Pittsburgh Steelers Should Be Considered AFC Favorites Entering 2016 NFL Playoffs

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Ben Roethlisberger Ramon Foster Pittsburgh Steelers
Ken Blaze – USA TODAY Sports

Just a couple of days ago, things weren’t looking so good for the Pittsburgh Steelers. After a disappointing loss to the Baltimore Ravens, the Steelers were heading into the last week of the season needing to win and get help to make the postseason. However, the Steelers had everything work out for them after they won and the Buffalo Bills defeated the New York Jets. The Steelers will now be the No. 6 seed in the AFC, and they may very well be the favorites to win the conference.

The Steelers were thought of as one of the most feared teams heading into the playoffs a couple of weeks ago. With one of the best offenses in the league, it was widely believed that the Steelers would be able to handle some of the weak Wild Card teams that the AFC has to offer. Ben Roethlisberger is probably the second-best quarterback on the AFC side of the bracket, and with weapons like Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant, Heath Miller and DeAngelo Williams (if healthy), the team will be able to put up a good amount of points on their opponents.

Their first matchup is going to be against their divisional rival the Cincinnati Bengals, but it remains to be seen whether or not Andy Dalton will play. Dalton fractured his thumb in the last game he played against the Steelers, and since then A.J. McCarron has been running the show for the team. Regardless of who plays at the quarterback position, the Steelers should be able to beat up the Bengals and advance to the Divisional round.

Should they win that game, they would move on to play against the Denver Broncos. Though the game would take place in Denver, the Steelers may still have the advantage. The Broncos do have a strong defense led by Aqib Talib and Von Miller, but they haven’t been doing as well as of late. They also are likely to use Peyton Manning at quarterback, and if he gets banged up along the way, the offense may struggle. So that game looks like it could be a Steelers’ win.

After that, the team would either be playing the Kansas City Chiefs, who are nothing more than good, or the New England Patriots, who are extremely banged up and have some serious issues on the offensive line. Neither of those teams would be a challenge for Pittsburgh’s elite offense.

At the end of the day, it’s hard to find a team in the AFC with less issues than the Steelers. They are well prepared to make a playoff run, and they could find themselves playing in Super Bowl 50 come February.

Jacob Camenker is an NFL Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com. You can like him on Facebook here, follow him on Twitter @jacobyhorse, or add him to your network on Google.

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