Following Week 13, the AFC playoff field is more crowded than ever. NFL.com writer Kevin Patra made a list of teams with the hardest remaining paths to the playoffs and named the Pittsburgh Steelers to the No. 1 spot. There are six teams that currently hold a 7-6 record including the Steelers. Those six teams, along with the 8-5 Cleveland Browns, are all vying for three wild card spots over the next four weeks.
The Steelers currently have the edge among the 7-6 teams due to their record against common opponents, narrowly edging out their Week 15 opponent, the Indianapolis Colts. They also hold a 5-4 conference record, which is tied with the Colts for the top mark among the 7-6 teams. Both of those factors will come in handy down the stretch with tiebreakers likely to come into play. A win over the Colts will give the Steelers a head-to-head tiebreaker against one of their top competitors for the wild card spot. The Steelers and Colts hold the sixth and seventh seeds, respectively, entering Saturday’s game.
Patra put the Steelers in the top spot despite them having a slightly easier remaining schedule by opponent win percentage than the Minnesota Vikings. He cited the circumstances surrounding the team as the primary reason for having the hardest path. QB Kenny Pickett suffered a high ankle sprain against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 13. He got surgery and the initial estimation of his absence was two to four weeks. He has already been ruled out already for Saturday’s game against the Colts.
QB Mitch Trubisky is the ideal NFL backup on paper. He has started 56 games in his career and led the Chicago Bears to a playoff berth on his way to earning a Pro Bowl selection in 2018. It has not panned out very well for him in Pittsburgh. As a starter, he is 2-4 for the Steelers. Last week was his first start this season against the 2-10 New England Patriots and he received the worst grade of any quarterback in the league for his performance. He only had a few days and limited practice time to prepare for Thursday Night Football, so the hope is that he shows improvement this week with additional practice time.
The defense has been asked to carry the team all season, but when that unit falters it has been ugly. Just last week against the Patriots, the Steelers went down 21-3 at midway through the second quarter. Pittsburgh’s defense will need to get back to its point-limiting ways if the Steelers want to see any success in the final quarter of the season. The Steelers’ remaining four opponents all have something to play for. The Colts, Bengals and Seahawks are all fighting for their playoff lives while the Baltimore Ravens are in contention for the first-round bye and No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs.
