Parity is one of the pillars of the NFL. Steelers have spent a record 22 years defying it

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The NFL is not designed to work like this. If anything, the league is designed to prevent what the Pittsburgh Steelers have done for the past 22 years and counting.

In a league that considers parity one of its pillars, particularly in the salary cap era, the Steelers are an outlier.

Seasons come, seasons go, and Pittsburgh finds a way to make sure the number in the wins column is never smaller than the number in the loss column.

When the Steelers improved to 9-6 after an equal parts thrilling and bizarre 29-24 victory over the Lions, they assured themselves of an NFL record 22nd straight season at .500 or better, breaking the mark of 21 they shared with the Dallas Cowboys, who pulled off the feat from 1965-85.

Dallas' run came in a far different era, a time when teams had far greater control over player movement. The Cowboys put their run together by drafting and developing future Hall of Famers, then making sure they never left.

Today's NFL teams don't have that luxury. And while the Steelers have had their own share of players who have donned — or, as in the case of former quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and current outside linebacker TJ Watt, will likely don — gold jackets in Canton, Ohio, they've also managed to stay relevant and competitive year in, year out with a rotating cast of characters around them.

Their ability to find players others either “cast off,” as Aaron Rodgers described them and turn them into contributors in meaningful moments was on full display in Detroit.

Dylan Cook, a former quarterback turned offensive lineman who began the season on the fourth string, protected Rodgers' blind side and helped open up enough holes for the Steelers to run for 230 yards.

To Cook's right was Andrus Peat, a three-time Pro Bowler for New Orleans who was unemployed in August before the Steelers called. Peat was a backup all season until left tackle Broderick Jones and then left guard Isaac Seumalo went down with injuries.

Scotty Miller, who won a ring with Tom Brady in Tampa Bay but has spent the past two years in Pittsburgh bouncing back and forth off the practice squad, caught his second, third and fourth passes of the season during a pivotal second-half drive, including a fourth down conversion.

The list goes on and on. Pittsburgh's late-season scrambling to find healthy bodies because of injuries is hardly unique. The way the club consistently finds a way to remain relevant is.

The Steelers have played 355 regular-season games since their run of .500 seasons or better began in 2004. They've been in playoff contention in all but two of them.

Two.

The three-time defending AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs, by comparison, will play three meaningless games this season alone.

No, the “Steeler Way” is not perfect. Their competence — which hasn't always correlated to excellence — means they're often picking in the middle-to-late portions of the first round, where it's not as easy to identify (let alone develop) the franchise quarterback they still so desperately need.

Should Pittsburgh manage to win the AFC North, it will carry a six-game playoff losing streak into the first round. If that skid hits seven straight, the relentless chorus of fans and alumni calling for Tomlin's job — a chorus that has gone quiet over the past three weeks — will be in full throat once again.

That's just how it goes, and should the Steelers experience another mid-January pratfall, the conversation about why they keep coming up short will be difficult.

Still, it beats the alternative: sifting through the wreckage of a season in which they were never in the playoff conversation at all, something the Steelers have avoided better than any club in modern NFL history.

“It’s this time of year man, that’s (why) I love it,” Tomlin said. “If you’re a competitor, you run to this stuff. I think we’ve got a collection of competitors.”

Not getting caught up in who is RB1. At this point, does it matter?

Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell seem to be feeding off each other. The duo has combined for 557 yards of total offense during Pittsburgh's three-game winning streak and Gainwell's “wait what?” 45-yard touchdown reception late in the first half on Sunday may be the best (or at least the most improbable) catch in the league this season.

The defense when it's time to close out an opponent.

The Steelers have allowed an NFL-high 157 fourth-quarter points this season. And while some of those have been scored in garbage time, it's also indicative of a team that's let three halftime leads morph into losses.

Maybe Jonnu Smith's true calling was as a running back. An afterthought in the passing game for most of the past two months, the tight end ran twice for 20 yards in Detroit a week after scoring the second rushing touchdown of his career on a toss play. Smith has nearly as many yards rushing over the past six weeks (38) as he has yards receiving (39).

The details around wide receiver DK Metcalf's altercation with an unidentified fan that ended with Metcalf taking a swipe at a man wearing Detroit Lions gear remain unclear. Whatever it is, it's not the best look for a two-time Pro Bowler who leans into his competitiveness, perhaps a little too much on this occasion.

WR Calvin Austin III tweaked his hamstring on Sunday and did not return. ... CB Brandin Echols sustained a groin injury. ... LB T.J. Watt missed his second straight game and has yet to practice since having surgery to repair a partially collapsed lung.

1 — number of regular-season victories Tomlin needs to tie Hall of Famer Chuck Noll (193) for the most in franchise history.

Try to lock up their first division title since 2020 when they visit Cleveland next weekend.

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