BleacherCoaches.com

The Steelers are playing for home field advantage right now, and unfortunately, I think they'll need to win out to get home field advantage. The Patriots seem to be doing very well despite having their top two corners out, and their schedule is pretty easy in the closing quarter of the season. The Patriots have Cincinnati (6-6) at home, a road game at Miami (2-10), a road game at the Jets (9-3), and a home game against San Francisco (1-11). The only real threat for a loss there is the game against the New York Jets. The Steelers close out with New York Jets (9-3) at home, a game at the New York Giants (5-7), a home game against Baltimore (7-5), and a road game at Buffalo (6-6). New England's remaining opponents are a combined 18-30, the Steelers remaining opponents are 27-21. So unless the Patriots lose a game, most likely to the Jets, the Steelers must win out. If the Pats do lose, I'll root against the Steelers so that they wake up and stop playing at only 3/4 effort.

As a note on Sunday night's game, Ben Roethlisberger's quarterback rating was 158.0. A perfect rating is 158.3, so he's only three-tenths of a point of perfection as a quarterback. Wow.