lamberts-lost-tooth
12-19-2006, 04:23 AM
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The path to the playoffs is a simple one for the Steelers: They must win their final two games and virtually every other team in contention must lose.
Simple, just not likely.
The Steelers damaged their playoff hopes in the first two months of the season, when they bumbled along like an expansion team rather than the defending Super Bowl champs. Not only did they lose six of their first eight, they lost to AFC teams, including a stunner to the pathetic Oakland Raiders.
The fact that most of their losses came against teams in their conference is holding them back even if they wind up winning seven of their final eight games.
Throw out any current team with 10 victories and it leaves eight fighting for the other two playoff spots. The Steelers (7-7) can win no more than nine games and there are four other teams in the wild-card hunt who could still reach 10 -- Cincinnati, Denver, Jacksonville and the New York Jets.
In addition, the Steelers find themselves behind the Buffalo Bills (7-7), who have a better record in the conference and that will become an important tiebreaker. If the Steelers and Bills finish 9-7, Buffalo would have the edge based on a better record in the AFC.
The Steelers' situation is so tenuous that their demise could come from anywhere. One place where it won't come from is Kansas City, because the Steelers would beat out the Chiefs based on their 45-7 victory against them this season or, in the case of ties involving three or more teams, their record against AFC teams.
The NFL tiebreaking procedures can be complicated, but basically if there's a tie involving two teams, the league follows this procedure until the tie is broken: 1. head-to-head; 2. record within the conference (record within a division comes first if the teams are in the same division); 3. Record in common games, minimum of four; 4. Strength of victory (combined record of opponents in games won); 5. Strength of schedule (combined record of all opponents).
There are others, but it rarely gets beyond the third or fourth tiebreaker.
Similar tiebreaking procedures apply if there are three or more teams tied with the same record except division ties are broken first.
The Steelers could get knocked out of the playoffs if certain teams win even though those teams would not have guaranteed themselves a playoff spot by winning.
For example, another win by Denver would give the Broncos a 9-6 record and not necessarily guarantee them a playoff spot because, for example, the Jets and Jaguars could still finish with 10 wins. But it would hurt the Steelers' chances because another Denver win guarantees the Broncos finish ahead of the Steelers in any wild-card race based on their nine wins and better record in the AFC.
Indianapolis' 34-16 victory against the Bengals last night held keen interest for the Steelers. A Bengals victory would have knocked the Steelers out of at least one of the two wild-card playoff spots available.
Wild possibility
Here are the teams with fewer than 10 victories that are competing with the Steelers for the two wild-card playoff berths, their record (their record against AFC teams) and their remaining schedule:
Cincinnati 8-6 (6-4)
Lost at Indianapolis last night, at Denver, Steelers.
New York Jets 8-6 (5-5)
at Miami, Oakland.
Buffalo 7-7 (5-5)
Tennessee, at Baltimore.
Jacksonville 8-6 (5-5)
New England, at Kansas City
Tennessee 7-7 (4-6)
at Buffalo, New England
Denver 8-6 (7-4)
Cincinnati, San Francisco
Steelers 7-7 (4-6)
Baltimore, at Cincinnati
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The path to the playoffs is a simple one for the Steelers: They must win their final two games and virtually every other team in contention must lose.
Simple, just not likely.
The Steelers damaged their playoff hopes in the first two months of the season, when they bumbled along like an expansion team rather than the defending Super Bowl champs. Not only did they lose six of their first eight, they lost to AFC teams, including a stunner to the pathetic Oakland Raiders.
The fact that most of their losses came against teams in their conference is holding them back even if they wind up winning seven of their final eight games.
Throw out any current team with 10 victories and it leaves eight fighting for the other two playoff spots. The Steelers (7-7) can win no more than nine games and there are four other teams in the wild-card hunt who could still reach 10 -- Cincinnati, Denver, Jacksonville and the New York Jets.
In addition, the Steelers find themselves behind the Buffalo Bills (7-7), who have a better record in the conference and that will become an important tiebreaker. If the Steelers and Bills finish 9-7, Buffalo would have the edge based on a better record in the AFC.
The Steelers' situation is so tenuous that their demise could come from anywhere. One place where it won't come from is Kansas City, because the Steelers would beat out the Chiefs based on their 45-7 victory against them this season or, in the case of ties involving three or more teams, their record against AFC teams.
The NFL tiebreaking procedures can be complicated, but basically if there's a tie involving two teams, the league follows this procedure until the tie is broken: 1. head-to-head; 2. record within the conference (record within a division comes first if the teams are in the same division); 3. Record in common games, minimum of four; 4. Strength of victory (combined record of opponents in games won); 5. Strength of schedule (combined record of all opponents).
There are others, but it rarely gets beyond the third or fourth tiebreaker.
Similar tiebreaking procedures apply if there are three or more teams tied with the same record except division ties are broken first.
The Steelers could get knocked out of the playoffs if certain teams win even though those teams would not have guaranteed themselves a playoff spot by winning.
For example, another win by Denver would give the Broncos a 9-6 record and not necessarily guarantee them a playoff spot because, for example, the Jets and Jaguars could still finish with 10 wins. But it would hurt the Steelers' chances because another Denver win guarantees the Broncos finish ahead of the Steelers in any wild-card race based on their nine wins and better record in the AFC.
Indianapolis' 34-16 victory against the Bengals last night held keen interest for the Steelers. A Bengals victory would have knocked the Steelers out of at least one of the two wild-card playoff spots available.
Wild possibility
Here are the teams with fewer than 10 victories that are competing with the Steelers for the two wild-card playoff berths, their record (their record against AFC teams) and their remaining schedule:
Cincinnati 8-6 (6-4)
Lost at Indianapolis last night, at Denver, Steelers.
New York Jets 8-6 (5-5)
at Miami, Oakland.
Buffalo 7-7 (5-5)
Tennessee, at Baltimore.
Jacksonville 8-6 (5-5)
New England, at Kansas City
Tennessee 7-7 (4-6)
at Buffalo, New England
Denver 8-6 (7-4)
Cincinnati, San Francisco
Steelers 7-7 (4-6)
Baltimore, at Cincinnati