I say 9-7 gets us in, maybe 8-8

[squidkid]

Here's how I have it figured out:
New England
Baltimore
Houston
Denver
all win their division.

Our competition for the 2 remaining wildcard spots come from:
Buff(4-6) w/ ind, jax, st. louis, sea, mia and nyj remaining
Miami(4-6) w/ sea, ne, sf, jax, buff and ne remaining
Cincy(4-5) w/ kc, oak, sd, dal, phi, pit and balt remaining
Indy (6-3) w/ ne, buff, det, tenn, hou, kc and hou remaining
Tenn (4-6) w/ jax, hou, ind, nyj, gb and jax remaining
San Diego (4-5) w/ den, bal, cin, pit, car, nyj and oak remaining

I highlighted the games that I believe these teams will lose to and underlined the teams that I think could go either way.
Buffalo best case scenario 8-8, predict 7-9
Miami best case scenario 7-9, predict 6-10
Cincy best case scenario 9-7, predict 8-8
Indy best case scenario 10-6, predict 9-7
Tennessee best case scenario 7-9, predict 6-10
San Diego best case scenario 8-8, predict 8-8

Pittsburgh needs to find a way to win 3 games between, balt, cle, balt, sd, dallas and cle. They could possibly even get in at 8-8 if they beat the right teams(cincy, sd) I think that even if Ben is out for the remainder of the regualr season, this team can still make the playoffs. Ben coming back healthy from the shoulder, and any lingering injuries he may already have, might make the playoff run interesting. To be honest, I'm not overly concerned about going on the road to play any of the projected playoff teams.

[RuthlessBurgher]

I highlighted the games that I believe these teams will lose to and underlined the teams that I think could go either way.
Pittsburgh needs to find a way to win 3 games between, balt, cle, balt, sd, dallas and cle.

Based on your highlighting and underlining criteria detailed above, it appears that you expect us to lose to San Diego at home plus lose to Cleveland twice, think the Baltimore game at home and the game in Dallas could go either way, and expect us to win in Baltimore?

[Oviedo]

I really think we will end up 10-6 and be in. The Baltimore games are critical. If we beat them twice we win the AFC North. If we split or lose both we likely are a Wild card.

[squidkid]

Based on your highlighting and underlining criteria detailed above, it appears that you expect us to lose to San Diego at home plus lose to Cleveland twice, think the Baltimore game at home and the game in Dallas could go either way, and expect us to win in Baltimore?

Ooops, my bad. Those highlighted for the steelers are projected wins. I would have thought you should have figured that out and knew i made a mistake.

[RuthlessBurgher]

I really think we will end up 10-6 and be in. The Baltimore games are critical. If we beat them twice we win the AFC North. If we split or lose both we likely are a Wild card.

The Ravens games are definitely critical. If we sweep, we take the North, if they sweep they take the North...it's that simple. But if we split, I think it is still up in the air. We both have to play the Chargers and Bengals, but we see both of those teams at home while they have to play them on the road (and they suck on the road, so even though it's the same teams, we have a slight advantage there). We travel to Dallas, they travel to D.C. (Cowboys on the road is pretty much a push compared to the Redskins on the road...both teams are good sometimes and but both can be bad as well). Finally, we have a home-and-home vs. the lowly Browns while they host both of the Manning brothers in back-to-back weeks. Although Baltimore plays better at home, facing Peyton and Eli is much more challenging than us facing Weeden twice. Based on our remaining schedules, I think we have an advantage if we split against the Ravens.

[RuthlessBurgher]

Ooops, my bad. Those highlighted for the steelers are projected wins. I would have thought you should have figured that out and knew i made a mistake.

Yup...seemed like a mistake to me, which is why I questioned it (then again, since we have a tendency to lose to crap teams like Oakland and Tennessee while beating good teams, perhaps you were making some sort of statement there).

[Oviedo]

The Ravens games are definitely critical. If we sweep, we take the North, if they sweep they take the North...it's that simple. But if we split, I think it is still up in the air. We both have to play the Chargers and Bengals, but we see both of those teams at home while they have to play them on the road (and they suck on the road, so even though it's the same teams, we have a slight advantage there). We travel to Dallas, they travel to D.C. (Cowboys on the road is pretty much a push compared to the Redskins on the road...both teams are good sometimes and but both can be bad as well). Finally, we have a home-and-home vs. the lowly Browns while they host both of the Manning brothers in back-to-back weeks. Although Baltimore plays better at home, facing Peyton and Eli is much more challenging than us facing Weeden twice. Based on our remaining schedules, I think we have an advantage if we split against the Ravens.

I'll buy that assessment. I'd love to get a win tonight and put the pressure in the Ravens versus vice versa.