The Steelers just concluded their long-dreaded stretch of three games in 11 days, and the results were as bad as the most pessimistic team supporter could have predicted.

Pittsburgh lost all three games and got smoked by a combined score of 90-40.

According to my brother, who texted me about the depressing trifecta one day after they lost to Kansas City by a score of 29-10 at Acrisure Stadium on Christmas Day, the NFL “did the Steelers pretty dirty” with the schedule. The funny thing is the Chiefs had the same schedule–three games in 11 days with two on the road. The Ravens also played three games in 11 days with two of them on the road. Yet, Kansas City and Baltimore won all three of their matchups; you likely already know that since the Steelers were on the wrong end of two of them.

Besides, didn’t Pittsburgh just play three games in 12 days back in November? That was a rhetorical question; the Steelers faced the Commanders on the road on November 10, the Ravens at home on November 17 and then the Browns in Cleveland on Thursday Night Football on November 21.

Pittsburgh managed to win two of those games, and I don’t recall anyone even mentioning the disadvantage of playing three teams in 12 days.

Why were fans only focused on the December stretch of three opponents in 11 days? And why didn’t the Chiefs and Ravens have the same issues as Pittsburgh? You mean, it’s because Kansas City, Baltimore and Philadelphia (the Steelers’ first opponent in the December gauntlet) were all so damn good and so much better than the squads the Chiefs and Ravens encountered? OK, but what do you think a playoff run would look like? For that matter, what do you think one postseason opponent would look like?

It’s like what I tell my mom when she asks if an upcoming Steelers playoff opponent is any good: “Yes, that’s why they’re in the playoffs.”

Maybe the Chiefs had it a bit easier during their stretch of games; they kicked off their gauntlet with a road date in Cleveland on December 15. Kansas City then ended its marathon against two playoff teams–the Texans at home and the Steelers on the road. Baltimore’s 11-day journey started in New York against the hapless Giants before facing two playoff teams–Pittsburgh at home and Houston on the road.

I’ll give you that the Chiefs and Ravens had it a bit easier, but not by much, and they both took care of business like true contenders do this time of year.

The Steelers were barely competitive. They weren’t necessarily embarrassed in any of their games, but they sure as heck didn’t look like they would be serious championship chasers in January, either.

Maybe the NFL did do the Steelers dirty with its scheduling of games–especially in November and December. Perhaps things may have been better had Pittsburgh been dealt a more reasonable hand when the schedule was initially revealed in May.

Maybe the Steelers will rebound from this and get hot at just the right time.

Then again, maybe the Steelers were always going to lose to the three best teams on their schedule, regardless of where they were placed on it.

Maybe the Steelers have always been the eight or nine-win team everyone assumed they would be in the offseason.

Maybe the Steelers have already achieved more than they were ever supposed to in 2024.