Merry Christmas, y’all!

As Yinzers from around the Steel City tore open presents on Christmas morning, the Pittsburgh Steelers woke up to a holiday gift of their own.

Last night, on a frigid Christmas Eve night in Foxborough, the New England Patriots defeated the Denver Broncos in a game that really helped out neither team.

For the Patriots, now 4-11, the win only worsened their draft position in the upcoming 2024 NFL Draft.

But for the Broncos, the ramifications were far, far worse.

At 7-7 coming into last night, virtually every remaining game was a must-win for the Broncos. With how crowded the AFC playoff race is, a hopeful wild card team is going to very, very likely need to be 10-7, and even then, you still might not get in.

With a winnable game for sure on the schedule for the Broncos, their season took a turn for the worst with a dropped contest vs the Patriots (sound familiar?)

The 26-23 loss does however massively help the Steelers.

It’s ironic that a team that originally put them behind the playoff 8-ball has now offered an olive branch to their last gasp playoff dream, but here we are.

As things stand now, if, and that’s a very big if, the Steelers can win out their remaining schedule, they have a 92% chance to make the playoffs, according to the New York Times’ Playoff Simulator.

In reality, they currently stand at 17% right now, but that low number is heavily influenced by their underdog status in both of their remaining games (at Seattle and at Baltimore).

While the Steelers have not yet declared who their starting quarterback will be for their upcoming Week 17 game against the Seahawks, it will be the biggest game of the year for whoever starts.

Mason Rudolph, coming off a career best performance, is in the running for the job once again. But returning starter Kenny Pickett, projected to be ready for the game, is an option to.

Several sources believe that Pickett will reclaim his job as soon as he is healthy, despite Rudolph putting up the best game by any Steelers QB all year.

Ahead of the Seattle game is a trip to Baltimore to close out the season. The current 11-3 Ravens hold the 1-seed in the AFC as of right now, and if they continue to roll the way they are, they may very well have the 1-seed locked up by Week 18.

If they do, you would have to assume that the Ravens rest some starters in preparation for the playoffs. In theory, and I do stress in theory, that would make Pittsburgh’s lives a little easier heading into the regular season finale.

Of course, the Steelers do not entirely control their own fate. That Indianapolis vs Houston game in Week 18 is incredibly crucial for both teams, and the Steelers.

Both teams are 8-7, and both have a head-to-head tiebreaker over the Steelers. However, with them playing each other, that almost guarantees one of them suffering a loss, massive to the Steelers’ cause. Unless, of course, we get a repeat of Raiders vs Chargers in 2021, which had it not been for Chargers coach Brandon Staley trying to galaxy brain things, would have ended in a tie and booted Pittsburgh out of the playoffs.

There’s also the Jacksonville Jaguars, who are in an absolute tailspin right now. They could factor in mightily to the Steelers’ equation.

To put it cleanly, the Steelers now need two of Indianapolis, Houston, and Jacksonville to lose a game. With Indy and Houston playing each other, that’s one loss. Now you need one more.

After what we have seen in the last month from this team, you’d be hard pressed to find any fan who believes the Steelers deserve to be in the playoffs.

However, for the fan in all of us, it’s something we can’t help but keep a close eye on.

Is it delusional? Absolutely.

But it’s Christmas. Just let it be for right now.

Merry Christmas everyone!