The Pittsburgh Steelers improved to 7-6 and grabbed hold of first place in the AFC North standings via a gritty 27-22 win over the rival Baltimore Ravens (6-7) on Sunday.
Following the victory, veteran Steelers edge-rusher Alex Highsmith offered a bit of a warning to the rest of the NFL regarding what Pittsburgh could accomplish if the club makes the playoffs.
Steelers ready to “make some noise” as a playoff team
“We’re chasing a Super Bowl, and that’s what it is,” Highsmith told Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. “We have a great team, and everyone in this locker room trusts each other. First, we got to win the division, of course. But we know if we get in, we’ll make some noise. We just got to continue to trust the process and continue to look at this film and not get complacent, not get satisfied because we know there’s a lot of ball ahead of us.”
The Steelers caught a bit of a break with 2:43 remaining in regulation of Sunday’s matchup when it appeared that Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely had secured a go-ahead touchdown reception. However, the call was overturned after replay review when it was determined that Likely didn’t complete the action of the catch before he lost control of the football. Later in the quarter, Highsmith recorded a walk-off sack as time expired.
As of Monday morning, the ESPN Football Power Index gave the Steelers a 67.9 percent chance to claim the division title. To compare, ESPN had Baltimore at 28.7 percent odds to finish Week 18 atop the AFC North standings.
“We have great leaders on our team, we have great leaders in our locker room,” Highsmith added. “So we got to go out there and do the best we can for those guys. But the urgency is at an all-time high, and it starts next week when we’re playing [the 6-7 Miami Dolphins] at home.”
On Monday, DraftKings Sportsbook had Pittsburgh as a three-point favorite for the Dec. 15 prime-time showdown versus Miami.
Alex Highsmith “grateful” for Mike Tomlin
Steelers players spent portions of last week hearing and reading about how members of the fan base and others within the NFL community thought that the club and head coach Mike Tomlin should part ways at the end of the season. Following Sunday’s win, Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said he hoped the result would cause such critics to “shut the hell up for a week.”
“I’m grateful for how calm he stayed throughout the process, ups and downs,” Highsmith said about Tomlin, per Brooke Pryor of ESPN. “He continues to come in and be the same coach that he is day in and day out. …I love playing for him. I love playing for this team. We’re just going to keep fighting and keep stacking wins.”
If the Steelers keep stacking wins, Tomlin will likely stay safe in his job through at least the start of next season.
