Silverman: Keep An Eye On Steelers, Seahawks, But For Different Reasons

By Steve Silverman
» More Columns

Wild Card Weekend is usually the appetizer when it comes to the NFL playoffs.

It is certainly a welcome alternative to the quality of football played on the final weekend of the regular season, even though the more dominant teams get an extra week to prepare and heal prior to the Divisional round.

It may seem inevitable that the New England Patriots will be seated at the main table when the Super Bowl takes place in Houston during early February. But while the AFC does not appear to have that many worthy competitors this time around, one it does have is the Pittsburgh Steelers.

In the NFC, the Dallas Cowboys are the team to beat, something the Seattle Seahawks used to be. I'll get to Pete Carroll's bunch in a bit.

When the Steelers won the AFC North in Week 16, thanks to Antonio Brown's heroic stretch at the 1-yard line against the Ravens, it was a huge statement. Pittsburgh had been chasing Baltimore in recent seasons and losing crucial games because it kept failing to come through at the most important times.

But the Steelers finally got their act together two weeks ago and now have the proper mindset to at least challenge the mighty Patriots in the postseason.

Head coach Mike Tomlin may have some strategic issues compared to a coach like Bill Belichick, but he is as good as anyone in the league when it comes to motivating his team.

Assuming they beat the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, the Steelers will then face a potential two-game gauntlet against Kansas City and New England. The Steelers already hammered the Chiefs earlier this season, and there is little doubt in their locker room that they are fully capable of reversing the results of an October loss to the Patriots.

Of course, the first step for Tomlin's crew is beating the Dolphins, who beat the Steelers soundly back in Week 6 in Miami. The Dolphins had started the season 1-3 and appeared to be on the road to nowhere, but the victory over the Steelers served as a watershed moment for head coach Adam Gase and his players.

It was their Stuart Smalley moment, because they were able to look in the mirror and say, "We are good enough," and actually believe it.

The key in that game was the emergence of Dolphins running back Jay Ajayi, who had the first of his three 200-yard rushing games this season. Miami will once again try to attack with Ajayi, but it will be very difficult for him to match what he did in October. Stopping him will almost certainly be Pittsburgh's top priority.

Matt Moore, who has been filling in admirably for injured Dolphins starter Ryan Tannehill, is an adequate backup quarterback, but is he capable of putting up points like Ben Roethlisberger?

No team in the postseason can match the triplets the Steelers put on the field. Roethlisberger is a top-five NFL quarterback, and perhaps even better than that. Le'Veon Bell may be the best running back in the league, and Antonio Brown is the best receiver in football.

MORE: Silverman: Underdog Antonio Brown Should Be NFL's MVP

The Steelers have the best chance of all the teams playing this weekend to make significant noise in the postseason.

The Seahawks, on the other hand, may be the most overrated team still alive.

Seattle still strikes a lot of fear in the hearts of most teams, but it has not been the same since Russell Wilson's ill-fated interception cost them Super Bowl XLIX against New England.

The Seahawks are a far cry from the team that won the Super Bowl a few years ago and they are coming into this season's tournament with a severe limp.

They lost a game at their beloved and intimidating home, CenturyLink Field, in Week 16 to the Arizona Cardinals, a team that didn't even finish .500. They then closed the season with a 25-23 victory over the 2-14 San Francisco 49ers.

The Seahawks may get a break because they are facing the damaged Detroit Lions on Saturday night. There has been a significant downturn in the Lions' play since quarterback Matthew Stafford injured the tendon on the middle finger of his passing hand.

After leading a slew of come-from-behind victories over the first 13 weeks of the season, the Lions come into the playoffs having lost three games in a row, and Stafford has thrown just two TD passes in that span.

Bobby Wagner and the Seahawks' defense are good enough to stop the wounded Lions, but that's about it. They will likely get their wild card victory and then disappear altogether.

That's just the opposite of what will happen with the Steelers, who appear ready to go on a long and memorable run.

Follow Steve on Twitter at @ProFootballBoy