If you’re into political analytics, you’ve probably heard the name Nate Silver. He’s the owner of the popular website Fivethirtyeight.com, a site centered around advanced statistics in the political and sports world.
In his updated calculations, Silver has given the Pittsburgh Steelers a 58% chance of making the playoffs. He is still leaving a glimmer of hope for the AFC North too, with a three percent chance of winning. His win/loss projection for the year is 9-7.
The Steelers have the highest percentage of any non-division leading team, just edging out the Kansas City Chiefs who sit at 57%. Silver pegs the Buffalo Bills at 36% and the New York Jets at 27%.
Pittsburgh is also just one of 12 teams to have at least a full percentage chance of winning the Super Bowl. The New England Patriots are predictably the favorites with a 31% chance to hoist the Lombardi Trophy.
Silver gained fame for his accurate predictions during the 2008 Presidential Election. Though his statistics can go over my head, and maybe yours too, he is about as credible a statistician as there is and his model has more credibility than most.
Maybe I or someone else on the site will expand on the topic later in the week but the Steelers’ schedule has gotten much easier than what people would have guessed at the beginning of the year. After the bye, they take on a struggling Seattle Seahawks team with one of the worst offensive lines in the league. The likely Andrew Luck-less Indianapolis Colts visit Pittsburgh after that. After a tough game against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Steelers will face the Denver Broncos who may very well be starting Brock Osweiler. The season rounds out with the Baltimore Ravens and the Cleveland Browns. There are definitely three wins in that mix that would get the Steelers to Silver’s projected 9-7 and agruably four that would put them at 10-6 and almost certainly into the playoffs.
