The ugly truth is the Steelers let the AFC North crown slip out of their hands. The Cleveland Browns would have to defeat the Baltimore Ravens, and Pittsburgh beat the Cincinnati Bengals to win the division. In that scenario, the Los Angeles Chargers would travel to Acrisure Stadium in the opening round of the playoffs.

The Cincinnati Bengals can win their fifth straight game, finish the season with a winning record and keep slim playoff hopes alive by taking down the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 18. Doing so will require another stellar performance from Joe Burrow and the soaring offense, this time on primetime in a Saturday night slot.

SportsLine's model has simulated Pittsburgh vs. Cincinnati on Saturday in Week 18 10,000 times and revealed its NFL picks and predictions

This affiliate content is not influenced by our advertising relationships, but AP and Data Skrive might earn commissions from our partners’ links in this content.

While Russell Wilson torched this Bengals defense for 414 passing yards in the first matchup, a 44-38 road win in Week 14, he’s been awful since then. Pittsburgh did not look competitive against the Chiefs at home on Christmas and the offense has not topped 20 points in three straight games.

Pittsburgh Steelers' embattled wide receiver George Pickens was seen getting into an argument with fans during the team's loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Pittsburgh Steelers wrapped up the regular season on Saturday night with a heartbreaking 19-17 loss to the Cincinnati B

Luckily for the Pittsburgh Steelers, they had already secured a spot in the AFC playoffs weeks prior. If not, their Week 18 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday would have felt much worse. Still,

The only good news in Pittsburgh following a 19-17 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals is that the Steelers are in the playoffs no matter what. The rest is bad, including that we’ll have to watch this Steelers team compete with a playoff team in a week.