Kevin Gorman: Steelers will watch playoff hopes on scoreboard again in season finale

The Pittsburgh Steelers ended last season clinging to their playoff hopes while watching — and rooting for — the Cleveland Browns to beat the Baltimore Ravens on the Heinz Field video board.

That the Steelers will end this season doing some scoreboard watching once again is almost as inconceivable as the scenarios required for them to qualify for the postseason.

The simple formula is for the Steelers to beat the Ravens when they play Sunday afternoon in Baltimore and for the Houston Texans to beat the visiting Tennessee Titans. If that happens, the Steelers clinch the final playoff spot as the AFC’s No. 6 seed.

If not, it’s much more complicated.

And you can bet the Steelers will be watching the scoreboard to see how all of the playoff scenarios play out.

“Naturally, you might peek up for a second and see a game, but guys are locked in,” inside linebacker Mark Barron said. “You can’t be on the field staring at the scoreboard the whole time. I ain’t going to sit here and say I’ve never peeked up and seen a score to another game because that would be a lie.”

Added right guard David DeCastro: “Whenever the scores are up, you’re always watching, regardless of whether the game matters or not. That’s kind of the nature of the game.”

Well, not every Steelers player will be watching.

“I don’t, not at all,” inside linebacker Vince Williams said. “I try to stay locked in. I’m not the guy that you look up at the scoreboard and turn to talk to. … I’m not the person you talk to about that on the sideline.”

It’s not that Williams isn’t aware of what needs to happen. He doesn’t want to know. He already lived it last season, a memory he called “horrible.” You just weren’t about to catch him on camera watching and waiting, agonizing over every Baker Mayfield mishap as the Browns lost to the Ravens. While some of his teammates stayed on the field, Williams went to the locker room and watched the game there.

“Basically, this whole situation sucks, not to be in control of your own destiny,” Williams said. “As much as you want to try to escape thinking about all of these stupid scenarios, you just end up thinking about them and you get overwhelmed a little bit. … None of this matters if we don’t beat the Ravens.”

That’s not necessarily true, although it certainly would help.

Truth is, none of this matters if the Titans win.

Beating the Ravens (13-2), who have won 11 consecutive games to clinch the AFC North Division title and the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs, is a tough task. Baltimore’s only incentive to win is it is playing an archrival. Knocking the Steelers out of playoff contention is motivation enough.

Even so, Ravens coach John Harbaugh is helping the Steelers’ cause by sitting MVP front-runner Lamar Jackson, along with fellow Pro Bowl picks running back Mark Ingram, right guard Marshal Yanda and safety Earl Thomas, as well as nose tackle Brandon Williams.

On the flip side, the Texans could rest their starters against the Titans. If the Titans win, it doesn’t matter what the Steelers do. That’s how costly the Week 16 loss at the New York Jets was to the Steelers, as it negated their conference-record tiebreaker over the Titans. DeCastro called it a “gut punch.”

The Steelers, however, have a history of finishing strong. They have won 11 consecutive regular-season finales, and 17 of 19 since 2000. And, crazy as this sounds, the Steelers can lose to the Ravens and finish 8-8 and still make the playoffs.

But that’s only if the Titans lose.

Here’s where it gets complicated: The Steelers also can qualify with a tie against the Ravens — imagine them making the playoffs with an 8-7-1 record a year after going 9-6-1 and missing the postseason — but only if the Titans lose.

And the Steelers can clinch with the combination of a loss to the Ravens, a Titans loss, an Indianapolis Colts victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars and a loss or tie by the Oakland Raiders.

The Raiders (7-8) own a strength-of-victory tiebreaker over the Steelers. If the Steelers and Titans lose and the Raiders win, Oakland can clinch the final playoff spot. For the Steelers to tie the Raiders in strength-of-victory, they need the Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay Packers, Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs to win Sunday.

Good luck with that.

The NFL did the Steelers no favors with their flex scheduling, moving Steelers-Ravens to 4:25 p.m. but leaving two games that could have a domino effect on playoff implications at 1 p.m.

The league pitted the New England Patriots (12-3) and Kansas City Chiefs (11-4) in the same time slot. If the Patriots beat the Miami Dolphins, they lock up the AFC’s No. 2 seed and a first-round bye and the Chiefs are the No. 3 seed and play host to the No. 6 seed on wild-card weekend.

If the Patriots lose and the Chiefs beat the Los Angeles Chargers, Kansas City moves up to the No. 2 seed. If the Patriots win and the Chiefs lose, however, the Texans (10-5) could move up to the No. 3 seed with a victory over the Titans.

Perhaps that could cause the Texans to reconsider whether to play quarterback Deshaun Watson and wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins in an effort to beat the Titans.

More likely, it will not.

We will be watching the scoreboard, regardless, following who needs to win and who needs to lose for the Steelers to make the playoffs and getting ready for a gut punch.

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