With the Pittsburgh Steelers knocking off the Cincinnati Bengals 27-17 on Sunday Night Football, the AFC playoff picture has finally come into focus. The Steelers finish the regular season at 11-5, good enough to win the AFC North and earn the No. 3 overall seed in the conference.
Pittsburgh got a tremendous season from Antonio Brown, who became the first receiver in franchise history to lead the NFL in receptions. Brown’s 129 grabs, 1698 yards, and 13 TDs are all franchise records, and his catch total is the second-highest in the history of the NFL.
They’ll be taking on their arch rivals, the Baltimore Ravens. B-more enters the playoffs by the grace of Philip Rivers, whose stinker in Kansas City combined with a Ravens win helped the two-time champions sneak into the postseason. As a No. 6 seed they’ll have to win three times on the road just to make the Super Bowl, a tall order but one that has been accomplished before, most recently by the 2010 Packers.
The Bengals finished the season at 10-5-1, and fall to the No. 5 seed in the AFC playoffs. Given that they led the division for most of the season, this is not the kind of momentum they wanted heading into the postseason. Quarterback Andy Dalton has a shaky playoff record (0-3, 1 TD vs. 6 INTs), so the fact that he has to go on the road to get his first playoff win is not exactly a great source of comfort to Bengals fans.
Dalton will be hitting the road to face the Colts, who shut the Bengals out 27-0 in Week 7. While Dalton was pretty bad in that game, Andrew Luck was terrific; he threw for 344 yards and two touchdowns, and the Colts rushed for 171 yards compared with the Bengals’ 32.
Waiting for these teams in the Divisional round will be the No. 2 Denver Broncos and No. 1 New England Patriots. The teams flip-flopped the No. 1 and 2 seeds from last season, when Denver used their home field advantage to top the Patriots in the AFC title game and reach the Super Bowl. The Patriots bested the Broncos in New England earlier this season, and should the teams meet to go to Glendale, the game will once again be played in Foxboro.
The schedule for next weekend shakes out as follows:
Saturday, 8:15 P.M.: Ravens @ Steelers
Sunday, 1:05 P.M.: Bengals @ Colts
The lowest remaining seed will travel to New England, while the higher remaining seed will go to Denver.
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