Steelers Playoff Scenarios After Eagles Loss

After clinching a playoff spot, the Pittsburgh Steelers still have a wide range of outcomes when it comes to their potential seed.

Dec 15, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin before action against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images / Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

The Pittsburgh Steelers put together a wholly uninspiring performance in their Week 15 loss at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles, though they still managed to leave the day with a bit of a consolation prize.

After both the Miami Dolphins and Indianapolis Colts lost on Sunday to the Houston Texans and Denver Broncos, respectively, the Steelers officially clinched their spot in the playoffs for a second-straight season and the fourth time in the last five years.

At 10-4, Pittsburgh has plenty to be proud of as a team for its overall body of work. There's plenty left to accomplish, however, and its road to a potential Super Bowl run would ease up with a higher seed in the AFC.

The most important step of the entire process for the Steelers is securing the AFC North crown, which they would achieve by simply defeating the 9-5 Baltimore Ravens on the road in Week 16 for a sweep of their rivals.

Should Pittsburgh drop that contest, things would suddenly become a little dicey. Because it would have split the season series with Baltimore in that scenario with both squads at 10-5, the tiebreaker (if necessary) would fall in favor of the team with the better divisional record. Both the Ravens and the Steelers would own a 3-2 record in the AFC North at that point with games remaining against the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals, respectively, in Week 18.

If Pittsburgh and Baltimore were to then hold the same overall and divisional records after the regular season concludes, the winner of the North would be decided by the team with the best win-loss tally against common opponents.

A division title would guarantee the Steelers a top-four seed in the playoffs. They are currently slotted into the No. 3 spot, as they are three games behind the Kansas City Chiefs (13-1) for No. 1 and the first-round bye that comes with it while also slotting in one game back of the Buffalo Bills (11-3) at No. 2. On the flip side, Pittsburgh is a game ahead of the Texans (9-5), who are currently at No. 4.

In order to overcome the Chiefs and earn home-field advantage in the conference, the Steelers would have to emerge victorious in their remaining three games while Kansas City loses out and Buffalo drops at least one contest.

If the Chiefs and Bills lock down the top-two positions in the playoff picture, Pittsburgh could sink to the No. 4 seed in a world where it still does capture the division by dropping behind Houston.

Both teams are 7-2 against AFC opponents at this juncture and have no more games left against NFC foes. Because the Texans would have to pick up a game on the Steelers in order to initiate a tie, they would finish with a better conference record in that layout and thus earn the tiebreaker due to the fact that the sides haven't, and won't, play each other this year.

Furthermore, Pittsburgh would carry a tiebreaker over Buffalo for those exact same reasons.

Falling below the No. 5 seed as a wild-card is rather unrealistic for the Steelers, however. While that would mean the Ravens supplanted it in the AFC North, Pittsburgh holds the tiebreaker over the current No. 6 and 7 seeds in the Broncos (9-5) and Los Angeles Chargers (8-6), respectively, after defeating both teams this season.

The Steelers are more concerned at the moment with getting healthy and finishing the campaign out strong, but there are no shortage of possible seeding outcomes to dive into for the team as they look to embark on a playoff run.

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