The Pittsburgh Steelers still technically have a chance to make playoffs — but those chances are incredibly slim, according to projections.
The Steelers are 6-6-1, which in any other NFL season, would likely count them out from the playoffs by mid-December.
But miraculously, the Steelers still have a shot at another postseason — and a much slimmer shot at winning the AFC North title for the second year in a row.
Currently, the Steelers are a half-place out of sixth place (thanks to the Lions), and the top seven teams qualify for playoffs this season. Still, the Steelers only have a 13 percent chance of making the playoffs and a six percent chance of winning the division, according to the New York Times.
ESPN projects that the 22nd-ranked team in the NFL has a 10.3 percent chance of making playoffs and a 4.9 percent chance to claim the AFC North.
Currently, there are eight AFC teams that have either six or seven wins — and six of those teams have a 7-6 record, giving them a one-game advantage over the Steelers. Despite all this, the Steelers do still have a theoretical chance to play onto January, but everything must go perfectly for them over the next four weeks.
Here’s how the Steelers can make the NFL playoffs
In order to make playoffs, the Steelers will need to win three out of their next four games.
This is possible, but unlikely: the Steelers have only won three games since Oct. 17.
Still, three wins would only put them at 9-7-1 to finish the season, so any 7-6 team with three wins would easily push them out of the race. The Steelers would need to defeat the Baltimore Ravens and the Cleveland Browns again in their remaining games. Still, that wouldn’t be enough.
The Steelers will need to defeat either the Tennessee Titans or the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Steelers have the third-toughest remaining schedule, and they haven’t played their best football since… well, since 2020. But technically, there’s still a path to the Super Bowl. According to ESPN, the Steelers have a 0.8% chance of advancing to the AFC championship, an 0.3% chance of a Super Bowl appearance, and a 0.1% chance taking another Lombardi home.
