Following their Thursday Night Football loss to the New England Patriots, the Pittsburgh Steelers had a wide range of possibilities they could come out of Week Fourteen with in the AFC playoff standings. Their loss temporarily moved them to eighth, with a chance to come out of the week as high as the fifth seed. The Steelers were still in control of their own destiny regardless of today’s outcomes. Win out, and they are guaranteed a spot in the playoffs.
Coming out of the early slate of games, the Steelers are the sixth seed in the AFC playoff field. If the season ended today, they would be on the road to play the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. The notable outcomes that affected their chances were the Colts-Bengals and Texans-Jets games.
The Houston Texans hold the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Steelers, so their 30-6 loss to the New York Jets is significant. There is a multi-way tie at 7-6, so the conference record and record against common opponents becomes the important tiebreaker and the Steelers hold the best conference record of the 7-6 teams. This currently puts them ahead of the Texans despite the head-to-head loss.
The Indianapolis Colts’ are now tied with the Steelers at 7-6. They have the same conference record, but the Steelers have the advantage with common opponents. The big swing between the Colts and Steelers will happen next Saturday when the two teams play head-to-head. From a playoff chances standpoint, that is the single most important game left on the Steelers’ schedule.
The Baltimore Ravens beat the Los Angeles Rams with a punt return touchdown in overtime. That doesn’t have a significant influence on the Steelers’ chances, but the door is all but closed for the Steelers to take the AFC North title. The Ravens would have to lose out while the Steelers win out.
The Cleveland Browns fended off the Jacksonville Jaguars in the fourth quarter to move to 8-6. They are currently the fifth seed in the AFC playoffs. This also doesn’t have a huge bearing on the Steelers’ chances right now, but it does further muddy the wild card race.
The next games to watch today will be the Bills-Chiefs and the Broncos-Chargers games. Both the Buffalo Bills and the Denver Broncos are 6-6 entering this weekend. If one or both teams win, they will not surpass the Steelers in the standings, but it will certainly clog up the wild card race further and lower Pittsburgh’s chances.
The Steelers entered this weekend with a 30 percent chance at the playoffs, per the New York Times. After the early slate of games, that has moved to 29 percent. If the Bills and Broncos both lose, that can get as high as 31 percent.
