Big Ben will get one last playoff run — unless there is a tie on Sunday Night Football.
The Pittsburgh Steelers, thanks to help from the Jacksonville Jaguars, moved into the AFC playoff picture with their overtime win over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.
Yet, the berth will not be secured until late Sunday night.
The only way the Steelers cannot make the playoffs is if the Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders both tie on Sunday Night Football.
The scary thing is, both have incentive for that to happen.
Because the Colts lost to the Jaguars and the Steelers beat the Ravens, a tie would allow both the Chargers and Raiders to reach the playoffs.
The NFL’s idea of putting the Chargers and Raiders into the Sunday night spot was likely because it appeared as if it would be the only game with win-or-go-home stakes for both teams.
Theoretically, the Chargers and Raiders could agree to take a knee every play and both get into the postseason, thus eliminating the Steelers.
It seems unlikely that the teams would intentionally play to a tie. Chargers head coach Brandon Staley was even asked about the possibility and dismissed the idea his team would play to tie.
However, something like this is not unprecedented in sports history. As NFL Network’s Peter Schrager noted, it did happen once in soccer during the 1982 World Cup.
Nonetheless, Sunday Night Football ought to be interesting and Steelers fans will be tuning in just to make sure there actually will be a winner and loser.
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