First and foremost, the Pittsburgh Steelers needed to win on Sunday and they did just that. Pittsburgh pulled off a 30-23 win over the Seattle Seahawks improving their record to 9-7. If the Steelers want to sneak into the playoffs here is what needs to happen in Week 18.
The Steelers need to beat the Baltimore Ravens for the simplest path to the playoffs. If the Steelers win, they need one of the two things to happen to get into the playoffs.
Either the Jacksonville Jaguars or Buffalo Bills must lose one of their games. The Jaguars take on the Tennessee Titans and the Bills are going against the Miami Dolphins.
There is a route to the playoffs for the Steelers that would involve losing to the Ravens next week. If that were to happen, the Steelers would need the Jaguars to lose specifically and would need the Denver Broncos to beat the Las Vegas Raiders.
The reality is, if not for three horrible weeks of football late in the season, none of this would matter. Pittsburgh has put itself into this position and has to live with the results.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3]