On the surface, it’s easy to dilute enthusiasm after the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 44-38 win in Cincinnati on Sunday. After all, it came against the meager four-win Bengals and their historically bad defense.

But that victory in “The Jungle” was much more than just one checkmark in the win column against a poor opponent.

For multiple reasons.

On the field, Russell Wilson’s offense proved it could win a high-scoring shootout. A host of receivers besides George Pickens got involved. T.J. Watt got going after a relatively quiet six-week stretch.

And in the standings, that win for Mike Tomlin and company did even more than you might think.

• In a way, Sunday’s result was actually like winning two games in one.

That defeat essentially buries the Bengals. At 4-8, they’d have to win four in a row to get to 8-8 and even have a sniff at the AFC playoff bracket in Week 18. Plus, when it comes to tiebreakers, the Bengals are only 2-6 in conference play. The franchise is currently 10th in the conference race for seven playoff spots.

Failing to beat the Steelers at home appears to be the final nail in the coffin when it comes to the Bengals’ hopes of being a playoff team.

The Steelers host the Bengals for the second leg of the rivalry in Week 18. In the (now extremely likely) event that Cincy is eliminated from playoff competition before Week 18’s rematch at Acrisure Stadium, head coach Zac Taylor may rest a lot of his offensive stars, such as Joe Burrow, Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase.

If the Steelers need to win that game themselves for playoff qualification, the division title, or AFC playoff positioning in general, beating an uninspired, partially resting Bengals roster will be a more welcomed option than facing that offensive firecracker completely engaged and at full participation.

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Admittedly, the Bengals do have an easy stretch of games coming up. They face Dallas, Tennessee and Cleveland before hosting Denver and traveling to Pittsburgh.

There is a slight chance the Bengals will still be alive in Week 18, but those odds are fading fast.

• The Steelers’ win in Cincinnati coincided with Baltimore’s loss to Philadelphia. The Ravens are on their bye week now at 8-5.

Therefore, beating Cincinnati has assured Mike Tomlin’s team that they will be no worse than in a first-place tie with Baltimore atop the AFC North when the teams play the second half of their annual series on Dec. 21 in Maryland.

The Steelers already have Game 1 in their back pocket after beating the Ravens, 18-16, on Nov. 17.

Baltimore probably will enter that game 9-5. After this week’s bye, they visit the lousy 2-10 New York Giants.

Theoretically, the Steelers should have at least 10 wins by then. They should beat Cleveland at home this weekend but will probably lose in Philadelphia next week.

The Steelers haven’t won there since 1965, and the Eagles are currently 10-2.

• The win didn’t quite clinch a playoff berth for the Steelers, but it virtually did.

If the Steelers can win just one of their remaining four conference games, that’d give them at least a 10-7 record with seven conference wins. You’d have to go back to the Miami Dolphins in 2020 (with a 16-game schedule) to find an AFC team with 10 victories and seven in-conference to miss the playoffs.

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