Obviously there's a lot of football to be played, but going into week 9 a glance at the current AFC standings shows how important it is for the Steelers to take the Broncos down this week.  If the playoffs started today, these would be the AFC seedings:

1- Indiannapolis

2- Denver

3- Cincinnati (they get the #3 spot due to having a better strength of victory than NE) 

4- New England

5- Pittsburgh

6- Houston

And the 1st round matchups would be: Texans at Bengals, Steelers at Patriots, with Colts and Broncos on a bye.

The 2nd round matchups would then likely be: Bengals at Broncos, Steelers at Colts

Personally, I don't like that scenario. Even though I think the Steelers will ultimately take the Colts out in the playoffs, I'd prefer it to be in the title game. And though the Steelers are clearly superior to the Patriots on both sides of the ball, going to NE for a playoff game is always a risky proposition, given the league's desire for NE to win.  The Steelers need to stack a handful of wins, leapfrog the Bengals and get a 1st round bye -- all of which I believe they will do. And crushing Denver has to be part of the plan.

Anything can happen in 9 games so I wouldn't even think about playoff scenarios yet. 

It's too early to project playoff seeds but I predict that the Bengals don't even make it that far.

quoting ScottChab:

---

Anything can happen in 9 games so I wouldn't even think about playoff scenarios yet. 

---

A good general keeps an eye on the radar.  By week nine it is evident who the enemies are and what needs to be done.  The Steelers beating Denver this week, and the Ravens taking out the Bengals, catapults the Steelers into the #2 seed in the AFC.  And once there, the mission is to conquer the top spot -- a difficult task that may require teams like Baltimore and NE to perhaps hand the Colts a couple of losses.  It is never to early to be thinking about playoff scenarios.

Yeah, this game is huge. Lose this one, and we're virtually guaranteed to not have a bye week, no matter how difficult Denver's schedule is the rest of the way. Win, and then you can lose another game along the way as long as it's not the Bengal game and you're still looking good for a bye week since Indy plays the Pats and Denver, so someone has to lose those games.

if we win this game you can pretty much count on a bye in the playoffs

cincy will be #3??? are you kidding me??? when it comes to these guys, dont talk about playoffs, playoffs??? are you kidding me???

The steelers with a bye week in the playoffs will be a big advantage this season.

quoting TheStallworthSwann:

---

quoting ScottChab:

---

Anything can happen in 9 games so I wouldn't even think about playoff scenarios yet. 

---

A good general keeps an eye on the radar.  By week nine it is evident who the enemies are and what needs to be done.  The Steelers beating Denver this week, and the Ravens taking out the Bengals, catapults the Steelers into the #2 seed in the AFC.  And once there, the mission is to conquer the top spot -- a difficult task that may require teams like Baltimore and NE to perhaps hand the Colts a couple of losses.  It is never to early to be thinking about playoff scenarios.

---

I didn't realize that we had a General on the board. 

This is how I look at it - the Steelers just have to keep winning and everything else will take care of itself. 

I'm surprised that some people are talking about a bye week in the playoffs and we are only 7 games into the season.   

quoting ScottChab:

---

I didn't realize that we had a General on the board. 

---

Maybe I should my name to TheSchwarzkopfSwann?