The Pittsburgh Steelers 2022 playoff hopes are alive for another week, thanks to a Christmas gift from the Green Bay Packers.
The Steelers entered the weekend needing to both beat the Las Vegas Raiders on Saturday to stay alive, and get some help from either the Packers or the Indianapolis Colts.
The Packers beat the Miami Dolphins, 26-20 on Christmas afternoon, keeping the Steelers in the hunt for at least one more week.
If the Colts can beat the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday night, that will roughly double the Steelers’ chances of making the playoffs. Pittsburgh needs either the Dolphins or the Chargers to lose all of their remaining games, along with the Steelers winning out and getting some other help, in order to make the playoffs.
The Steelers currently have a 3% chance of making the 2022 NFL playoffs, according to Five Thirty Eight. An Indianapolis win would raise those odds to 5%.
Even if the Steelers win out, in their final two games against the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns, they have a less than 1 in 5 chance of getting all the help they need to make it to the postseason.
Either way, the Steelers will still be in the hunt when they kick off their Week 17 game against the Baltimore Ravens, meaning they will play the very most one meaningless game this season after starting the year 1-4.