The Pittsburgh Steelers will play game their Week 17 game on Monday night at home against the Cleveland Browns and that’s a contest they must need to win to help their chances of making the playoffs this season. The Steelers enter Sunday of Week 17 with a 7-7-1 record and they are outside of the playoff picture window in the AFC to boot. There are obviously quite a few other key Week 17 games to pay close attention to throughout Sunday night if you’re into doing some scoreboard watching. So with that, here’s a look at a few other games that Steelers fans might want to pay close attention to on Sunday.
Here is your Week 17 rooting guide if you’re a fan of the Steelers:
Kansas City Chiefs at Cincinnati Bengals – Sunday 1:00 p.m. ET, CBS
The Bengals need just one more win to lock up the AFC North. The Steelers can still win the AFC North division if the Bengals lose out. It really is that simple. Root for the Chiefs to beat the Bengals on Sunday and then for the Browns to beat the Bengals in Week 18.
Atlanta Falcons at Buffalo Bills – Sunday 1:00 p.m. ET, FOX
In a perfect world, the Bills would lose their final two games of the season. That might be needed if the Steelers can’t win their AFC North division. The Steelers would still need to win their final two games to finish ahead of the Bills in the Wild Card race. The Bills’ Week 18 game is against the New York Jets, however, but we’ll just focus on one week at a time right now.
Las Vegas Raiders at Indianapolis Colts – Sunday 1:00 p.m. ET, FOX
This game is a bit of conundrum. That said, if the Raiders win out, the Steelers can’t finish ahead of them in the Wild Card race. One more win for the Colts would also guarantee that they would finish ahead of the Steelers in any sort of a Wild Card race. The Raiders Week 18, however, is against a team the Steelers are chasing as well. In short, the best thing for the Steelers in this game is likely for the Colts to beat the Raiders.
Los Angeles Rams at Baltimore Ravens – Sunday 1:00 p.m. ET, FOX
Realistically, the Ravens aren’t a huge threat to the Steelers this week and that’s because the two teams will close out the season playing each other in Baltimore. Even so, it would be nice to not to have that Week 18 game mean anything to the Ravens when it comes to the Wild Card race. As Steelers fans should do nearly every week, root for the Ravens to lose on Sunday.
Miami Dolphins at Tennessee Titans – Sunday 1:00 p.m. ET, CBS
The Titans can’t be caught by the Steelers as they already have 10 wins. The Dolphins, however, can be caught by the Steelers as long as they don’t win out. This one is easy. Root for the Titans to beat the Dolphins on Sunday.
Jacksonville Jaguars at New England Patriots – Sunday 1:00 p.m. ET, CBS
One of the Patriots or the Bills will go on to win the AFC East division. The team that doesn’t win the division will be attempting to get a Wild Card spot. The Patriots very well could find themselves in a must-win scenario in Week 18 if they were to lose to the lowly Jaguars on Sunday. So, there you go, root for Jacksonville to pull off a miracle on Sunday to keep the Patriots at nine wins.
Denver Broncos at Los Angeles Chargers – Sunday 4:05 p.m. ET, CBS
If the Chargers win out, they would finish ahead of the Steelers in the Wild Card race. The Steelers might need to root for the Chargers in Week 18 as well and that will depend on what the Raiders due on this Week 17 Sunday. The Broncos are no threat to the Steelers as long as Pittsburgh wins out. Root for the Broncos today.
