The Pittsburgh Steelers‘ playoff scenarios entering Week 18 do not leave much room for error. With their opportunity of playing in the postseason not in their own hands, the Steelers will likely have half an eye on other results in the AFC. Let’s examine the scenarios that need to play out for Pittsburgh to make the postseason and the Steelers’ playoff chances heading into the final week of the 2022 NFL schedule.
Update: Steelers Eliminated Despite Victory
The Steelers defeated the Cleveland Browns 28-14 to give themselves a chance of making the playoffs. However, the Miami Dolphins defeated the New York Jets 11-6. That eliminated the Steelers from the playoffs.
Steelers Playoff Scenarios To Watch for in Week 18
When you look at the NFL standings entering Week 18, the Steelers currently sit ninth in the AFC with an 8-8 record. While they are tied in terms of their record with both the New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins, Pittsburgh is at a disadvantage when it comes to playoff tiebreakers. The Steelers lost to both the Dolphins and Patriots earlier in the year. Therefore, they need to finish ahead of both when it comes to winning percentage.
That leaves the Steelers with a couple of paths if they want to make the playoffs, but none of them is in their own hands. The first task is that Pittsburgh needs to defeat the Cleveland Browns. Regardless of whether they win or tie, the Steelers keep themselves within a chance of making the playoffs as long as they avoid defeat.
MORE: NFL Playoff Scenarios Impacted for Week 18 After Bills vs. Bengals Postponement
If Pittsburgh wins, then they need the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills to help them. Neither the Dolphins nor the Patriots can win, or else the Steelers would be eliminated from postseason contention.
In the event that the Steelers’ game with the Browns ends in a tie, then they would need both the Patriots and Dolphins to lose their games. If either the Dolphins vs. Jets game or the Bills vs. Patriots game also ends in a tie, then the Steelers would miss out on the playoffs.
What Are the Steelers’ Playoff Chances?
As you can see from the scenarios above, the Steelers’ path to the playoffs is a tough one. Heading into the weekend, FiveThirtyEight gives Pittsburgh a 21% chance of making the playoffs this season.
The intriguing part in all of this is that the Steelers were the only one of the three teams in the race for the seventh seed who opened the week favored for Week 18. Pittsburgh is a 2.5-point favorite over the Browns, while the Patriots are seven-point underdogs. The Dolphins opened the week as 1.5-point underdogs, but with Mike White still managing a rib injury, they had moved to 2.5-point favorites entering Friday.