The Pittsburgh Steelers are going back to the playoffs.
For the 26th time in the 42 seasons since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger, the Steelers will be a part in the tournament that always ends with the presentation of the Vince Lombardi Trophy. The 2011 NFL Playoffs begin on the weekend of Jan. 7-8.
The Steelers will play the champions of the AFC West, the Denver Broncos in Denver, in the Wild Card Round on Sunday, Jan. 8 with kickoff at 4:30 p.m.
The Steelers concluded their 2011 regular season with a win over the Cleveland Browns to finish at 12-4 for the second consecutive year, but the Baltimore Ravens earned the AFC North Division title by virtue of their victory over the Bengals in Cincinnati.
Both the Steelers and the Ravens finished with the same regular season record, but Baltimore won the division championship by virtue of a head-to-head sweep of Pittsburgh in the regular season series.
The Steelers will be in the playoffs for the fourth time in Mike Tomlin's five seasons as their coach.
NFL WILD CARD WEEKEND
Saturday, January 7
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AFC: 4:30 PM (ET) |
Cincinnati at Houston (NBC) |
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NFC: 8:00 PM (ET) |
Detroit at New Orleans (NBC) |
Sunday, January 8
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NFC: 1:00 PM (ET) |
Atlanta at N.Y. Giants (FOX) |
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AFC: 4:30 PM (ET) |
Pittsburgh at Denver (CBS) |
NFL DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS
Saturday, January 14
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NFC: 4:30 PM (ET) |
New Orleans/N.Y. Giants/Atlanta at San Francisco (FOX) |
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AFC: 8:00 PM (ET) |
Denver/Pittsburgh/Cincinnati at New England (CBS) |
Sunday, January 15
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AFC: 1:00 PM (ET) |
Houston/Denver/Pittsburgh at Baltimore (CBS) |
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NFC: 4:30 PM (ET) |
N.Y. Giants/Atlanta/Detroit at Green Bay (FOX) |
In the Divisional Playoffs, the division champion with the best record in each conference will host the lowest seeded Wild Card survivor. Once teams are seeded for the playoffs, positions do not change.
