With Control in Their Hands, the Steelers Are Looking to Write a New Story in 2019

The Pittsburgh Steelers remember last season, but to try and overcome it, they're looking to the future to forget about the past.

PITTSBURGH -- There's a looming comparison in Pittsburgh on how the Steelers, unlike last season, control their playoff hopes with two weeks left in the regular season. Holding a half-game lead over the Tennessee Titans, the goal is to win these last two games and carry a 10-6 record into the final AFC playoff spot. 

Mike Tomlin opened the week on Tuesday talking about. How his team knows they're pressed with time but knows how hard their fought to get here. How they understand they control their own destiny but how they remember last year's heartbreak. 

It's a feeling that's driving the Steelers. Must-win games with players many didn't expect to play this important of a role in Week 16. A team that's battled through some of the thickest waters of the season to sit 8-6 with a chance to make history. 

"We know exactly that we didn't accomplish our game last year and our goal wasn't just to go to the playoffs it was to win a World Championship," Terrell Edmunds thought back to last season. "The only way we can do that this year is if we take care of business, win this game against New York and then go to Baltimore and win to. So, we just got to control our own destiny, write our own story."

While the focus is forward, the locker room remembers what happened last year. The Steelers stayed on the field after a 16-13 win over the Bengals in Week 17. As the Browns and Ravens played on the big screen, players sat with their helmets on the turf, hoping to see Baker Mayfield lead his team down the field and send Pittsburgh to the playoffs. 

"I don't think we ignore it I just think guys, in their mind, know how close we came and it felt at the end of the year," Maurkice Pouncey said. "It might get related closer to meeting times on Saturday and coach might bring that up and might relate it to the team but I'm pretty sure guys are already thinking of that in their heads that it sucks being at home that early, after all the work you put in throughout the offseason, throughout training camp. So, especially in the season when it plays out not the way everybody wants I'm pretty sure it's on their minds."

The moment wasn't one the Steelers want to reminisce on. After tough losses and forgettable mistakes throughout the season, the mishaps of 2018 came back to end Pittsburgh's Super Bowl hopes early. 

A feeling that left the locker room quiet, Pouncey remembers the pain it caused to everyone that was there that night. 

"It was heartbreaking because the guys, we came out and played great that game, the season had its ups and downs but we had a great time throughout the whole thing so to end like that," Pouncey said. "The breakdown speech at the end wasn't normal."

Heading into Week 16 at MetLife Stadium to play former Steeler Le'Veon Bell and the New York Jets, the Steelers are focused on what they have not what they've lost. After climbing out of an 0-3 hole to find themselves with an opportunity to make the postseason didn't seem real to many 13 weeks ago. 

Diontae Johnson admitted he hit the rookie on wall last week but followed it up by saying he's still giving everything he can because of his teammates. 

It's not ideal but Pittsburgh knows that they're not going to lose faith because of unfortunate incidents. In the NFL, you can't control what goes wrong but you can control how you react. No matter what the situation has been, this team has prospered, and with two games left it's left their heads held high as they head into Week 16.

"I think overall we're very confident," Pouncey said. "I think as a team we've got to look at the scenarios that we've been in, we've faced a lot of adversity we've got a lot of young guys playing, but if you watch the film a lot of those guys are stepping up making a lot of great plays and to have those guys to be seasonal vets at this point in the year in their rookie year is hard to do but we've got a lot of high expectations for them."

The understand of letting opportunity slip through your fingers rings high in the Steelers locker room. Mistakes have been made and it's put them in a situation they'd rather be ahead of. 

"We know what we're capable of doing it's just that we have to go out there and do it," Edmunds explained. "Every game this year, the games that we lost, it was on us. It wasn't something the other teams did, it was something we didn't do as a team. Something that we knew we could've done but we just didn't accomplish that." 

It's put the Steelers in a place where they can reflect and acknowledge the state this team is in. They're bumped and bruised, missing Hall of Famers and fighting to change the course of history. 

At the same time, they're trying to focus on the task at hand on Sunday and not overcoming the feeling of regret from last year. 

And with two games left, they're looking to keep this storybook season rolling with a win in East Rutherford. 

"Really it doesn't change because both of those situations we're trying to shoot for the same thing and we don't want to lose any game and that's how we're going approach this coming upcoming weekend; the same way we approached last year," Edmunds said. "We're just trying to win out and that's our whole mindset this year is to win out, get into the playoffs and then write our own story."