Five weeks into the NFL season, the Pittsburgh Steelers are performing above expectations. With a 3-1 start, a marked improvement for the defense after the first two weeks, and an offense that’s starting to gel nicely, it’s not insane to think that the Steelers might be in prime position to make a run in the playoffs this year. With Alex Highsmith's return to practice this week adding to the overall optimism around the team, Pittsburgh’s best football might still be ahead of them. Before they take on the Browns on Sunday, let’s lay out the Steelers' path to postseason success.

The Division

While Pittsburgh enjoyed a week off after their trip abroad, the AFC North crashed and burned around them. The Ravens, thought to be one of the best teams in the league at the beginning of the season, have looked out of character during a 1-4 start due to the weakest defense in the league, injury issues on both sides of the ball, and an inability to get Derrick Henry going. The Browns share the same record, and it’s still unclear if new starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel will be able to do anything to fix a lethargic offense in Cleveland. The Bengals are barely any better at 2-3. Life without Joe Burrow is a nightmare once again, and their defense is in no position to save them.

Pittsburgh has all six divisional games still left to play. As of today, they should be expected to win both games against Cleveland (the first of which is this weekend) and Cincinnati, and the Ravens are beatable even if they’re healthy. This is the easiest road to a division title for the Steelers since 2020, and it might be their best shot for a while considering the impending return to health for both Jackson and Burrow.

The Conference

As of Monday, the Steelers have the top teams in each of the other three AFC divisions on their schedule. The Bills still look like the best team in the AFC despite falling to New England on Sunday night. Buffalo’s defense has a few exploitable holes in the secondary, as exposed by Drake Maye and Stefon Diggs, but game-planning for Josh Allen isn’t a simple task.

In the AFC South, the Colts have stunned the league with dominant performances on both sides of the ball. They’ve had the privilege of playing some of the weaker teams in the league so far, but that doesn’t change how dangerous they’ve looked so far.

Over in the AFC West, The Chargers are starting to slow down due to a flat-out awful offensive line. If they can get healthy and protect Justin Herbert, they have the ability to hold off the Chiefs and the Broncos to stay in control of the division, but that’s far from a guarantee.

As of right now, I’d expect the runner-up in the AFC West to be the top at-large team in the playoffs, with a significant gap between them and the next best squad. Assuming Pittsburgh wins their division, playing their way up to the three seed from the four seed could be huge for their hopes of making it to the AFC Championship.

The Remaining Schedule

Besides the six divisional games and the three games against the other divisional leaders, The Steelers have games against the Packers, Bears, Lions and Dolphins. The Dolphins have looked rough to start the year, and that was before Tyreek Hill went down. Running through the entire NFC North is a daunting task, but Pittsburgh made it past Minnesota already. The Lions will likely be the biggest challenge with their lethal offensive capabilities, but Green Bay could prove to be a rough opponent as well.

Pittsburgh is seven wins away from double digits in the win column- Two wins against Cincinnati and Cleveland each, expected wins against Chicago and Miami, and a split with Baltimore would do it. Given the remaining schedule, that should be the floor for this team going forward. Winning any of the other remaining games, all of which are winnable, would put this team firmly in contention for the AFC.