At 9–6, the Pittsburgh Steelers are in a commanding spot relative to the Baltimore Ravens when it comes to the division race and a playoff berth. Which naturally leads to the bigger question: Will Mike Tomlin start managing the board and rest his starters, including Aaron Rodgers, in the regular-season finale against Baltimore? For now, that’s not a conversation Tomlin is willing to entertain.

And the logic behind it is fairly straightforward. The Steelers still have a Week 17 matchup against the Cleveland Browns to handle, while the Ravens’ Week 17 meeting with the Green Bay Packers remains pending. Both games have the potential to shift the playoff picture in real time. That uncertainty is exactly why Tomlin hasn’t committed to anything regarding Week 18.

Who plays, who sits, or whether snap counts get managed, everything is still uncertain. At this point, those decisions are intentionally on hold. Still, how the Ravens–Packers game unfolds could quietly influence things. For the Steelers, the math is simple: beat the Browns on Sunday, and the division is theirs. There’s also a scenario where Pittsburgh could lock things up even before kickoff.

The Ravens play Green Bay on Saturday night, and a loss would drop Baltimore to 7–9, meaning their best possible finish would be 8–9, should they beat the Steelers in Week 18. That wouldn’t matter much for Pittsburgh, already sitting at 9–6. Even so, Tomlin acknowledged during his weekly press conference that a Ravens win could still affect personnel decisions, though it’s not something he’s factoring in yet.

“It may. I hadn’t thought about it all, I actually just found out this morning that the game is on Saturday night,” Tomlin said. “But as I sit here and make plans today for tomorrow in an effort to lay a foundation to engineer victory, that’s something that’s of very little relevance to me today. I’ll have plenty of time to ponder those things after we get a little bit more solid about preparing ourselves to play the Cleveland Browns.”

Bottom line: the Steelers’ playoff path looks close to inevitable from here. The real debate is whether the starters get meaningful rest before January arrives, especially Rodgers and TJ Watt (who recovers from a partially collapsed lung). And on a related note, Tomlin also touched on the recent controversy surrounding his top wideout, DK Metcalf.

Mike Tomlin supports DK Metcalf, but doesn’t accept his behavior

We all saw this coming. The league has officially suspended DK Metcalf for two games following his sideline altercation with a fan. And there’s no sugarcoating what that means for Pittsburgh. Their passing game just took a hit at the worst possible time of the season. Still, Mike Tomlin isn’t throwing his star wideout under the bus, even if he isn’t defending the actions either.

“He (Metcalf) did explain to me why he did what he did, and I certainly don’t condone the behavior, but I support DK,” Tomlin said. “And I really don’t have a lot to add other than what I just told you.”

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The incident unfolded during the Steelers’ Week 16 win over the Detroit Lions, and it escalated quickly. In the second quarter, a fan wearing a blue wig leaned over the railing near the Steelers’ sideline and appeared to exchange words with Metcalf. Moments later, Metcalf grabbed the fan and appeared to swipe upward toward his face, prompting the fan to recoil and raise his arms.

What complicates things further is that this wasn’t an isolated moment. Reports later revealed that Metcalf had flagged the same fan to the Seattle Seahawks and stadium security last season while playing in Seattle. That context mattered. But only to a point, considering the league was supposed to look into the matter. Fast forward to now, and the league has handed down a two-game suspension.

While Tomlin may stand by his player, support doesn’t change the reality. Losing your top receiver late in the season isn’t just a headline. It’s a problem. How the Steelers adjust offensively without Metcalf on the field is the real question. And one they won’t have much time to answer.