The Steelers, as they so often do, came out on top with their backs against the wall in Cincinnati.
The Steelers rode a big 4th quarter to a victory in what is, in my opinion, their toughest remaining game on the schedule.
Much of the talk this morning is how the Steelers currently sit at the 5th spot in the AFC playoff race, which is great, but doesn’t mean much as far as the rest of the season goes.
I’ve spent a lot of time using ESPN’s Playoff Machine to work out a lot of different scenarios, and there’s plenty of ways that the Steelers could miss the post-season for the 3rd straight season with even 1 loss.
Obviously we have no idea what’s going to happen, but if teams that are favored win games, then the Steelers can’t slip up.
The game in Atlanta this weekend likely wouldn’t be a knockout blow if the Steelers were to lose, but it may eliminate them from winning the division, and just playing for a wild card.
With such a tight AFC race, the Chiefs and Bengals games are still just as big as the game Sunday in Cincinnati.
One thing to keep an eye on is the Browns playing spoiler. I don’t think that they beat the Bengals or Ravens down the stretch, but they’ve certainly shown their capable…
We’ll also likely see Manziel starting. While I don’t think Manziel is a better Quarterback than Hoyer at this point, coaches don’t have tape on him.
Johnny could also be a spark for his teammates and lift them to an upset win somewhere in there.
The good news is still that the Steelers are in the driver’s seat, and like I said, passed probably their toughest test remaining.
Like we saw last season, if you leave your playoff hopes in the hands of other teams, you’ll probably be disappointed.
If they’re once again left out in the cold in January, they will have only themselves to blame.
