The Steelers are just two games away from a possible playoff appearance. Here is why all Pittsburgh fans should be rooting for the Ravens to win this week.
The Steelers suffered a tough loss to the Buffalo Bills last week, and now their future is looking murky. While they are still the frontrunners to land the 6th seed in the AFC Playoffs, the only way they can guarantee themselves a spot in tournament this year is to win out.
As much as it pains me to say this, Steelers fans everywhere should be joining their arch enemies in rooting for the Baltimore Ravens this week.
Pittsburgh has a road game against the Jets this week that will be critical to help them secure a spot in the playoffs. Their biggest competition right now is the Tenessee Titans. The Titans boast the same record as the Steelers (8-6), but if the season ended today, Mike Tomlin’s team would own the tiebreaker in the AFC.
If Tenessee wins both contests against the Saints and the Texans and the Steelers lose even one game, they will be eliminated. Because of this, we should side with our enemy in rooting for the Ravens this week.
Baltimore is just one win away from locking down the top seed in the AFC. Though New England is just one game back from the Ravens, Baltimore owns the head-to-head tiebreaker after defeating them 37-20 earlier this year.
This means that if the Ravens hang on to win against the Browns this week, Baltimore will already own the number one seed and will likely rest many of their starters next week as the Steelers face the Ravens on the road.
Pittsburgh is going to start playing well sooner or later in order to defeat any of the teams that will be in the playoffs this year, but we have seen that anything can happen once you’re in.
While it would be nice to be able to defeat the Ravens at full strength on their own turf, the likelihood of going on the road and beating the best team in the league when they still have something to play for is unlikely.
We may not like the Baltimore Ravens, but that doesn’t mean we can’t side with them every now and then when it benefits our team. So while you are watching the Steelers attempting to take down the Jets this week, remember that there is another game going on that could be just as important to Pittsburgh’s playoff chances. You won’t hear me say this often, but… let’s go Ravens!