Steelers’ road to playoffs bumpier than expecte

Some of it was self-inflicted, such as the early season suspensions to Martavis Bryant and Le’Veon Bell, or the two inexpiable losses to the Baltimore Ravens, who went 2-0 against the Steelers but 3-11 against the rest of the league.

But the Steelers managed to go 2-2 in that span with Mike Vick and Landry Jones at quarterback to keep the Steelers afloat.

In that time, they lost Beachum at left tackle and had to go with Alejandro Villanueva, who had played in just six games in his career to that point, for the remainder of the season.

When Roethlisberger finally did come back, they lost Bell for the season in a 16-10 loss to the Bengals that dropped them to 4-4.

Six wins in eight games later, and the Steelers are set to face the Bengals once again.

The unit collected 48 sacks and 17 interceptions, the most a Steelers’ defense has put up since 2010, but ranked just 21st in yards per game.