Tie Breaker...

for doing this. I am currently writing a playoff prospects post and will use some of this info! Thanks. Sorry to steal any thunder away from your post, but I had already started it :(

Anyway, one thing I disagree with is the Titans letting up against us. They dont feature one back or anything like that, so I can’t see how they’d change things up against us much. Maybe they’d rest a few borderline players with injurys? I don’t know. I know that Jeff Fisher coaches a certain way though and it’s all driven by the same approach – don’t change what you do or who you are.

THREE INTERCEPTIONS!!! Doesnt he know the Ravens were counting on him?

Cuz I think that would have put us both at 9-4, and then if we won we’d be up a game straight record wise. Hoping you’d lose to Tenn and we win out we’d be good to go… But it didnt happen now its going to come down to the wire. Every game matters

The most difficult (but not improbable) scenario is as follows. Assume the Steelers lose difficult road games to the Ravens and Titans but beat (of course) the Browns. The Ravens, however, lose to the Cowboys in Dallas but stomp the Jaguars. Both the Steelers and Ravens finish 11-5, and here are the tiebreakers:

1) Head-to-head: Steelers 1, Ravens 1
2) Division record: Steelers 5-1, Ravens 5-1
3) Record in common games: Steelers 9-5, Ravens 9-5
4) Record in conference games: Steelers 9-3, Ravens 9-3

The next tiebreak is strength of victory, which compares the records of the teams we beat versus the teams they beat. You win this tiebreaker by beating the tougher teams. In this scenario, both teams have (or will have) beaten everybody in the division, the Texans, Jaguars, and Redskins. The differences would be our victories over the Cowboys, Patriots, and Chargers, while the Ravens would have wins over the Eagles, Dolphins, and Raiders. The Patriots and Dolphins are currently tied, the Cowboys are 1/2-game ahead of the Eagles (and have beaten the Ravens in this scenario), and the Chargers are 2 games ahead of the pathetic Raiders.

So, while it is not a lock, the Steelers should win the strength of victory tiebreaker in this scenario, unless the Patriots collapse or the Raiders get hot. (Must…root…for…Patriots!)

In summary, the three most likely ways the Steelers can win the division:

1) Beat the Ravens!
2) Lose to the Ravens but win out against Tennessee and Cleveland
3) Lose to the Ravens and Tennessee, beat Cleveland, and hope the Ravens lose to Dallas and nothing weird happens on the strength of victory tiebreaker.