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May 3, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin oversees drills during Steelers rookie mincamp and orientation at the UPMC Sports Complex. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Home » Blog » Steelers suddenly fighting for playoff lives vs. Saints

Steelers suddenly fighting for playoff lives vs. Saints

Matt Verderame NFL

The Pittsburgh Steelers were once 7-2-1. Can you believe that?

It seemed like the Steelers might be the biggest challengers to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC playoffs. Maybe that can still end up being true, but Pittsburgh faces an enormous mountain.

On Saturday night, the Baltimore Ravens gave all their fans a nice Christmas gift by beating the Los Angeles Chargers, 22-10, at StubHub Center. The win pulled the Ravens into a virtual tie atop the AFC North with Pittsburgh. While Baltimore is technically in second place at 9-6, the Steelers need to beat the New Orleans Saints on Sunday in the Superdome to stay ahead of the Ravens. With a loss, Pittsburgh would fall to 8-6-1. Then the madness truly begins.

If the Indianapolis Colts handle business at home against the lowly New York Giants — who are without Odell Beckham Jr. — they would improve to 9-6. In Week 17, the Colts are playing on the road against the Tennessee Titans, who after beating the Washington Redskins on Saturday afternoon are also 9-6.  Assuming the Titans-Colts game doesn’t end in a tie, the winner will emerge as the sixth and final seed in the AFC, shutting Pittsburgh out of that race.

The only other avenue into the playoffs would be the Steelers beating the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 17 at Heinz Field and the Ravens losing at home to the Cleveland Browns. While the former portion o this is highly probable, the latter isn’t. Cleveland is no longer a running joke thanks to Baker Mayfield and John Dorsey, but the Browns are also eliminated from playoff contention and certainly not of Baltimore’s.

All of this leads back to the Steelers and Saints on Sunday. If Pittsburgh can go on the road and pull the upset, the Steelers would still hold all the cards in the AFC North. A win over the Bengals — and let’s face it, Jeff Driskel isn’t winning that game — and Pittsburgh would be the fourth seed in the AFC playoffs.

In that scenario, Baltimore would be the sixth seed should it handle the Browns at M&T Bank Stadium. Of course, now we’re going off the rails a bit, but there’s the picture.

For the Steelers, it’s time to play their best game of the year against a dominant team trying to clinch home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. Nothing about this is easy for Pittsburgh, but it put itself in the position with a losing streak that included defeats to the Denver Broncos and Oakland Raiders.

With only two weeks left, it’s now or never for the Steelers.

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