It has been a tough few weeks for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who once had a two-game lead in the AFC North. With the Baltimore Ravens’ win over the Cleveland Browns in Week 18, Baltimore clinched the division and a home game on Wild Card Weekend.
Then, the Steelers proceeded to lose to the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday night. While Pittsburgh has already clinched a playoff spot, this could impact their seed entering the postseason.
Let’s use the PFN NFL Playoff Predictor to examine the Steelers’ postseason scenarios.
What Is the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Current Playoff Picture?
PFN’s model gave Pittsburgh just a 7.8% chance of winning the AFC North, so it wasn’t a huge surprise that Baltimore clinched the division on Saturday.
But the Steelers losing to the Bengals was a bit more surprising. Pittsburgh could have secured the No. 5 seed in the AFC with a win over Cincinnati. Now, with the Chargers defeating Las Vegas on Sunday, the Steelers fell to the sixth seed.
The importance of the No. 5 seed compared to the No. 6 seed should not be underestimated. The No. 5 seed would have meant the Steelers faced the Houston Texans, while the No. 6 seed now means a matchup against the red-hot Ravens. PFN’s metrics give the Steelers less than a 35% chance of winning on the road in Baltimore on Wild Card Weekend.
The Ravens locked in the AFC’s No. 3 seed with their fourth straight 17+ point win. In the process, Jackson posted his 11th game of the season with multiple touchdown passes and no interceptions, a threshold only MVPs have hit in the past.
The offense gets the attention and deservedly so, but the defense is quietly rounding into form. After allowing 2.30 points per drive through the first 10 weeks of the season, they’ve trimmed that number to 1.38 since, a trend that makes them as dangerous as anyone to win it all in February.
To simulate the postseason, head over to PFN’s free NFL Playoff Predictor to see how each team can continue onto their path to the Super Bowl.