NFL Power Rankings, Week 17: Eagles bury Cowboys, Ravens clinch No. 1 seed
By Dan Parzych
17. Pittsburgh Steelers (15)
Just when it seemed like the Pittsburgh Steelers were in great shape to earn a Wild Card spot in the AFC, this team no longer controls their own playoff destiny after suffering a second brutal loss in a row to the New York Jets.
It was one thing for the Steelers to come up short the week before against the Buffalo Bills since they are already locked in for the No. 5 seed, but losing to a non-playoff team in the Jets hurts big time.
Leading up to the contest, this seemed like the ultimate trap game for Pittsburgh since New York had nothing to lose, and would need to be dealing with Le’Veon Bell seeking revenge against his former team.
At times throughout the regular season, the Steelers seemed to be in better shape at quarterback with Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges after losing Ben Roethlisberger early on to an elbow injury, but clearly this is far from the case.
As bad as it sounds, poor play at quarterback on top of numerous injuries on both sides of the football could result in Pittsburgh watching the playoffs from home in January if things fail to work out for the Steelers during Week 17.