The Steelers have fallen to the No. 2 seed in the AFC, but retain a commanding position in the AFC North, after losing their second straight game with a Week 14 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
Pittsburgh (11-2), is now a game behind Kansas City (12-1) after the Chiefs came back to beat Miami. The Chiefs now hold the AFC’s lone first-round bye.
As the second seed, the Steelers would host the Dolphins (8-5) in the first round if the playoffs started today. Indianapolis at Buffalo and Cleveland at Tennessee would be the other postseason matchups, with Baltimore left out on a tiebreaker.
The Steelers and Chiefs are the only AFC teams to clinch playoff berths, with Kansas City having also secured the AFC West.
The Houston Texans were the fifth AFC team eliminated, joining the Steelers’ Week 15 opponent, Cincinnati, the Los Angeles Chargers, New York Jets and Jacksonville Jaguars.
Here are the full AFC standings:
| AFC North | |
| Pittsburgh Steelers^ | 11-2 |
| Cleveland Browns | 9-4 |
| Baltimore Ravens | 8-5 |
| Cincinnati Bengals* | 2-10-1 |
| AFC West | |
| Kansas City Chiefs^^ | 12-1 |
| Las Vegas Raiders | 7-6 |
| Denver Broncos | 5-8 |
| Los Angeles Chargers* | 4-9 |
| AFC East | |
| Buffalo Bills | 10-3 |
| Miami Dolphins | 8-5 |
| New England Patriots | 6-7 |
| New York Jets* | 0-13 |
| AFC South | |
| Tennessee Titans | 9-4 |
| Indianapolis Colts | 9-4 |
| Houston Texans | 4-9 |
| Jacksonville Jaguars* | 1-12 |