The Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2) may have had a bye in Week 9, but that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t a consequential weekend of events, especially with the rest of the AFC North playing in Week 9.

Happily for Steelers fans, there was no shot that they’d lose their AFC North lead this weekend, but unfortunately, the Baltimore Ravens did get one step closer by achieving their sixth win of the year, though they do have one more loss.

Per NFL Next Gen Stats, the Steelers currently stand with an 86% chance to make the playoffs — the fifth-best chance in the AFC behind the Kansas City Chiefs (99%), Buffalo Bills (98%), Houston Texans (93%) and Baltimore Ravens (92%). The Bengals, meanwhile have fallen to a 34% chance despite a Week 9 victory, and the Cleveland Browns are at a lowly 1%.

Next Gen credits the Steelers with a 4% chance to earn the No. 1 seed in the conference, far behind the Chiefs (78%) or Bills (9%).

Here’s a look at the current AFC playoff picture approaching Week 9’s “Sunday Night Football” and “Monday Night Football” matchups, featuring Colts-Vikings and Bucs-Chiefs.

AFC playoff picture 2024

Kansas City Chiefs (7-0)

Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2)
Houston Texans (6-3)
Baltimore Ravens (6-3)

Los Angeles Chargers (5-3)

Denver Broncos (5-4)

On the bubble: Indianapolis Colts (4-4), Cincinnati Bengals (4-5)

If the season ended now, ahead of Sunday Night Football, the Steelers would host the Los Angeles Chargers in the Wild Card Round of the 2024-25 NFL Playoffs. The Steelers did manage a home win over the Chargers (20-10) back in Week 3, though that game was a bit of an odd one, as starting QB Justin Herbert was knocked out with an ankle injury. There’s also the fact that it was Justin Fields starting at quarterback for that game, while Russell Wilson continued to make his way back from a calf injury. In short, there are plenty of factors that lead it to not being a true one-for-one comparison.

The Steelers have plenty of difficult matchups coming up, including the 7-2 Washington Commanders following their Week 9 bye, plus the entirety of their AFC North schedule. Tankathon grades the Steelers with the sixth-most challenging remaining schedule in the league based on their opponents’ .564 win percentage.