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So the Miami Dolphins are swimming north to challenge the Pittsburgh Steelers this afternoon in the AFC Playoffs. With Ryan Tannehill out yet again due to a knee injury, this should be a victory for Mike Tomlin’s crew. That being said, any given Sunday is a real thing (the Bills beat the Patriots this year!). Anything could happen this afternoon.
At 11-5, Pittsburgh was able to dominate the AFC North. Their closest competitor was a substandard Ravens teams that finished .500, followed by an atrocious Bengals team that put up a 6-9-1 record, and then the Browns, who Brownsed this year (mad props to them for that single win, though).
The AFC East is a more challenging division headed, as usual, by the New England Patriots. The Dolphins came in a respectable second in the division at 10-6, followed by the Bills, who fired their coach during the season, and the Jets, who played Ryan Fitzpatrick, Geno Smith, and Bryce Petty at QB this year (Christian Hackenberg never saw the field, because there’s a limit to how much suffering Jets fans can be forced to endure).
From the standpoint of Texans fans, the outcome of this game matters in terms of who the Texans will play next weekend. If the Steelers win, the Texans will travel to Foxborough to play the Patriots at 7:15 p.m. CST on Saturday, January 14th. If the Dolphins win, the Texans will travel to Arrowhead to face the Chiefs at 12:05 p.m. CST on Sunday, January 15th.
On paper, there’s absolutely no reason why the Steelers should lose today. But the games are played in real life. Follow the game here and share your thoughts in real time. We’ll have a separate thread for Giants-Packers, which kicks off at 3:40 p.m. CST.