Brutal AFC North schedules could help Steelers odds of winning division

The Pittsburgh Steelers have a rough schedule to close the season, but they are not alone. Here’s a look at their odds of winning the AFC North this year. 

If you thought the first half of the season was rough for the Steelers, saddle up! It’s about to get much more difficult. The good news is that Pittsburgh’s offense has recently shown life for the first time all season. The bad news is they might have the most difficult schedule remaining in all of football.

Thankfully, they are not alone. The entire remaining outlook for the AFC North is brutal, and there’s not a game remaining for the Steelers, Ravens, Bengals, or Browns that should be considered a lock.

The betting odds at WynnBET currently have Pittsburgh with +1100 odds to win the AFC North. This is good for a distant fourth in the division. With their 7-3 record, the Baltimore Ravens (-165) lead the pack followed by the Bengals (+325) and Browns (+450).

Though the Steelers may not have good odds to win the AFC North this year, I certainly wouldn’t count them out. Take a look at just how tough the schedule is for each team in the division moving forward:

Of the 28 games yet to be played in the AFC North, not a single one of them would come against a team with a losing record if the season ended right now. I don’t remember the last time the final seven games of the season looked so daunting for an entire division, and this could really make things interesting.

Steelers have a tough schedule but don’t count them out

If the Ravens, Bengals, and Browns would have had easy schedules down the home stretch, I would admit that any chance of winning the division this year would look remarkably grim. However, this might not prove to be the case at all.

Pittsburgh has a very difficult task ahead of them with games against the Vikings, Titans, and Chiefs. However, they also still have four divisional games remaining. How they play in these contests will shape where they land in the AFC North.

The same can be said about all of our divisional opponents. Because of the way the schedule worked out this year and how many divisional games these teams have down the stretch, it’s possible that the four teams in the AFC North could finish in any order mathematically possible by the season’s end.

What it’s really going to come down to for the Steelers is whether or not they can take care of the divisional games on their schedule. With a tie on the season, Pittsburgh is highly unlikely to finish with the exact same record as one of their divisional opponents. Fortunately, the tie could essentially act as a win.

Nothing is guaranteed in the game of football, and the Steelers could very well fall flat and miss the playoffs entirely. However, all of the teams in the AFC North are in the same boat right now. It’s almost as if these teams have been given a clean slate, and whoever performs best down the stretch will likely be the division champion.