2018 NFL Power Rankings: Wild Card edition

2. Pittsburgh Steelers

13-3 (AFC North champions)

No. 2 Seed in AFC

At times Mike Tomlin’s club was accused of playing down to the competition. And as usual, there was plenty of drama surrounding the Pittsburgh Steelers of many varieties. There was an early-season loss at Chicago to the Bears soon followed by a 30-9 home loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in which quarterback Ben Roethlisberger served up five interceptions.

But lo and behold, the Black and Gold finished with 13 wins – the team’s best showing since Big Ben’s rookie year in 2004 (15-1). The club is in the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year. And although there was that Week 15 burp against the New England Patriots, this appears to be a football team feeling pretty good about itself. With home field advantage still a possibility should the Pats lose last Sunday to the Jets, Tomlin sat a lot of his starters and the Steelers still came away with a win over the winless Browns.

Despite the disaster against the Jaguars, Roethlisberger finished with twice as many touchdown passes (28) as picks (14). Running back Le’Veon Bell touched the ball 406 times and finished second in the league with 1,946 yards from scrimmage. Wide receiver Antonio Brown set an NFL record with his fifth straight season of 100-plus catches before going down in Week 15.

Keith Butler’s defensive unit led the league with 56 sacks. And while this group still gives up some big plays, it’s in a better place than it was a year ago. And you get the sense that Tomlin and company would feel good about their chances should they have to make another January trip to Foxborough.

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