Mark Madden's Hot Take: Steelers season full of contradictory occurrences, opinions

The AFC championship game might be headed to Pittsburgh. The Steelers are just extremely unlikely to play in it.

It’s been that kind of a year. Lots of contradictory occurrences and opinions.

Coach Mike Tomlin is getting praise for navigating the Steelers from 2-6 to 8-8, as if he had nothing to do with them starting 2-6. It’s the same logic that gives Tomlin credit for finding respectability despite a weak team, as if he didn’t assemble the roster.

Rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett has been useless in the Steelers’ last two games except for the final drives in each. Pickett yanked the Steelers out of holes he helped dig.

Yet Tomlin and Pickett both are unconditionally praised.

Their one legit accomplishment this season is putting the Steelers firmly in the grip of finish middle, draft middle, stay middle. Chase Claypool did more to help the Steelers, and he had to go to Chicago to do it.

Now the Steelers approach, potentially, a second straight last-day impossibility that gets them routed in the wild-card round a second straight time. That’s unless the NFL haphazardly reformatting their playoff structure on the fly somehow gives the Steelers a bye to, say, the AFC championship game and that hasn’t yet been figured out.

While we ponder that, who has done a legit good job for the Steelers?

Right guard James Daniels has. He has allowed zero sacks.

That’s pretty much it on offense. Several others have been OK.

Wide receiver Diontae Johnson has had a contradictory year: 84 catches, zero touchdowns. It’s reminiscent of when Mike Bullard scored 51 times for the Penguins in 1983-84 but had no game-winning goals. (Those Penguins finished last and reaped Mario Lemieux as the reward. They didn’t finish middle, draft middle, stay middle.)

The defense has had a few more standouts, as befits its $108 million price tag.

Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick has six interceptions, makes plays and got team MVP. Outside linebacker Alex Highsmith has 12 sacks, five forced fumbles and his dad thinks he’s great. Defensive lineman Cameron Heyward has 8½ sacks and is the team’s beating heart.

Cornerback Cameron Sutton did well enough to be overrated and, ultimately, overpaid. Sutton had three picks. So did Levi Wallace, and I didn’t even notice that he played.

But, with all due respect to Fitzpatrick, edge rusher T.J. Watt might be team MVP.

Watt had five sacks and two interceptions in his nine games. Those are pedestrian numbers, and Watt missing seven games is part bad luck, part indictment.

But the Steelers are 7-2 with Watt playing, 1-6 without. Watt creates a commotion and provides a threat that goes beyond stats.

Watt just gets hurt too much. That will continue.

Like I said, contradictory.