EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ playoff hopes went from the right hand of Devlin “Duck” Hodges, off the hands of James Washington and through the hands of JuJu Smith-Schuster in the final minute at MetLife Stadium.

Now, they are out of the Steelers’ hands.

A 16-10 loss to the New York Jets on Sunday put the Steelers in a playoff predicament that would seem unimaginable, if only they hadn’t lived these circumstances just a year ago.

“We don’t want our playoff hopes in the hands of somebody else,” said Washington, the intended target on a disrupted third-down desperation pass in the final minute. “We’d rather just go ahead and win out and it be on us. But it didn’t work that way.”

Nope, not after Duck’s final chuck sailed through the outstretched arms of Smith-Schuster, who fumbled in the final minute last year at New Orleans and was despondent that he couldn’t make the pivotal play in the penultimate game for the second consecutive season.

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin wanted no part of recounting or reliving the 2018 season finale, where the Steelers had to beat the Cincinnati Bengals and then watch the Heinz Field Jumbotron with hands folded and fingers crossed that the Cleveland Browns could upset the Baltimore Ravens.

Yet, here we are.

Now, the Steelers (8-7) need not only a victory at the AFC North champion Ravens (13-2), who clinched the conference’s top seed by beating the Browns, but also outside assistance to qualify for the postseason. The Steelers slipped behind the Tennessee Titans (8-7) for the sixth seed in the AFC playoffs, so they need a victory over the Ravens and a Titans loss to the Houston Texans (10-5) to clinch the final wild-card berth.

There’s also a scenario in which the Steelers could qualify with a loss. But that requires both a wing and a prayer, and they haven’t had much luck with either the past two games in losing at home to Buffalo and on the road to the Jets.

“It’s a really weird season,” Steelers right guard David DeCastro said. “I don’t think I’ve been part of something like this before. I don’t know how to put it in words but we’re still alive, we’ve got a week left and we’ve got to get a win. That’s all that matters to this point.”

It’s one thing to take a loss in the standings, another to lose players who provided hope. What hurts most is how injuries continue to devastate the Steelers, who lost Ben Roethlisberger and Stephon Tuitt early to season-ending surgeries. Now, they could be without running back James Conner (quad), center Maurkice Pouncey (knee) and even quarterback Mason Rudolph (left shoulder) for the finale.

That this season of feel-good stories could fall short of the playoffs was incomprehensible to Steelers players in a defeated and deflated visiting locker room.

“We did that to ourselves. It’s tough to look around, but that’s the way it falls,” defensive captain Cameron Heyward said. “Everybody in this locker room prepares their tails off. When we fall short, it hurts like heck.”

Now, the Steelers might have no choice but to count on Hodges, who has thrown six interceptions the past two games and couldn’t muster a scoring drive in the first or fourth quarters. They could be counting on center B.J. Finney, who replaced Pouncey, only to see Rudolph stumble on the first snap and land on his left shoulder.

Rudolph walked around the locker room with his shoulders slumped forward and a red bruise on his back. He didn’t speak to the media, and Tomlin said only Rudolph’s “health is an element of the equation now.”

That’s a bad sign for the Steelers, especially after Rudolph replaced Hodges in the second quarter and led them to a field goal and a last-minute touchdown.

The Steelers appear to be falling apart at the seams, quite literally, as playing to the standard is taking a toll on this team. They struggle to score touchdowns, protect a lead and, most of all, to keep their top playmakers healthy.

Add to that the pressure of their playoff predicament.

Afterward, the Steelers sounded frustrated. Losing to the playoff-bound Bills (10-5) is one thing. Losing to the Jets (6-9) is another entirely. These are the late-December games against inferior opponents the Steelers are supposed to win — the kind of games that playoff teams do win — but the kind Tomlin’s team has lost the past two seasons with a wild-card berth on the line.

Last year, it was at the Oakland Raiders. This year, it was at the Jets. Now, the Steelers need help.

“Man, we’re done worrying about what other people are doing,” Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt said. “It’s time to — and it’s been the whole season — focus on us and figure stuff out and find ways to win football games.”

Actually, it’s too late for that. Winning football games is no longer enough. The Steelers are down to another last-minute desperation pass, one that requires some intervention.

The Steelers have to hope this Hail Mary lands in their hands.

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