The Pittsburgh Steelers bettered their record to 8-5 on Sunday with their road win against the Arizona Cardinals and that victory allows them to retain the No. 6 seed in the AFC for at least one more week. The Steelers Sunday win also now sets up a very interesting game between them and the Buffalo Bills next Sunday night at Heinz Field with the No. 5 seed in the AFC potentially at stake.
The Bills lost to the Baltimore Ravens earlier on Sunday and they’ll now enter Week 15 with a 9-4 record and still the No. 5 seed in the AFC. If the Steelers win that game against the Bills they would overtake the Bills for the No. 5 seed in the AFC with two weeks remaining in the 2019 NFL regular season.
Entering Week 15 it appears as through it’s a three-team race for two AFC Wild Card spots to close out the season. The (8-5) Tennessee Titans effectively ended the Oakland Raiders 2019 season by beating them on Sunday. That win results in the Titans ending Week 14 as the No. 7 seed in the AFC. Their three remaining games to close out the regular season includes them playing the Houston Texans twice and the New Orleans Saints in Week 16.
The Ravens are now the No. 1 seed in the AFC thanks to them beating the Bills on Sunday and the New England Patriots losing at home to the Kansas City Chiefs. Should the Ravens win their next two games against the New York Jets and Cleveland Browns, their Week 17 home game against the Steelers would become meaningless to them as they will have locked up the top seed in the AFC by then.
There is at least one scenario where the Steelers Week 17 game against the Ravens becomes meaningless for them as well. However, that will require them winning their next two games and having a few other games go their way in the next two weeks. The Ravens have yet to win the AFC North division, but likely will next weekend.
If the season ended Monday night, the Steelers would play the Chiefs on the road in one of the two AFC Wild Card games.
