Nov 25, 2014 5 min read

PITTSBURGH – Heading into Week 13 of the NFL season, just two teams in the AFC have a better record than the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Yet if the playoffs began this weekend, the Steelers would be sitting at home for the third consecutive season for the first time since missing out on postseason play from 1998 through 2000.

Following victories by Buffalo and Baltimore Monday night, 11 of 16 teams in the AFC currently have winning records, Pittsburgh’s 7-4 mark among them.

But as things currently stand, the Steelers’ 7-4 record only places them in a tie for the final wildcard spot in the AFC along with Kansas City, San Diego, Baltimore and Cleveland. Based on current tiebreakers, the two wildcard spots would go to Kansas City and San Diego, at least for now.

Nobody’s ready to channel their inner Jim Mora – playoffs? – but there’s not a lot of worry around the team just yet.

“You’ve got to be concerned with yourself,” said linebacker Lawrence Timmons. “You can’t worry about everyone else.”

That’s especially true in the AFC North, where Cincinnati (7-3-1) currently holds down first place, percentage points ahead of the Steelers, Ravens and Browns, all of which are 7-4. It’s the first time an entire NFL division has been three games above .500 this late in a season.

With five weeks remaining, the Steelers figure things will sort themselves out. They hope to keep winning and not have to worry about everyone else.

“I spent a little time looking at it during the bye week, but I looked at it just enough to know that it doesn’t really matter,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. “All we have to focus on is the stadium that we’re in because we’re in the thick of that. If we do what we need to do on a week-in and week-out basis in terms of our business in our stadium then it’s not going to be required that we look around.

“We play some significant people moving forward (with) New Orleans being the most significant because that’s who we play this week. They’re in the thick of things in their division race. It is interesting but it’s of no concern to me or us as we prepare for New Orleans.”

With five games remaining, three at home starting this Sunday against New Orleans (4-7) and two on the road, the Steelers are in better shape than they were a year ago at this time when they needed to keep winning and get help from other teams.

They went into the final weekend of the season with their playoff hopes alive and took care of their part, beating Cleveland, only to get knocked out of the playoffs when Kansas City missed a game-winning field goal attempt against San Diego before losing in overtime.

Interestingly, despite its 4-7 record, the Saints are currently vying for a playoff spot in the NFC South, where they are tied with Atlanta for the division lead. A direct contrast to the AFC North, the entire NFC South is three games below .500 or worse.

The Steelers have games remaining against both, home and away meetings with the Bengals and Kansas City.

“We’re in control of our own destiny,” said Steelers safety Mike Mitchell.

Actually, the Steelers control their own fate. Destiny is predetermined, while fate in something that can be controlled.

And if the Steelers do miss out on the playoffs this season, they can look at a pair of losses in games to teams with poor records – Tampa Bay and the New York Jets – that could have been a determining factor in their fate.

“What’s over is done. You can’t complain,” said Mitchell. “You learn from the past, but you can’t dwell on it. We know that we made some mistakes and let some games get away. But even with that, we can’t look back. Yeah, it would be nice, but almost only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades. We’re going to be singularly focused on going out and winning this game this week against the Saints.”

Tomlin said he feels better about the participation of safety Troy Polamalu (knee) and cornerback Ike Taylor (forearm) than he does of that of rookie linebacker Ryan Shazier (ankle) based on their “decades of experience.” The ability of all three to return from injury this week against the Saints will be based on how much they can participate in practice. … Tomlin said nose tackle Steve McLendon, who has missed three of the past five games with a shoulder injury, will be listed as questionable. … Cornerback Cortez Allen suffered a broken thumb in practice prior to Pittsburgh’s game against Tennessee Nov. 17 and had surgery during the bye week. He is questionable to play this week as well.