In a one-game, loser-goes-home situation, the Steelers aren't concerned about what has happened over the past month as much as they are with the task that lies ahead of them this week.
And that task would be beating the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium in a Super Wild Card playoff game.
While the Steelers (10-7) enter the game against the Ravens (12-5) on a four-game losing streak, a stark contrast to Baltimore's current four-game winning stretch, none of that will matter Saturday when the ball is kicked off.
"For us, it's not about being in the tournament. It's not about dreaming about the next month. It's not about pouting over the last month," Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said Monday at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. "It's about this week for us, we're playing someone that we're highly familiar with. They're also highly familiar with us.
"It'll be the third time that these two teams have come together. We'll do it in their venue. And so there's a lot of work ahead of us in preparation for performance."
What the last month could or has determined for the Steelers is what they will do in this game and perhaps who exactly they will be doing those things with.
It can be easy to mask issues when a team is on a winning streak or even winning the majority of its games. But when it is losing, issues get magnified and then, ideally, are corrected.
For example, the Steelers had struggled with their red zone defense in losses to the Eagles, Ravens and Chiefs, allowing 10 touchdowns on 16 possessions inside their 20-yard line.
But in the Steelers' 19-17 loss to the Bengals Saturday in their regular season finale, they limited Cincinnati to one touchdown in four trips inside the 20, cleaning up some of the issues that had been plaguing them.
"Unfortunately, you probably learn more when there's failure, and obviously we've experienced some of that," Tomlin acknowledged. "Some of it not jaw-dropping things, or earth-shadowing things, more confirmation of things that we believe in, or things that we engineer victory by.
"We suffer the consequences of not wanting to turn over the battle in recent weeks, and that's been very evident. We've also suffered the consequences of not performing to our standards in the red zone, offensively and defensively, and oftentimes your ability to win possession downs within those situations define you that four-point swing during that four-game stretch."
Correcting some of the issues the offense has had in recent weeks might be as simple as coming up with a game plan the team is utilizing on that particular day and who exactly it is trying to implement that game plan with.
The Steelers have gotten off to slow starts offensively, scoring just one field goal in the opening quarter of their past four games and producing just two first downs in the opening 15 minutes of those games.
"Some of it has had to do with some of the people that we played have done a nice job," Tomlin said. "Some of it has to do with us. Rest assured that we're working extremely hard to rectify it, and I'm excited about taking another whack at it this week.
"Certainly we're analyzing all components of it in an effort to remedy it."
That could lead to leaving no stone unturned when it comes to personnel usage.
Tomlin stressed that the Steelers aren't making enough routine plays routinely coming out of the 19-17 loss to the Bengals, ie. catching passes to convert third downs or making the necessary plays on runs to convert those situations.
That could lead to increased playing time for players such as wide receiver Mike Williams or quarterback Justin Fields in certain situations.
Williams, acquired at the trade deadline from the Jets, had seen his playing time increase in recent weeks to the point where he played 32 offensive snaps in a loss to the Chiefs on Christmas Day. But Williams saw just 14 snaps against the Bengals, his lowest total since his first game with the Steelers in Washington, days after he had been acquired.
Despite that, Williams made a 25-yard catch along the sideline against the Bengals on third down that led to the Steelers' first touchdown of the game.
Williams had three receptions for 25 yards, playing 37 percent of the Steelers' offensive snaps in a Week 16 loss at Baltimore after failing to record a catch in an 18-16 over the Ravens in Pittsburgh earlier in the season.
"Certainly," Tomlin said when asked about the potential for Williams to see additional playing time against the Ravens. "And for us, it's not just about Mike, it's the playmaker, as I mentioned after the game, we didn't make enough routine plays in play. And for us to be the type of unit that we desire to be and the team that we desire to be, you've got to make routine plays.
"Oftentimes, routine plays produce additional plays. They could be spectacular. And so converting routine third downs, being on schedule, things of that nature, allow us to possess the ball, to produce more opportunities for guys like Mike, who obviously has big-play capabilities."
Utilizing the skill set of Fields also could be part of that.
Fields suffered an abdominal injury in the Steelers' loss at Philadelphia and hasn't been utilized in any packages since. But in a must-win situation, with Fields now healthy, he also could be an option to help keep the offense on the field.
The Steelers have utilized a package with Fields at quarterback 13 times since Russell Wilson took over as the team's quarterback after returning to health, with Fields producing seven rushes for 58 yards while also going 0-1 as a passer.
"I'm certainly open to utilizing Justin," Tomlin said. "He has an awesome skill set. We've done some of that in the past. We've done less of it in recent weeks. He experienced an injury a couple of weeks back that slowed some of that. But certainly in an effort to win this game. I am open to any combination or combinations of the division of labor in an effort to do so, and so I'm certainly open to that as we develop plans this week."
The Steelers are fully focused on doing what is necessary to get a win this week and concern themselves with the following week when that comes.
Despite the team's current four-game losing streak, Tomlin remains resolute in his belief that the Steelers, who started the season winning 10 of their first 13 games, can turn things around.
"I don't know that it needs to be restored," Tomlin said of his team's confidence. "I just think that we've been in too many battles, and we've had too much success to be fragile in that way. We certainly could hate our recent performances and the outcome of those recent performances, but I don't think it's reflected in terms of how we feel about ourselves or our ability to make plays or engineer victory and win games."
Third time around: Saturday's game will mark the fifth time the Steelers and Ravens have met in the postseason, and Baltimore is the divisional opponent the Steelers have faced most often in the postseason.
The Steelers are 3-1 against the Ravens in the postseason and 10-2 overall when facing a divisional opponent in the postseason.
Tomlin, however, isn't taking comfort in that. In fact, given that both meetings with Baltimore have taken place in the past eight weeks, it might make this particular game even more challenging.
"I don't know that it does. You know?" Tomlin said when asked if it makes preparation easier. "I just think the more familiar you are, the more significant the strategic component is. But as a coach I welcome that. I want the responsibility of being a component of how this game unfolds and to try to stay a step ahead of them. I'm sure they have the same agenda regarding us. It doesn't get routine with each match up. It gets more sophisticated. It gets more complex, and from a coach's perspective, more fun."
One thing that won't be as much fun as the previous four meetings against the Ravens is that this game will take place at M&T Bank Stadium instead of Acrisure Stadium, where the previous four have been played in the postseason.
The Steelers, however, are 15-14 in their history in Baltimore and are 6-2 in their last eight trips to M&T Bank Stadium.
"(I've) got a lot of respect for the environment," Tomlin said. "Going to Baltimore, particularly in playoff football, is something to be respected, and I expect it to be a hostile environment. I welcome that. To be quite honest with you, it's important that we smile in the face of that as a collective. It's just simply a tax to pay for not winning the division, and we pay that."
• Dale Lolley is co-host of "SNR Drive" on Steelers Nation Radio. Subscribe to the podcast here: Apple Podcast | iHeart Podcast Pittonline@iheartmedia.com
Injury update: The Steelers exited the regular season finale against the Bengals with just one injury of note, that coming to rookie right guard Mason McCormick.
McCormick suffered a fractured hand in the game and was replaced by second-year pro Spencer Anderson.
But Tomlin said the issue might not keep McCormick out of Saturday's game against the Ravens.
"He'll be sized for a cast and or a brace and check functionality there," Tomlin said. "And so his participation and the quality of his participation will kind of be an indication of his potential availability as we push forward."
Cornerback Donte Jackson has been dealing with back issues over the past several weeks and sat out the game against the Bengals in an effort to alleviate the problem.
"He feels good this morning, but again, we'll watch him throughout the course of the week and see what his participation does in terms of the possibility of his inclusion," Tomlin said.
With Jackson out against the Bengals, second-year pro Cory Trice got the start and drew the task of matching up on star wideout Ja'Marr Chase.
Chase, who led the NFL in receptions, yards and touchdowns, had eight of his 10 catches while covered by Trice, but averaged just 9.6 yards on those plays.
"I thought largely he did some nice things," Tomlin said. "Cory is a hard-working guy. He doesn't have a lot of experience. It was really good experience for him, and it's reasonable to expect him to build upon that."
Defensive tackle Cam Heyward, who was dealing with the flu on Friday, was given Monday off to recover from that, but it is not expected to keep him out of Saturday's game.
