Incriminating stat shows why Steelers fans have right to be worried in playoffs

The Pittsburgh Steelers punched their ticket into the NFL Playoffs back in Week 15. But since their fiasco against the Eagles, nothing has gone right for Mike Tomlin's team. Instead of rebounding from a daunting schedule stretch in December, Pittsburgh squandered a must-have game against the Bengals in the season finale.

Now the Steelers are the coldest team entering the NFL playoffs, and fans have a right to be worried.

Unfortunately, there's an even bigger reason to be skeptical about Pittsburgh's playoff chances than their four-game losing streak to close out the season. Of the 14 teams in the NFL Playoffs, the Steelers are 11th in point differential when facing playoff teams during the 2024 season, per ESPN's Adam Schefter.

The Steelers are -30 in point differential when going toe-to-toe against teams who made it to the postseason this year. This includes their early-season wins against the Chargers and Broncos (when Justin Fields was quarterback) as well as their winter meltdown against the Eagles, Ravens, and Chiefs.

What's even more disheartening is that the team they face in the Wild Card round—the Baltimore Ravens—have the best point differential in the NFL against playoff teams. The Ravens have outscored the best teams in the league by a combined 112 points during the 2024 season. This puts them +76 ahead of the Lions and +83 ahead of the Eagles in point differential when facing playoff teams.

Hope hangs by a thread... but the Steelers have a chance to upset the Ravens

This doesn't look good. With all the numbers stacked against Pittsburgh right now, it's not hard to see why Steelers fans are discouraged about their team's chances in the playoffs.

Even if Mike Tomlin's team can sneak past the Ravens, Pittsburgh's route to the Super Bowl would likely go through Kansas City and Buffalo. This is an impossible route.

A Super Bowl is highly unlikely this year, but getting past the Ravens and advancing to the Divisional Round is still on the table. Despite Baltimore possessing the league's best offense and a phenomenal point differential against playoff teams in 2024, the Steelers split with this AFC North rival during the regular season.

Divisional games are almost always hard-fought—even if they come in the playoffs. This is a peak Ravens team with an MVP-caliber quarterback, so nothing will come easy. However, the Steelers were able to hold the league's best offense to just 16 points in their first matchup.

It's going to take a number of things going Pittsburgh's way to have a shot to pull off the upset. Tomlin's team will need to win the takeaway battle and do enough to slow down Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry. If they can, the Steelers will have a chance to pull off the biggest upset of Wild Card Weekend.