Sadly, as the NFL playoffs march on, the Pittsburgh Steelers will not be. After being eliminated 31-17 by the Buffalo Bills last week, fans and players alike will be watching from home as the playoff field narrows down from eight teams to four.

With no team wearing black and yellow remaining, I decided to try and make a bandwagon rooting guide for the remaining eight teams. If you’re a Steelers fan and have no idea who you want to see win, perhaps this will help.

Some teams were a LOT harder to advocate for than others, but let’s get into it:

Houston Texans

Well, let’s get the obvious out of the way. The Texans play in Baltimore tomorrow, with a chance to knock off the 1-seed Ravens and send them packing. Houston has also already eliminated the Cleveland Browns back in the Wild Card round, so it’s safe to say that Houston will have an entire second city in their corner if they pull off the upset.

But besides that, the Texans are a very fun team to watch right now. Led by rookie quarterback CJ Stroud, the Texans have embarked on an improbable run under first year head coach DeMeco Ryans. They lit up the Browns for 45 points (31 on offense) and have exciting young stars on offense like Nico Collins.

In all, they’re just an entertaining team to watch, and that should continue for as long as their playoff run does. Plus, they’re the only NFL team to break dance on top of their opponents during the game.

That’s former Steeler Desmond King, by the way.

Baltimore Ravens

I tried here, ok? I really tried. I really tried to think of a reason why any Steelers fan would jump on the Ravens bandwagon.

This is all I could come up with: in my own personal (and “professional” opinion), the rivalry between the Steelers and Ravens has more respect involved, as opposed to Steelers-Browns and Steelers-Bengals. So from that perspective, you might be able to respect what Lamar Jackson and the Ravens have done to this point.

Plus, if they win it all, the Steelers would be the only team in the NFL who could say they beat the Super Bowl champs twice this year. Because that definitely is just as cool as winning the Super Bowl!

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On the other end of the spectrum, if you’re a Steelers fan looking to troll your opponents, oh boy do I have the team for you.

Not long after Baker Mayfield quarterbacked a 48-37 win over the Steelers in the 2020 postseason, Cleveland moved on from the only man who had brought them a playoff win since 1994. They cut him in favor of DeShaun Watson, who they gave up an inexcusable amount of draft picks for, and then proceeded tto give him over $250 million.

Since then, Watson’s play has been inconsistent, both from a performance perspective and a being-able-to-play perspective. Last season, he missed 11 games after being suspended due to his sexual misconduct and harassment allegations. This season, he has been out since Week 10 with a season ending shoulder injury.

But Baker got the last laugh. This year, he landed in Tampa Bay, where he won a playoff game before Cleveland did since his divorce with the Browns, and is on to the Divisional Round while the Browns are not.

Detroit Lions

How can you not love this team?

A tortured fan base finally got to see their team not only get into the playoffs, but win a game. The Lions won their first ever playoff game at Ford Field (which opened in 2002) last week in a storybook win. Facing their old hero in Matthew Stafford, the Lions hung on to win by a single point and advance. Now, they face a scrappy Tampa Bay team that just took down the Philadelphia Eagles.

Lions head coach Dan Campbell will one day leapfrog Mike Tomlin for the “coach who you want to play for” polls, and this playoff run is going to show a lot of people why.

Jared Goff is good enough for Detroit, and the Lions should be good enough for Steelers fans.

Green Bay Packers

This would be hard, given the Super Bowl defeat that happened at the hands of the Packers years ago.

I struggled to find a reason that could surpass that, but if you are looking for an entertaining quarterback, Jordan Love might be the guy for you.

After walking into Dallas and stunning the Cowboys, Love now marches on to San Francisco to take on an equally interesting young quarterback in Brock Purdy.

If you’re someone who hates 1-seeds and loves seeing the top team get taken out, the Packers could have a real chance at doing it. Yes, the 49ers are insanely good, but last week proved that the Packers are no joke; they belong here.

San Francisco 49ers

If you love offense, I’ve got just the team for you. Stacked with top end talents like Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, and a somehow underrated wide receiver group, the 49ers are the team to beat in the NFC.

The 1-seed 49ers are such an entertaining team to watch, and are a tall task for any team forced to play them (as the Steelers found out the hard way). They’re a favorite to win it all this year, so if you’re hoping to have a team for not just this week but the weeks beyond, this might be your team. Although, now that I’ve said that, they’re definitely losing.

As a personal reason I might pull for them: former Steeler Ray-Ray McCloud landed in San Francisco after his time in Pittsburgh. I loved McCloud when he was a Steeler, so it would be nice to see him win it all, although sadly that won’t be here.

Kansas City Chiefs

I don’t know man. Again, I really tried.

Putting aside any kind of Taylor Swift joke/reference/song pun I could make, if you like seeing the top teams stay the top teams forever with no changes, do I ever have the team for you?

In all seriousness, the defending Super Bowl champions do have some entertaining players to watch, but their biggest chance to gain any support in Pittsburgh is their upcoming opponent.

If you’re a fan who wants to see the team who knocked out the Steelers fall shortly after, you’ll have to be a Chiefs fan this week as they walk into Buffalo to take on the Bills.

Buffalo Bills

There’s something to be said for wanting the team you lost against to ultimately win it all.

I was never personally that way, but I did understand the sentiment. At least you’re not alone in your defeat, and you can claim that you lost to the eventual champs, maybe as some way to soften the blow of losing.

Either way, if you are a fan with that mindset, grab a folding table and some shovels and trek up north to Buffalo. But the Bills also have an opponent who might garner hate from the Steelers. If you’re someone who wants to see Kansas City finally taken down, the Bills are your guys.

Plus, if you’re Alyssa, you definitely want them to win.

(Featured photo of Ray-Ray McCloud by Godofredo A. Vásquez/AP)