PITTSBURGH – With three turnovers – including two in the red zone – in the last two games, Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson said the solution to successfully balancing aggression and carelessness is simple. It’s the same recipe the Steelers must follow to halt their three-game deficit in the regular-season finale against the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday.

“In this game you have to suffer from amnesia,” Wilson said Wednesday. “It’s one of those games where they have good players, we have good players, there will be ups and downs throughout the game, throughout the season, through all of that and just amnesia.”

“… I think that’s going to be the key to winning football if we come here looking for what we’re all looking for.”

Wilson took his advice to heart in the Steelers’ first meeting with the Bengals this season, when he and the offense recovered from a pick-six on the first series of the game to win in a shootout.

After throwing three interceptions in his first seven starts this season, Wilson committed three turnovers during the team’s three-game losing streak. The two in the red zone — a fumble at the end of a 19-yard run near the end zone against Baltimore and an interception in the end zone against Kansas City — are out of character for the veteran signal caller.

Wilson’s interception in the Christmas Day loss came on a play after Jaylen Warren’s touchdown was negated by a holding penalty. Fighting the urge to make up for a missed opportunity is key to limiting costly mistakes, offensive coordinator Arthur Smith said.

“I use the blackjack analogy,” Smith said. “You lose a hand. You don’t have to start splitting bad cards or doubling down when you shouldn’t and try to win it all back on the next play.”

“If the opportunity presents itself, definitely take it, but sometimes I think it’s human nature. They won’t give you things.

“It’s an art not to force things when they’re not there. It’s not about being conservative. It’s about playing smart football.”

Wilson has only 16 red zone interceptions in his 13-year career. This year, however, he has two interceptions inside the 20-yard line, including a pass that was too high for Darnell Washington in the end zone in the Week 11 win over the Ravens.

Still, Wilson doesn’t let the mistakes bother him.

“I have a lot of baseball in me,” said Wilson, who played 93 games in the minor leagues from 2010-11. “If you think about baseball, if you go 30-for-100, you’re a Hall of Famer. “You have to be able to focus on the next pitch. I think the best players in the world can probably stay neutral.” 93%, 94% free throw shooter, something like that. If he misses a free throw in the final, it doesn’t mean he’s no longer good.

Wilson has completed 64.6% of his pass attempts with 15 touchdowns and five interceptions in 10 starts this season. Although he ignited the Steelers’ passing offense when he took over the starting job in Week 7, Wilson has struggled since throwing for more than 400 yards in the win against the Bengals in Week 13. Wilson averaged 177 passing yards with 5 touchdowns, 2 interceptions and a fumble over the last four games. His average yards per attempt has also declined over the last four games. Against Cincinnati, Wilson averaged a season-high 10.9 yards per attempt. However, in the loss to the Chiefs, he averaged a season-worst 5.5 yards per attempt. Given the strong defenses of Cleveland, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Kansas City, Wilson’s QBR also lost value. He averaged a QBR of 104.6 in his first six starts, but that dropped to 88.5 over the last four weeks.

Wilson said focusing on practice is key to avoiding persistent thoughts about deficiencies. It’s a mentality he and the rest of the Steelers are embracing ahead of Saturday night’s game. Although the Steelers have already secured a spot in the playoffs – and may be out of contention for the AFC North title by the time the Ravens-Browns game ends – there is still plenty of work to be done before next week’s wild-card round .

“Part of the amnesia is that sometimes focusing on and obsessing over work can also free you from negativity,” Wilson said. “It’s part of the journey of searching for perfection – there are always highs. There are mountain peaks, there are great moments, hard moments. The ability to embrace adversity and not run away from it.”

“We don’t have time to run away from adversity, we have time to run through it, we have to climb the wall, we run through it. There is no magic pill to get around it. We just focus on the work and we focus on the next pitch, the next game.