Jan 6, 2025
Russell Wilson
By Dan Scifo
The Associated Press
PITTSBURGH — Russell Wilson and the Pittsburgh Steelers don’t want to talk about the past with the playoff approaching.
The Steelers finished the regular season on a four-game losing streak after a fourth-quarter rally fell short, as Cincinnati kept its playoff hopes alive with a 19-17 victory Saturday night.
“I think the best thing we can do is get ready for the playoffs,” Wilson said. “It’s a new season. That’s the only thing that really matters anymore at this point.”
Pittsburgh locked up a playoff berth weeks ago. The Steelers are the third team in NFL history to enter the playoffs on a four-game skid.
“We need to play winning football and we’re not doing that right now,” linebacker T.J. Watt said. “We need to wipe the slate clean. We’re in the tournament now and we need to play better football.”
The Steelers lost their grip on the AFC North and now will make a trip to face rival Baltimore, the AFC North champion, in the opening round of the playoffs Saturday night. Had the Las Vegas Raiders defeated the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, Pittsburgh would be playing at Houston.
“Obviously, us winning would’ve helped us in some form or fashion,” Wilson said. “But at the end of the day, when you go into the playoffs, everybody’s 0-0 and you have to beat everybody anyway. It has been a tough few weeks. That has to be our focus right now.”
Pittsburgh’s defense took a significant step back in December and gave up more than 400 yards a game during the first three losses in the streak. On Saturday, Burrow and the Bengals put up 314 yards of total offense.
“We’re in a single-elimination tournament now, so we better turn our attention toward playing good football and better than we have particularly in recent weeks,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin said.
Pittsburgh finished with 193 yards, many in the fourth quarter with the offense desperately trying to rally. Wilson completed just one pass in the third quarter as Cincinnati dominated time of possession by 16 minutes. He finished 17 of 31 for 148 yards with a fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Pat Freiermuth.
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