It was the kind of weekend that can only be explained by this fact: A kicker who never misses extra points did so at a crucial moment. And just like that, the Steelers were in first place in the AFC North.
Despite being on their bye, the Steelers (3-2-1) leapfrogged the Bengals and Ravens in the AFC North standings Sunday when both lost their games.
The Steelers now sit percentage points ahead of the Bengals and Ravens with a .583 winning percentage. The Bengals, who were crushed 45-10 Sunday night in Kansas City, and Ravens, who lost, 24-23, to New Orleans when Justin Tucker missed the first PAT of his career in the final minute, are both 4-3, a winning percentage of .571.
Tucker is the most accurate kicker in NFL history and the missed point-after was his first in 223 career attempts.
It's a far cry different than things were just two weeks ago, when the Steelers were 1-2-1 and tied with Cleveland for last place in the AFC North.
That's the good news. The bad?
The Steelers do need to finish the regular season with at least the same number of wins as the Bengals and/or Ravens to win the division title at the end of the season.
A 10-6 record would be a .625 winning percentage, while a team that finishes 9-6-1 is at .593. A 9-7 record (.563 winning percentage) also beats 8-7-1 (.531).
So while the Steelers have at least put themselves on top of the division with wins in their last two games heading into their bye, they'll need to continue winning to stay there, starting next Sunday against Cleveland at Heinz Field.
Just in case Steelers fans didn't get enough enjoyment out of watching the Bengals lose to put their favorite team in first place, they also got to watch Cincinnati linebacker Vontaze Burfict leave the loss against the Chiefs with a hip injury early in the second half.
Burfict was fined $112,000 for hits to the head of James Conner and Antonio Brown during the Steelers' 28-21 win over the Bengals last week in Cincinnati.