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Steelers Fan Rooting Guide: Who Steelers fans may want to root for in Saturday games in Week 16

BTSC’s guide to the other weekend games that might impact the Steelers the most.

By Bryan Anthony Davis
NFL: DEC 15 Bills at Steelers Photo by Shelley Lipton/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The AFC playoff picture is shaping up as far as the Steelers are concerned. With the 2019 season winding down, the Steelers playoff picture is crystal clear and very muddy all at once. With two-of-three of the special games on the NFL network on Saturday being noteworthy to Steeler Nation, there’s going to be a lot of couch time necessary this weekend...You probably should have scheduled that vasectomy for this weekend.

Most of the time, Steelers fans know who to root for. But here’s a guide to significant matchups, and whose losses the Steelers would benefit more from this weekend. Once again, the Steelers need to win for this wish list to be viable. For those that argue that this is a fruitless exercise, then think of this as a rooting guide for the Steelers traded first-rounder to go later.

If the season ended today, the Steelers would be the sixth seed in the AFC, but there are plenty of teams to root for in other action.

Here are the current AFC playoff standings.

  1. Baltimore Ravens 12-2 (Would win AFC North and earn a First Round Bye)
  2. New England Patriots 11-3 (Would win AFC East and earn a First Round Bye)
  3. Kansas City Chiefs 10-4 (Would win AFC West and host Wild Card Pittsburgh)
  4. Houston Texans 9-5 (Would win AFC South and host Buffalo;)
  5. Buffalo Bills 10-4 (Would earn Wild Card and travel to Houston)
  6. Pittsburgh Steelers 8-6 (Would earn Wild Card and travel to Kansas City)
  7. Tennessee Titans 8-6
  8. Cleveland Browns 6-8
  9. Oakland Raiders 6-8
  10. xIndianapolis Colts 6-8
  11. xJacksonville Jaguars 5-9
  12. xDenver Broncos 5-9
  13. xLos Angeles Chargers 5-9
  14. xNew York Jets 5-9
  15. xMiami Dolphins 3-11
  16. xCincinnati Bengals 1-13

(X) eliminated

Houston Texans at Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Saturday 1:00 PM, NFLN

At this point, the Titans are your main rival. A Houston loss gives the Texans more incentive to beat Tennessee head-to-head in Week 17.

Who to root for: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots - Saturday 4:30 PM, NFLN

The Bills are still hard-pressed to win the AFC East division, but knocking the Pats down a peg would be pretty nice.

Who to root for: Buffalo Bills

Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers - Saturday 8:15 PM, NFLN

Makes no nevermind to the Steelers. It will just be a fun game to watch with no pressure of having a horse in the race.

Who to root for: Toss-up

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