipico.