NFL Playoff Picture: Pittsburgh Steelers and Teams with Easy Paths to Super Bowl

With the NFL playoff picture coming into place, it is time to start looking at the ways that teams can get to the Super Bowl. Specifically, we are going to look at the teams that have the easiest paths to Indianapolis. 

It is always dangerous to say that a team has an "easy" path through the playoffs, because there are so many things that have to go right. But sometimes when you are looking at matchups on paper, the temptation to make a team an overwhelming favorite is too great to ignore. 

Here are three teams that will have easy paths to get to the Super Bowl—if they are able to take advantage of the situation. 

Pittsburgh Steelers

As of right now, the Steelers would be the No. 5 seed in the AFC, but they are probably the most dangerous team because of the way they play defense and the talent they have on offense when Ben Roethlisberger is healthy. 

If the season ended today, they would be playing the Broncos. That game would be over before it even started, so there is no worry there. 

The only game that would be scary for them would be against the Ravens, who they could play in the divisional round, because they have already lost to them twice. But considering how much success they have had against Baltimore in the playoffs in recent seasons, I doubt they would be intimidated. 

A rematch with the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game seems like a foregone conclusion, and the Steelers proved earlier this season that they have found the formula to stopping Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. 

Green Bay Packers and New Orleans Saints

There is not a lot of depth in the NFC this season. I know that the San Francisco 49ers have a lot of wins, but their problems on offense are going to destroy them against good teams in the postseason. 

The only NFC Championship Game that even seems feasible at this point in time is a rematch of the first game of the year: Green Bay vs. New Orleans. 

This is the only game that would give either the Packers or Saints any trouble. The rest of the NFC will just be observing what these two teams—and arguably the two best quarterbacks in the league—have to offer on one of the biggest stages in the sport. 

New England Patriots

Following along the same line as the Steelers, the Patriots don't appear to have a lot to worry about before the AFC Championship Game. They should win their final two games of the regular season to clinch a first-round bye and the No. 1 seed. 

The only team that could give them headaches, aside from the Steelers, is the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens have enough talent on defense to hold Tom Brady in check, and when the offense is going right, they can score points. 

But I don't trust Joe Flacco enough to expect him to perform in a playoff game against the Patriots—or anyone else, for that matter. 

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