PITTSBURGH — Who knows when the next win will come for these Steelers, if at all?

But the level of delusion or head-scratching stuff we've seen with this team sure has started to accumulate.

The latest example came Saturday at Acrisure Stadium, when the Steelers actually slowed down the Cincinnati Bengals — holding them to their fewest yards in two-plus months and just one touchdown — but still suffered a 19-17 loss.

It happened for a variety of reasons, certainly. Some curious in-game decision making from coach Mike Tomlin. A lousy game plan by offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, including more inexplicable shoehorning of Cordarrelle Patterson.

George Pickens had a brutal game, dropping three passes and arguing with fans mid-game, while the season-long trend of slow starts continued; the Steelers have now been outscored 40-3 in their last four first quarters.

For the first three quarters, the offense was really bad. At one point, the Steelers had run on every first-down play, a ridiculously predictable tendency. To "ignite" the passing game, which at that point felt about as dangerous as putting a candle on a cake, Russell Wilson began zeroing in on ... yep, Van Jefferson!

After Mike Williams hauled in a 25-yarder late in the first quarter, toe-tapping his way along the sideline, the Steelers responded by apparently returning him to the bench. Or at least to the cardio routine that had defined his time with the Steelers thus far.

What are we doing here?

"Very frustrating," T.J. Watt said. "It's easy to tell if you look around this locker room."

Well, yeah. It better be.

Saturday marked the Steelers' fourth loss in a row. They'll head to either Houston or Baltimore in the AFC wild card round. They might beat the Texans, although the NFL should really consider playing that game in the middle of the night to avoid as many eyeballs as possible.

The Texans have dropped five of eight after a 6-2 start. The Steelers (10-7) finished the regular season with four consecutive losses for the first time since 1999. But, hey, someone has to win, right?

That's the problem.

A win could further this cycle of delusion or denial for the Steelers, one that was plenty evident during and after this loss.

The Steelers might not have a good enough offensive coordinator or quarterback for next season, the same for a head coach — that's certainly the perception outside of the organization — but at least they have their short- and long-term delusions.

The first resulted in players talking about how everyone in the postseason is 0-0, how records no longer matter, how it's a fresh start and how they need to wipe the slate clean. What else would you expect them to say? Pretty much all of it felt hollow.

"It's win or go home," Patrick Queen said. "I can't wait."

"We feel like if we just do right and look forward to the next moment, that's gotta be the only thing that matters," Wilson said. "We have to have amnesia going into this. Win the next play. Win the next game. We have to have the best week we can possibly have."

Sorry ... I just can't.

Many who watched this game probably wish they had amnesia after seeing Wilson and Tomlin butcher the managing of the clock late. Apparently, the disease is contagious.

Amnesia would also help with an out-of-nowhere Patterson run in the fourth quarter and, two plays later, Patterson getting called for holding. Then, of course, there was Tomlin, randomly and recklessly aggressive, going for it on fourth-and-1 from his own 37 late in the first half.

Jaylen Warren didn't get it. The Bengals kicked a field goal. The Steelers lost by two. You do the math.

"We had timeouts," Tomlin said, explaining that decision. "They had timeouts. I didn't want to give the ball back to them. I like to be aggressive in those moments. If you can't get a yard, you don't deserve to win. Obviously we didn't."

Much like what Tomlin has become, that line might sound good — but it means little.

The play there was to punt and lean on the clock to stop Joe Burrow and Co. Tomlin's arrogance cost the Steelers.

But the bigger shame will probably be the Steelers' refusal to do anything about another Tomlin late-season slide. They'll simply accept a four-game losing streak and a team that seems to be zapped of energy or juice, either because of injuries or because they just can't wait to go home.

For a team that started 10-3 and showed so much promise, it's sad. But it's equally as sad that should the Steelers beat the Texans — and even if they don't — they'll probably be fine with a non-losing season and run it back with the same cast of characters: Tomlin, Smith, defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, Wilson and others.

They may not have a No. 2 wide receiver. On this night, they didn't have a No. 1 guy, as Pickens went in the tank, at one point gesturing into the crowd and needing a talking-to by Pat Freiermuth and Wilson.

You don't win with that sort of stuff. The same for averaging 3.3 yards per play, going the entire season without scoring on an opening drive, taking a mid-range shot on third-and-1 late and veering away from a game script that emphasized short, high-percentage passes in the last game against these guys ... only to return to it once the lead reached double digits.

The Steelers might not have much right now: confidence, health, the ability to score points, appropriate personnel or a chance to make noise in the postseason.

But they're not lacking for delusions if they think the status quo is even remotely acceptable.

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