Steelers Now
The Pittsburgh Steelers will need a result against the Cleveland Browns in Week 17 to clinch the AFC North, or face a winner-take-all Week 18 game against the Baltimore Ravens.
The Ravens defeated the Green Bay Packers on Saturday, 41-24, to keep their season alive. Entering Week 17, the Steelers either needed a Ravens loss or tie on Saturday night, or a win or tie against the Browns on Sunday. Now, only the final scenario remains when it comes to the Steelers clinching the AFC North title this week.
The Steelers and Browns will kick off from Huntington Bank Stadium in Cleveland at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
The date and game time for the Steelers and Ravens Week 18 game will depend on how the rest of the NFL shakes out in the penultimate week of the regular season.
The Steelers also had their chances at the No. 3 seed in the AFC dashed on Saturday, when the Houston Texans beat the Los Angeles Chargers. So if they beat the Browns, they will be locked into the No. 4 seed and have nothing to play for in Week 18.
The Steelers haven’t had an opportunity to rest their starters before a playoff game since the 2020 season, when the 12-3 Steelers started Mason Rudolph instead of Ben Roethlisberger against the Browns in the final week of the regular season.
They lost that game, part of a string of failures for the Steelers in Cleveland. The Steelers have lost three straight games as visitors against the Browns, five of their last six and are 5-1-1 in their last seven games along the shore of Lake Erie.
The Steelers are currently 3-point favorites over the Browns for Sunday afternoon’s showdown.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Ravens Keep AFC North Title Hopes Alive, Put Pressure on Steelers
