The Pittsburgh Steelers have officially entered their Week-9 bye week, but just because the Black-and-gold has the weekend off doesn’t mean fans won’t be monitoring games which could impact their favorite team.
With the season officially starting its second half, I’ll be posting the weekly Steelers Fan Rooting Guide to show which games fans should be watching, who they should be rooting for and why.
So, without further ado, below are the games you should be keeping tabs on in Week 9 while the Steelers sit on a beach somewhere resting up for their push for No. 7.
Steelers Week-9 Fan Rooting Guide
Thursday Night Football
Buffalo Bills at New York Jets
Who you should be rooting for: The NY Jets
Why? The Buffalo Bills are 5-2, and a win on Thursday would propel them into a tie with the Steelers, Patriots and Chiefs at 6-2. It’s still quite early, but when distinguishing contenders and pretenders, the less teams bunched near the top, the better. Hope for a Jets’ upset at home on Thursday night, and it should be worth mentioning that the home team has a huge advantage on a short week.
Sunday Games
Baltimore Ravens at Tennessee Titans
Who you should be rooting for: The Titans
Why? Even though the Titans are still hanging around in the AFC picture with a 4-3 record, the Steelers play the Titans in a few weeks, giving them the chance to handle their business then. As for the Ravens, the bigger the gap between the Steelers and Baltimore, the better. The Titans are coming off a bye-week, so here’s hoping the home team can take care of business against a banged-up, 4-4 Ravens team.
Cincinnati Bengals at Jacksonville Jaguars
Who you should be rooting for: The Jaguars
Why? This is a tough one based on the fact the Steelers want to put distance between themselves and the Bengals in the division. But the fact that Jacksonville is a 4-3 team which beat the Steelers in Week 5 also should play a role in this. If there were any way to have both teams lose, this would be the game but, at this point in the season, the more losses for the Bengals, the better. After this week, though, root against the Jags, but right now, hope they beat the Bengals and send them further down in the divisional and conference standings.
Kansas City Chiefs at Dallas Cowboys
Who you should be rooting for: The Cowboys
Why? The Chiefs are tied with the Steelers for the top spot in the AFC. The Steelers won the tie-breaker with their Week-6, head-to-head victory, but having the Chiefs knocked down a peg is never a bad thing. The sad part is we must root for the Cowboys. Ugh, this makes me want to puke. Make sure to bathe thoroughly after rooting for Dallas.
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These are the main games to focus on this weekend. Although the Denver Broncos, Oakland Raiders and Miami Dolphins also play, they aren’t factoring into the Steelers’ equation for success just yet.
Time to sit back and enjoy not having the Steelers give us all heart attacks for a week, while rooting for a bunch of teams to lose!
HERE WE GO!