The city of Pittsburgh and its area businesses will be big losers because of the Steelers’ inability to make the playoffs and have home-field advantage during postseason action.

Businesses that depend on fan spending — and the city’s coffers, which depend on tax revenue from those businesses — again will be feeling the effects of a lackluster season.

Those negative effects will even be felt in some Butler County establishments such as the hotels that can see reservations rise on game weekends — as well as other businesses that draw crowds on game days.

The Steelers can’t be expected to make the playoffs every year, but this season seemed to have so much promise, promise that in the end went unfulfilled.

Like during the 2011 season, the Steelers were riddled with injuries to key players. However, last season the Black and Gold made it to the wild-card round before being defeated by the Denver Broncos — a game, like Sunday’s, that the Steelers should have won.

The Steelers were expected to continue their march to the playoffs Sunday before being upended by the Cincinnati Bengals, putting them out of playoff contention.

Now, with only a meaningless game against the Cleveland Browns remaining on the regular-season schedule, Head Coach Mike Tomlin, his staff, and the team’s front-office management can launch a total assessment of the team, looking ahead to the future.

The Steelers failed to heed the obvious after last season’s early out in the playoffs, but it will be more difficult to avoid dealing with those realities this time.

In an editorial last Jan. 10, the Butler Eagle said, “It’s time in (quarterback Ben) Roethlisberger’s career for the Steelers to draft his successor.”

A young, sturdy, strong-armed signal caller to step in when Roethlisberger could not play would have been an invaluable asset this season, even if he made some mistakes along the way.

This season cemented the fact that the team’s current backups — both of whom have seen much better days — must go.

That Jan. 10 editorial observed that “Roethlisberger’s late-season (2011) injury provided an opportunity to test a new, young quarterback.”

Ditto for 2012.

Beyond the quarterback position, it was clear last January that the Steelers were in need of a powerful, durable running back to replace Rashard Mendenhall, who hadn’t lived up to the promise that the Steelers saw in him. The current season made that need even more obvious.

Perhaps the Steelers’ position in the spring draft will enable the team to land such a runner, and the Steelers finally must admit that Roethlisberger needs new, promising backups.

No doubt there will be other needs that the Steelers will acknowledge in the weeks ahead. It’s safe to say that the 2013 edition of the team will have a number of new faces.

But if the Steelers repeat their failure to deal with their most obvious needs, Pittsburgh area businesses next year at this time will definitely be dealing with the kind of losses they will be experiencing in the weeks leading up to this season’s Super Bowl.

The 2012 Steelers were a disappointment most of the season, with their weak points production at the forefront of the team’s problems. They didn’t deserve to be in the playoffs, despite the fact that the Bengals aren’t much, if at all, better.

But the players and injuries weren’t the only problems. In the final assessment, the coaching staff and front office must take a share of the blame as well.

Unfortunately, with the hockey lockout, Pittsburgh sports fans and the businesses they support can’t even shift their attention to the excitement and financial benefits from the Penguins.