The number 3 seed is no lock at this point either...

[Troyisabeast_43]

Keep in mind the Steelers while they do control their own destiny to be the number 3 seed at this point they are by no means a lock for it. The Chargers right now after their comeback win today in Tennessee are now 8-5 one game back of the Steelers at 9-4. And they now have the same conference record as the Steelers at 7-3. So what that means is if the Steelers do lose to the Jags next Sunday and the Chargers beat the Lions at home which is a very strong possiblity they would then jump the Steelers for the number 3 seed because they would have the better conference record. You might not think there is a big difference between getting the number 3 and 4 seed this year but Im going to tell you why there sure as hell is. If you get the 3 seed you avoid the Jags in the first wildcard game first and foremost since the Jags most likely will be the 5 seed. The Browns Im sure will be tough as well assuming they do get the 6 but I would much rather play them over the Jags in the playoffs.

The second reason to getting the number 3 over the 4 is that important is it means that you avoid the Patriots till at least the AFC Championship and they have to probably play the Jags or Chargers the first game in the divisional round and the Steelers of course would play the Colts in the divisional round assuming they win their wildcard game. The number 3 seed always plays the 2 the 2nd game and never the 1 so if you get the 3 you avoid the Pats at least one week and maybe by some miracle they end up losing that first playoff game to two teams that can really run the ball either the Jags or Chargers. So keep in mind its not a lock that the Steelers have this 3 seed locked down. They really will not until they beat the Jags next week which should lock down the division and the 3 seed.

[DIESELMAN]

Nice summary Jax will be tough and the Ratbirds would love nothing more then to screw our playoff schedule up. Its going to be tough but I do see us winning the division, what happens after that...Happens.

[BlitzburghRockCity]

We're fortunate to still control our own destiny after the 4 losses we had, 3 of which to sub par teams. This team knows all too well how quickly things can change so they better make their adjustments and put this behind them because losing next week can be disastrous.

[Iron City South]

Make no mistake about it, next week is a MUST WIN ....

On the schedule we're looking at:

vs Jax
@ STL
@ Balt


Cleveland has:

vs Buff
@ Cincy
vs SF


The way the Brownies are playing and considering who're they have left, they have a very good shot at winning out. Buff will be a challenge but SF is almost a gimme. IMO, the Cincy game is the key for them.

However, we're looking at a very plausible scenario considering how inconsistent we've played thus far:

- We lose 2 out of the next 3.

Jax always plays us tough and is a damn good team. The 2nd toughest team we'll have faced this season. If we play like today, we lose big like we did today.

@ Stl should be a gimme, but we thought the same about the Jets, Cards, and Broncos games. Road games vs "gimme" teams have been our Achilles' heel to this point.

@ Balt - we whipped them to the point of embarassment the first time, but I don't think anyone legitimately expects that to happen again. Especially considering how bad they're being embarassed by the Colts as I type. Make no mistake about it, they're looking for us. They'll want to close their season on a high note.

Assuming Cleveland wins out, we lose the division.

But do we make the playoffs?

Perhaps not.

If we lose to Jax and Balt, we are 10-6 with an AFC record of 7-5.

If Tennessee wins out (@Chiefs, Jets, @Indy), they finish 10-6 with an AFC record of 7-5. It's unlikely they'll beat Indy, but Indy could be resting their starters and Tenn has played Indy tough as of late.

It goes to common opponents between us and Tenn:

Cincy
Denver
Jets
Jax

Us: 2-3
Tenn: 2-3

Strength of victory:

Right now, we're behind Tennessee. Our SOV (assuming we only beat the Rams) is currently .403 while the Titans is .433. Of course, this will change, but if it stayed the same.


If we lose all 3, then we're in trouble, but that's obvious.

10-6 might not be good enough to get us in.

On the flip side, however, if we win and the Titans lose, we clinch a playoff spot.

[black an gold 4 life]

even if we make it as an wild card team that's ok, i like the way we play when we play every week anyway...................big ben bothers me this is suppose 2 b our franchise qbcan anyone tell me why he throws rainbows all the time?were only gonna go as far as our q.b takes us, am i missing something here ben had time 2night, an he lost the game with those bad throws, an not being able 2 come away with 6 points n the red zone pisses me off...............

[BlitzburghRockCity]

You can't blame this loss on Ben, he made some big throws and drove us down several times to put us in scoring position. Sure he did miss some throws but overall he's been playing solid all year. You can blame this one on the secondary, the play calling, or whatever but Ben didn't lose this game for us, he's still a top notch QB. Coming away with FG's or being stopped on 4th and goal pisses me off too but you can put that on the play calling as much as on Ben.

[Troyisabeast_43]

Ariens playcalling and Im going to emphasize this sooo much MUST MUST get better in these games against the better teams if they are going to go far in the playoffs. I have no idea for the life of me why he called a fade pattern to Holmes on and 3rd and goal from the 1 instead of just pounding Parker and Davenport something they had done the whole game and that whole drive why not just stick to that. And then the handoff to Ward on 4th and goal was just very questionable and another bad call. Ariens had better get his shit together in terms of calling better plays in crucial situations because the guy has proven that he just does not know how to do it so far this season he has been flat out awful.

[BlitzburghRockCity]

What I can't figure out is that Ben loves Arians as a coordinator. He's said time and time again how much better life is now with the way that Bruce runs the offense. If you go strictly by numbers from the outside looking in then it seems like our offense is great but when you really look at our offense in crucial times on a sunday afternoon there are just way too many things that don't make sense. It's up to the players to execute what's been called but still some of the stuff Arians does just makes me

[Troyisabeast_43]

I know your sitting there at times pulling your hair out with some of the stuff Ariens is calling at crucial times in these games. It just seems to happen way too much especially in the red zone when the Steelers are about to score Ariens will either call something too damn predictible or something totally out of the loop that makes no sense at all. He has just been very inconsistent with his playcalling and like I said on the post above it better get better here these last 3 games and in the playoffs or Ariens is really going to have to start taking a ton of heat.

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You make a ton of good points and every single scenario you said is completely accurate and right on the money I should know I have been known to write a scenario here or there myself Im sure this board will tell you lol...But the bottom line is all the Steelers need to do to clinch a playoff spot is beat the Jags next week at home and they are officially in no matter what Tennessee does. If they beat the Jags their conference record goes to 8-3 and that means the worst it could be even if we would finish 10-6 would be 8-4, and the best Tennessee's conference record could be is 7-5 even if they finish 10-6 so right there the Steelers clinch. The Bills couldnt catch the Steelers even if they won out because they lost the head to head tiebraker to us, the best the Broncos could do is 9-7 so unless we lose out thats the only chance they have of catching us since they do own the head to head over us still. But again a win next week gets us to 10 wins and guarantees a better conference record over the Titans even if they finish 10-6 with the Steelers and it means they then clinch a berth. So once again if the Steelers win next week against the Jags here they clinch a playoff spot, and even better if they win and the Browns lose to the Bills the Steelers clinch the AFC North.

[StlersGuy]

lets see yes we out played our self's yesterday however we still have 3 games left and they are must win games if we want to show we are for real and will be a team to watch out for in the playoff's.

we must win the next 3 games no question's asked.