PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – So you are believing the Steelers are still ‘in the hunt’ for a playoff spot. Here is a breakdown of what would have to happen.
The reality
Winners of three of their last four, it’s a feel good for Steelers fans. The reality is the Steelers are only 6-8 and are currently 13th in the AFC. Only seven teams quality for the playoffs.
Steelers are tied with three other teams at 6-8 and the reason they are 13th instead of 10th is they lose a lot of tiebreakers. The good news is they can knock two of those teams ahead of them out. They play the Raiders on Saturday and finish with Cleveland at home, not only would they give them each a loss, but head-to-head is the first playoff tie-breaker.
No division
There is no chance for the Steelers to win the division. The comeback win by Joe Burrow and the Bengals from down 17-0 at Tom Brady and the Bucs got Cincinnati to 10 wins. That eliminates the Steelers and Browns from winning the AFC North.
Current Wild Cards
The three Wild Card teams as of Christmas week-the 9-5 Ravens are fifth, the 8-6 Chargers are sixth and the 8-6 Dolphins are seventh.
The Steelers lose the tiebreaker to the Ravens, even with a win in Baltimore. Here are the other two teams currently ahead of them.
Chargers’ schedule:
· at Indianapolis-how will they react to a historic meltdown against Minnesota & without RB Jonathan Taylor
· LA Rams-are the defending champs mailing in the remainder of the year?
· at Denver-they can play defense, but their offense is horrid
Miami’s schedule:
· Green Bay-only the Rams are more disappointing
· at New England-this will be essentially a playoff game
· New York Jets-another playoff game
1-game ahead
There are a trio of teams at .500, the Steelers would lose the head-to-head tie-breaker with two and the third is currently leading the AFC South. Here are the schedules.
New England’s schedule:
· Cincinnati-expect the Pats to rebound from the crazy end last week?· Miami-playoff matchup
· at Buffalo-Bills could be playing backups as it may not matter for them
Jets’ schedule:
· Jacksonville-Thursday Night at home, can the Jets bounce back?
· at Seattle-interesting matchup against former number one pick Geno Smith
· at Miami-potential playoff game
Tennessee’s schedule:
· Houston-have proven not to be a pushover
· Dallas-Cowboys in an interesting spot with playoffs
· at Jacksonville-final week could be for the division
Other 6-8 teams
Here are those in the Steelers company.
Jacksonville’s schedule:
· at New York Jets-the Thursday Night matchup
· at Houston-the worst team in the league still fighting
· Tennessee-only a game behind, could be a division at stake
Raiders’ schedule:
· at Steelers
· San Francisco-49ers playing really good football in the former Bay area matchup
· Kansas City-Chiefs may have nothing to play for
Browns’ schedule:
· New Orleans-now a game out of first at 5-9
· at Washington-fighting for a playoff birth
· at Steelers
Technically, mathematically, the Steelers are still alive. There are other factors to consider as three-way ties but there are numerous scenarios. With three games left, before you start calculating those, remember this. As much as you can justify the other teams losing, can you be as confident the Steelers will finish the season on a four-game winning streak?