Wow I love Football Outsiders. The latest gem I've discovered is their DVOA Playoff Odds Report. Basically, FO has played out the season 5,000 times using an equation based on their metrics plus home-field advantage (take the time at some point to read their explanations of how their metrics are derived). Here's what they came up with:
Odds of Pittsburgh making the Playoffs = 94.1%
Odds of Steelers winning the AFC North = 79.7% - um, for those writers out there who aren't convinced that the Steelers are in the same class as the Bengals and Ravens yet? I dare you to take on FO's metrics.
Odds of Steelers securing #1 Seed in Playoffs = 36.9% - interestingly enough, only the New England Patriots are a safer bet to make the playoffs (99.1%), but Pittsburgh is still more likely to claim the top seed (36.9% vs. 34.4%).
A few more interesting nuggest from their projections: San Diego's got work to do. As of now, their likelihood at making the playoffs is a mere 21.8%. The Bengals better get after it as well. Their chances are 16.6% for the moment. Here was also a big shocker that I'd like to spend more time thinking about: Tampa Bay is slightly more likely than Indianapolis (10.5% vs. 9.3%) to win the Super Bowl
Oh, and by the way, Your Pittsburgh Steelers have, at the moment, the the best odds at winning the Super Bowl. Hey, it's just one computer's 'opinion', but I'd rather such prognostications be coming from an algorithem than a human's stream of consciousness.