As he took stock of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ fate heading into the final week of the regular season, coach Mike Tomlin talked about a positive: His team already has secured a playoff berth.

Of course, he also acknowledged a negative: the three-game losing streak the 10-6 Steelers will try to break Saturday night when they face the 8-8 Cincinnati Bengals at Acrisure Stadium.

“It’s good to be in the position we’re in,” Tomlin concluded. “Certainly, we could be in a better position, but, by the same token, we also could be in a worse position.”

Such was the case six years ago, the last time the Steelers played the Bengals in the last game of the regular season on their home surface.

When they met the Bengals on Dec. 30, 2018, the Steelers had lost four times in a five-game stretch to fall out of the AFC North lead. With the NFL holding six playoff spots per conference — they didn’t add a seventh until two years later — the Steelers needed to beat the Bengals and have the Baltimore Ravens lose at home to the Cleveland Browns.

That scenario would give the Steelers the division title. Anything less would keep them from the playoffs.

The Steelers were in turmoil heading into that game. Antonio Brown walked out of practice early in the week following a dispute with Ben Roethlisberger, and he was listed as having an alleged back ailment before he was benched for the finale.

It looked like another loss was inevitable when the Bengals took a 10-point lead in the first half and held a seven-point advantage at halftime. The Steelers regrouped after intermission, and Matt McCrane’s field goal with 1 minute, 56 seconds left was the difference in a 16-13 victory.

Players remained on the stadium grass to watch the final moments of the Ravens-Browns game unfold. The Browns rallied from a 13-point deficit and were trailing by just two points in the waning moments. Baker Mayfield led a drive to the Ravens’ 39 with 1:10 left, but he threw an interception that solidified the Ravens’ 26-24 victory.

This year, the Steelers also would benefit from some help by the Browns, who take a 3-13 record into their matchup with the 11-5 Ravens. An upset by the Browns on Saturday afternoon would clear a path for the Steelers to win the division title. Provided the Steelers can halt the Bengals’ four-game winning streak.

“We’ve got to get back on good footing, play with good technique,” said Cameron Heyward, the captain of a defense that has yielded 90 points in the past three games. “We can only control what we can control. Ball needs to be played the right way. It doesn’t matter what happens outside our stadium. We understand we’re in the playoffs. We have to focus on what we can focus on.”

Which is keeping the Bengals from beating them in a season finale for the first time. The Steelers have a lengthier history of facing the Ravens and Browns in the final weekend of the year, but they are 4-0 lifetime when the opponent is the Bengals.

Ten years ago, with the AFC North title at stake, the 10-5 Steelers and 10-4-1 Bengals were the Sunday night showcase game. The Steelers built a 10-point halftime lead, then sealed the win late in the fourth quarter when Roethlisberger threw a 63-yard touchdown pass to Brown.

Le’Veon Bell, who finished second in the NFL in rushing that year, was lost to a knee injury that kept him out of the wild-card playoff round. The Steelers lost at home 30-17 to the Ravens.

In 2006, the Steelers faced the Bengals in Cincinnati in Bill Cowher’s final game as coach. On the heels of winning the “One for the Thumb” fifth Super Bowl championship, the Steelers stumbled to a 4-7 record heading into December. They won three in a row but lost to Baltimore on Christmas Eve, leaving the Steelers a game below .500 heading into the finale.

Willie Parker rushed for 134 yards and two touchdowns, and a Jeff Reed field goal with 1:07 left sent the game to overtime. The Steelers sent Cowher out with a 23-17 victory when Roethlisberger connected with Santonio Holmes on a 67-yard touchdown pass.

Fifty years ago, the Steelers closed out the regular season with a 27-3 home victory against the Bengals that sent them into the playoffs with a 10-3-1 record. It set the stage for a postseason run that ended with the Steelers’ first Super Bowl championship.

In that season finale, the Steelers built a 17-0 halftime lead behind Terry Bradshaw touchdown passes to John Stallworth and offensive lineman Gerry Mullins. Rookie Reggie Harrison scored a touchdown in the second half as coach Chuck Noll began resting some starters for the postseason.

Tomlin may have the same luxury Saturday if the Ravens beat the Browns earlier in the day. It’s just one of the subplots that could emerge when the Steelers face the Bengals for the fifth time in a regular-season finale.

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