Thanks to the Kansas City Chiefs’ 27-19 win over the Houston Texans Saturday afternoon, the Pittsburgh Steelers are officially eliminated from contention for the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs.
Kansas City’s win over Houston improved the Chiefs to 14-1 on the season, while the Steelers sit at 10-4 entering Saturday afternoon’s matchup with the Ravens. With just two games left in the season after Saturday, the Steelers are mathematically eliminated from the No. 1 seed.
The Steelers needed the Chiefs to lose to the Texans and lose out from there to the Steelers themselves and then the Broncos to close the season to have any shot at the No. 1 seed.
Now, Kansas City can clinch the No. 1 seed in the AFC on Christmas Day by beating the Steelers, so there will be much to play for as the Chiefs look to win a record third straight Super Bowl.
For Pittsburgh, though the No. 1 seed is now gone, it still has much to play for down the stretch, starting Saturday against the Ravens. A win by Pittsburgh in Baltimore would clinch the AFC North division title and lock the Steelers into one of the top four seeds in the AFC playoffs.
A loss to the Ravens would drop Pittsburgh into a tie with Baltimore in the division standings and would require the Steelers to win out in the final two weeks against the Chiefs and the Cincinnati Bengals to claim the AFC North title.
Facing a playoff drought where they’ve gone one-and-done in the last four trips to the postseason since 2017, securing a division title and landing a home playoff game would be pivotal for the Steelers under head coach Mike Tomlin.
The Steelers are already locked into a playoff berth, but much is at stake still, even with the No. 1 seed now out of reach.
