Steelers playoff odds are hardly in jeopardy after squandering golden opportunity

If you are stressing about the Steelers' odds of making the playoffs after squandering a must-have opportunity against the Browns in Week 12, I'm here to put your mind at ease. Under the lights and heavy snowfall of Thursday Night Football, Mike Tomlin's team couldn't close against an inferior opponent and the game resulted in a loss.

But don't get too worked up over this disappointing outing against Cleveland.

While nearly every loss is going to have an impact on a team's playoff odds, their chances of entering the postseason are still secure entering Week 13. According to NFL.com's playoff picture, the Steelers have a 94 percent chance of making the playoffs this season.

Admittedly, this is down from the 98 percent chance we saw a week ago; however, the Steelers still outpace all but three AFC competitors in this department.

The betting odds are even more convincing. Ahead of their Week 13 contest against the Cincinnati Bengals, Pittsburgh is -1400 to make the playoffs, courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook. These odds suggest the Steelers are an essential lock for the postseason.

When you break it down, it's not hard to see why.

Steelers are a shoo-in for the playoffs

While I'm not about to call them the most threatening contender in the AFC this year, the Pittsburgh Steelers should be a shoo-in for a playoff spot after the 2024 regular season. It would take the ultimate display of coaching malpractice for them to miss the postseason at this point.

With just six games remaining, the Steelers sit comfortably on an impressive 8-3 record. With three Wild Card teams making the cut, Pittsburgh is essentially a lock to grab one of these.

In the AFC, 10 wins is likely what it will take to fetch one of the final Wild Card seeds. Currently, the three teams in the AFC Wild Card picture are the Los Angeles Chargers, the Baltimore Ravens, and the Denver Broncos. The Steelers are 3-0 against these opponents and own the head-to-head tiebreaker over each of them (with their second game against Baltimore pending).

That means that even if the Steelers finish with the same record as the Chargers or Broncos (and possibly the Ravens), they will be the team handed a spot in the playoffs.

Though Pittsburgh has a daunting schedule in the final stretch of the 2024 season, finding 2-3 wins should be a given. Mike Tomlin will get his revenge game against the Browns at home in Week 14 and the Steelers have a pair of games against the Bengals. Even if they expectedly fall short against the Eagles and Chiefs late in the season, a playoff spot could be theirs.

Obviously, the best-case scenario is to win out and hope the Bills and Chiefs drop another game along the way. This would give the Steelers a shot at the number-one seed in the AFC. However, this feels like a long shot. More realistically, Pittsburgh could outpace the Ravens the rest of the way to claim the AFC North title and a home playoff game in the Wild Card round.

We all want to see the Steelers finish their season strong and gain some much-needed momentum heading into the postseason, but we don't need to question if this team is going to be in the playoffs this year. Barring a catastrophe, Tomlin's squad will cash their ticket in the tournament.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.