The New York Jets edged the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday, 17-16. Because the Jets are the AFC’s lowest-ranked seed, they will face the top-ranked New England Patriots next week. The Steelers will thus wait for the result of the Sunday game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Kansas City Chiefs to see who their playoff opponent will be next week.
This one is easy. Steelers fans want to root for the Chiefs here. While the Steelers are certainly capable of beating the Ravens, Baltimore is like a slightly worse version of the Steelers – the Ravens are good at stopping the run and at least decent at everything else. They beat the Steelers once this year, and they could certainly do so again. The Chiefs, meanwhile, were not only two wins worse than the Ravens this year, but they played a relatively weak schedule, losing twice to the Raiders and once to the Broncos and getting blown out late in the season by both the Raiders and Chargers. They also have a very run-intensive offense, so they might struggle to score points against the Steelers’ run-stifling D. A matchup against the Chiefs would be ideal for the Steelers.
In Saturday’s other game, the Seahawks upset the Saints, so Seattle will await the result of the matchup between the Green Bay Packers and the Philadelphia Eagles tomorrow to determine whether they will face the Atlanta Falcons or the Chicago Bears.