Mike Tomlin says he has 'must-win mindset' every week

After starting the year 7-4, the Steelers struggled mightily against 2-10 teams the last two weeks. They fell to the Arizona Cardinals 24-10 and the New England Patriots 21-18 to drop to 7-6 — and their playoff hopes are fleeting.

Suddenly, Saturday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts looks even more important. It feels like a must-win game for Pittsburgh, which is trying to stay “in the hunt” for the playoffs.

That’s how Mike Tomlin is approaching it. In fact, that’s how he approaches every week.

“I know what you mean, but man, I have that mindset every week,” Tomlin said, via Steelers.com. “I do. I’ve just been in it so long. I know the urgency of the 17 weekends and the opportunities. I understand exactly what you mean. There are direct ramifications in terms of who walks out of his bowl successful and who doesn’t.

“But just from a mind-set standpoint, I think those of us who have been in this business for any length of time carry that urgency week in and week out.”

Mike Tomlin: The Steelers understand how important the final four games are

It’s been an interesting year, to say the least, for the Steelers. Their offense has struggled mightily through the first 13 games, and it led Tomlin to fire Matt Canada after a 13-10 loss to the Cleveland Browns. Pittsburgh is now 1-2 since then and saw Kenny Pickett go down with an injury, which is why Mitch Trubisky is in line to start against Indianapolis.

All the while, the Steelers’ playoff hopes started to fade. They enter Saturday’s game as the projected No. 6 seed in the AFC, but they’re one of six teams with a 7-6 record entering Week 15.

Tomlin said the players understand what’s at stake, which is why he’s not going to necessarily take a positive spin on his messages.

“I think our guys understand that, and I’m not necessarily looking for power positive messages in an effort to build them up,” Tomlin said. “I’m probably taking the opposite approach and talking about how urgent you know these weeks and opportunities in games are because the road is getting narrower.

“We’re moving into the middle of December now and so that’s just acknowledging the truth. Opportunities to establish your position in these games are big. This one’s big, big for us and big for them.”

The Steelers will know plenty more about their playoff hopes after Saturday’s game, which kicks off at 4:30 p.m. ET on the NFL Network.