Pittsburgh Steelers Preserve Hope but Look Like Playoff Long Shots

All is not lost in the Steel City. It only felt that way when Ben Roethlisberger suffered a season-ending elbow injury, Mason Rudolph endured a scary concussion and the defense started slowly.

Then, the Miami Dolphins built a 14-0 lead Monday at Heinz Field. The wheels were about to come off with a season on the line...until they didn't.

The Pittsburgh Steelers didn't relent and secured a 27-14 victory to keep from embarrassing themselves against the winless Dolphins in front of a national audience.

At 3-4, the Steelers reside in limbo. They're not bad enough to consider a full-scale rebuild but not good enough to matter—though Pittsburgh's upcoming schedule provides the slightest possibility for a surprise run to the playoffs if things break in its favor.

Not much should be taken from Monday's performance. The Dolphins did everything to give the game away after a strong start. But a win is a win, and franchises can only beat those in front of them. That's exactly what the Steelers did; they took care of business.

The same mentality must continue as Pittsburgh navigates three different tiers during its final nine contests if it is to maximize this season despite the obstacles already placed in its path.

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The first tier is comprised of must-win scenarios. The Dolphins fell into this category because the Steelers expected to win. The season won't amount to much without victories in these meetings.

Pittsburgh still has four contests against competition with fewer wins than it.

A three-game stretch from Nov. 14 through Dec. 1 against the Cleveland Browns twice with the Cincinnati Bengals in between will likely determine the Steelers' direction. The Bengals shouldn't be much of a concern after an 0-8 start, whereas the Browns could be more difficult thanks to their talented roster. Two wins are a necessity. Three will make everything far more manageable if Pittsburgh is going to sniff the postseason.

A Dec. 22 meeting with the New York Jets falls into the must-win tier as well.

The reason these particular games are so important is quite simple: The Steelers haven't performed well against quality competition, as the Tribune-Review's Chris Adamski noted:

The second tier consists of two teams, the Buffalo Bills and Arizona Cardinals—opponents the Steelers will face on back-to-back weekends in December. The short stretch could be difficult because both squads are playing above expectations. The Bills defense is among the league's best, while the Cardinals have found an identity by spreading people out and running the football. Neither is particularly consistent against solid adversaries, but they offer a higher level of competition than those previously mentioned.

The final tier consists of playoff-caliber teams and starts next weekend. Pittsburgh is fortunate to host the Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Rams over the next two weeks, but both of those visitors are playing a better brand of football.

Indianapolis wins games in the trenches—the Colts feature the game's best offensive line—and by playing fundamentally sound football. Quarterback Jacoby Brissett is outstanding. In fact, he leads the NFL with the highest accurate pass percentage (64.0), according to Pro Football Focus.

The Rams offense, meanwhile, was clicking over the last two games, albeit against inferior competition. Quarterback Jared Goff leads the NFL with 2,367 passing yards. Cooper Kupp ranks second with 792 receiving yards. The unit ranks fourth in passing (287.3 yards per game) and eighth overall (384.5) and in scoring (26.8 points per game).

Finally, the Steelers' biggest test will come during their regular-season finale against the hated Baltimore Ravens.

The Ravens hold a two-game lead in the AFC North. Lamar Jackson is nearly impossible to stop since he can affect games as a passer and runner. Pittsburgh took Baltimore to overtime the first time they met but came up short. Far more could be on the line Dec. 29.

Somehow, Mike Tomlin's squad needs to win six of its final nine games to reach 9-7—and that still may not be good enough with the Ravens, Colts, Bills, New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans at least two games up in the win column.

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Three wins from the bottom tier, a split of the second tier and two more victories among the difficult third tier would place Pittsburgh on the fringe, but it likely wouldn't push the Steelers into the playoffs.

With that said, Rudolph's resiliency and the improvement of the offense provided something to build on for the rest of the regular season.

While the defense continued to make plays, the offense sputtered. Rudolph didn't get off to a rousing start in his return with an interception, a near-interception, an outright miss on an open third-down throw and a fumble. The second-year signal-caller began 1-of-7 only to finish 20-of-36 for 251 yards and two touchdowns with the aforementioned interception.

"I would've booed that performance too," Rudolph said after his slow start, per ESPN's Brooke Pryor. "We were coming out slow. This is the Pittsburgh Steelers. There's a standard here."

The offense opened up, as running back James Conner (145 rushing yards) and wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster (103 receiving yards) eclipsed the century mark for the first time this season. Concerns arose, however.

Tomlin told reporters Conner suffered a shoulder injury during the latter stages of the contest.

Left guard Ramon Foster entered the concussion protocol, and if he misses any time, it could hamper both the running game and pass protection.

Smith-Schuster, meanwhile, didn't exactly light up the best the lowly Dolphins had to offer, per Next Gen Stats:

All three must play at the same rate they did Monday for a fully realized turnaround to occur. As good as the defense has been—causing 10 turnovers in the last three games and 19 overall, second only to the Patriots—the offense must capitalize. Rudolph, a first-year starter, is still limited and missed multiple throws Monday. He should continue to grow, though, especially if those around him play better.

Schedule-watching so early in the season makes NFL life difficult. But this is the position the Steelers reside in. Any further missteps could derail their season. A faint ray of hope will remain at the end of the Fort Pitt Tunnel if the Steelers stay on track against those they should beat and get a little help along the way.

Brent Sobleski covers the NFL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @brentsobleski.