Update (Saturday night): Baltimore\u2019s 41-24 win over the Packers means that the Ravens are still alive in the race for the AFC North title, and the Steelers have yet to clinch the division.<\/p>\n
They can take care of that tomorrow with a win or a tie against the Browns.<\/p>\n
This weekend, Aaron Rodgers can return to the playoffs.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
Rodgers last appeared in the NFL postseason in the 2021-2022 season with the Green Bay Packers, completing 20-of-29 passes for 225 yards in a 13-10 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. But Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers are on the cusp of clinching a playoff spot, and can lock in their spot before they even take the field on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns.<\/p>\n
Here is how Rodgers and the Steelers can book their playoff berth in Week 17.<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh Steelers clinching scenarios<\/p>\n
The Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Cleveland Browns in an AFC North clash on Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n
But they might have already clinched a playoff spot before kickoff.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh clinches the AFC North, and a spot in the postseason, with a win or tie against the Browns on Sunday. But they can be guaranteed a division title before that game. Right now the Steelers have a 9-6 record, while the only team that can catch them in the AFC North, the Baltimore Ravens, have a 7-8 record. Pittsburgh wins the division if the Ravens lose or tie on Saturday night to the Green Bay Packers.<\/p>\n
So, Pittsburgh is in the playoffs if they win or tie against the Browns on Sunday, or the Ravens lose or tie against the Packers on Saturday night.<\/p>\n
AFC standings entering Week 17<\/p>\n
Here are the current AFC standings after the Christmas games:<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
Denver Broncos (13-3) \u2013 x<\/p>\n
New England Patriots (12-3) \u2013 x<\/p>\n
Jacksonville Jaguars (11-4) \u2013 x<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh Steelers (9-6)<\/p>\n
Los Angeles Chargers (11-4) \u2013 x<\/p>\n
Buffalo Bills (11-4) \u2013 x<\/p>\n
Miami Dolphins (6-9) \u2013 e<\/p>\n
Kansas City Chiefs (6-10) \u2013 e<\/p>\n
Cincinnati Bengals (5-10) \u2013 e<\/p>\n
New York Jets (3-12) \u2013 e<\/p>\n
Tennessee Titans (3-12) \u2013 e<\/p>\n
Cleveland Browns (3-12) \u2013 e<\/p>\n
Las Vegas Raiders (2-13) \u2013 e<\/p>\n
x \u2013 Team has clinched a playoff spot
e \u2013 Team has been eliminated from playoff contention<\/p>\n
AFC North standings entering Week 17<\/p>\n
Here are the AFC North standings as Week 17 begins:<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh Steelers (9-6)<\/p>\n
Cincinnati Bengals (5-10) \u2013 e<\/p>\n
Cleveland Browns (3-12) \u2013 e<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Update (Saturday night): Baltimore\u2019s 41-24 win over the Packers means that the Ravens are still alive in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":71713,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[3269,4701,37636,8936,6621,3268,4914,6622,6516,4918,15290,8786,6548,4923,6549,12924,6623,6645,73,75,74,33383,37637,5003,19587,1829,15291,37635],"class_list":{"0":"post-71712","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh","8":"tag-aaron-rodgers","9":"tag-afc-north","10":"tag-afc-north-standings","11":"tag-baltimore","12":"tag-buffalo-bills","13":"tag-cincinnati-bengals","14":"tag-cleveland-browns","15":"tag-denver-broncos","16":"tag-houston-texans","17":"tag-indianapolis-colts","18":"tag-jacksonville-jaguars","19":"tag-kansas-city-chiefs","20":"tag-las-vegas-raiders","21":"tag-los-angeles-chargers","22":"tag-miami-dolphins","23":"tag-new-england-patriots","24":"tag-new-york-jets","25":"tag-packers","26":"tag-pittsburgh","27":"tag-pittsburgh-headlines","28":"tag-pittsburgh-news","29":"tag-playoff-berth","30":"tag-playoff-spot","31":"tag-ravens","32":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","33":"tag-steelers","34":"tag-tennessee-titans","35":"tag-the-browns"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71712\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}