The Steelers take on the Bengals in their 2024 regular-season finale Saturday night at Acrisure Stadium.

Pittsburgh is 10-6 but floundering badly. The organization has lost three straight games to three of the best teams in football.

The Steelers are in the postseason, but so what? This losing streak—and the way the team looked during it—has the fans already looking ahead to the offseason. Mike Tomlin has gone from Coach of the Year and a great motivator to a horrible motivator without a coaching tree (that’s a weird concern, but it always comes up during tense Tomlin debates).

Who are these 2024 Pittsburgh Steelers as they prepare for the 2024/2025 NFL Playoffs? Some say they are D.O.A.

We won’t know until the Steelers first postseason game kicks off. Then again, we might have a great idea by the end of Saturday night’s contest vs. Cincinnati.

Pittsburgh may or may not be in contention for an AFC North title by the time the game kicks off, but it will still have a shot at the top wildcard spot. As for the Bengals, they’ll be playing for their postseason lives.

It remains to be seen how motivated the Steelers will be for the finale, but there is no stronger motivation than playing for your postseason life.

Not only will the Bengals still be alive, but they’ll be on a major roll, having won four straight games. With a victory, Cincinnati (8-8) will remain in contention and must then hope for help from the teams playing the Dolphins (the Jets) and the Broncos (the resting Chiefs) on Sunday.

You can say what you want about the Bengals, but they have Joe Burrow, arguably the best quarterback in the NFL right now, complete with 4,461 passing yards, 42 touchdowns and only eight interceptions. Cincinnati might have a Pinto defense, but it rides a Cadillac offense.

The Bengals will be a major challenge for a Pittsburgh defense that has severely underperformed in recent weeks, especially along the defensive line and in the secondary.

T.J. Watt, the reigning Team MVP, has been a ghost since around Halloween.

The Steelers offense, one that looked promising for about two months under the leadership of quarterback Russell Wilson, has produced just 40 points over the past three games.

Is receiver George Pickens ready to do some damage against the Chiefs in the playoffs or–based on his high-profile post-game love-fest with them on Christmas Day–is he hoping to join them in the offseason?

The Steelers were floundering badly down the stretch of the 2023 campaign and had lost three straight games. But they found their footing in a Week 16 blowout victory over Cincinnati at Acrisure Stadium. That win propelled the team to a late-season rally and a berth in the postseason.

Honestly, I don’t care if the Steelers blow the Bengals out on Saturday night, I just want them to win and look formidable in the process.

We know they’re not getting a bye into the divisional round. They’ll either be home or away the following week. They’ll either be the third, fifth or sixth seed.

Regardless of the venue, seed or opponent, I just want to know if these 2024 Pittsburgh Steelers will have a pulse when the 2024/2025 NFL playoffs kick-off.

Saturday’s regular-season finale against the Bengals should tell us a lot.