Titans hold tiebreaker over Pittsburgh, right? From here on out through the end of the season? (assuming both teams same record)
Yes. Pittsburgh has to beat the vacationing Rats in Ratbirdland, still not an easy task, and the Texans, who have nothing to play for pending the foregone conclusion of tonight’s game, will probably be laying down for the Titans as well.
If you can’t beat the Jets you don’t deserve the playoffs. Pittsburgh didn’t beat the Jets.
If both teams win or lose next week, they will have the same conference record, which I believe is the first tie-breaker since they didn’t play each other. What’s the next tie-breaker? Common opponents?
The one that gets the Titans in if they win and the Steelers win is strength of victory, the fourth tiebreaker.
The really crazy scenarios are fun, too. If they both lose, the Raiders can get in if Indianapolis wins and some other voodoo that Pittsburgh could mess up, and if they do Pittsburgh still gets in. If the Raiders lose and the Colts win, a loss by both Pittsburgh and Tennessee gets Pittsburgh in because the tiebreakers apply in the division first, which puts Indy over the Titans, then below the Steelers on head-to-head.
I love bizarre scenarios. We could see one of them for real next week.
It’s fun to go back and revisit the high hopes and hubris of the OP at the end of the year. For those keeping track of the “addition by subtraction:”
[ul]
[li]Steelers 18-19: 9-6-1[/li][li]Steelers 19-20: 8-7 with one game to go[/li][/ul]
The AFC could allow a wildcard team that finished 8-8. The NFC may require 12 wins to take a wildcard. That said, the NFC’s East division is also a giant dumpster fire of mediocre football.
How very clever. Of course, some things happened in between.
And then we factor in the roster turnover with the offense when every skill position was filled at some point, sometimes all at once, with the practice squad. Nobody could have predicted that. As a result, I am by no means disappointed by this season. I’d love to see the playoffs, but by rights they should have four wins. They never stopped fighting, and that I can get behind.
Just a little gentle ribbing, Doors 
My predictions weren’t much better than yours, except maybe for your guess about the Ravens, which was…not correct.
I agree that you shouldn’t be disappointed in the Steelers. Given all the attrition they’ve had this year, to end the season with a record similar to last year has to be seen as an improvement for the team.
Hopefully Ben can be healthy for next year but Pittsburgh better be grooming his successor, and I’m not sure they have him yet.
Titans leading Houston and Steelers trailing Baltimore. Not looking good for Pittsburgh.
Not just losing to Baltimore, but getting positively annihilated. With an end zone fumble (or near enough) and a safety following immediately, for 9 extra points of humiliation. Since Tennessee already won, it of course doesn’t matter.
On the bright side, at least we aren’t the pre-season-Super Bowl-contender Browns. And we will never be the Bengals.
And in a sentence I never thought I’d say, and which could get me a mild beating here in the ‘Burgh: I’ll root for the Ratbirds to win the big game. Hats off to them for an impressive season - and some innovative football.
Alas, the offensive problems couldn’t be overcome. To be honest I’m happy with 8-8 the way this season went, but imagine if they actually had a Hall of Fame quarterback playing with a Pro Bowl running back and Diontae Johnson had developed with those weapons and JuJu pulling people away from him…
But it wasn’t to be. It was just too much and, as I said earlier, if you can’t beat the Jets you don’t deserve the playoffs.
So it was a good season, all things considered. Even with the offense there were reasons to be optimistic for next year.
Now, will some team please finish off the Patriots?
While I’ve historically hated the Steelers, due mostly to jealousy, I don’t mind admitting that, despite an apparent mediocre 8-8 season, their season would contend for the greatest 8-8 season, because of circumstance. For most of it, they were running a marathon, hopping on one leg. Regardless of my biases, I have to respect the hell out of that. Their 3rd sting QB performed as well as 90% of Chicago Bear starting QBs in their history. The Steelers arguably lost the most talent in the last three years (Bell, Brown, Big Ben) and still competed better than most teams for the playoffs. That is impossible. Their defense is enviable, which is probably the most likely reason for their record. Without hesitation (but not without nausea), I applaud this year’s Steelers.