Pittsburgh Steelers clinch first playoff berth since 2017 with Miami Dolphins' loss

PITTSBURGH -- After two years on the outside, the Pittsburgh Steelers are back in the playoffs.

Even before kicking off against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night, the organization clinched a playoff berth with the Miami Dolphins' loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

There's still, of course, plenty for this team to play for the rest of the season. A win in Buffalo coupled with a Cleveland Browns loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Monday night would clinch the AFC North for the Steelers.

And although they currently have the top seed in the AFC and the bye that comes with it, the Steelers will have to hold off the Chiefs down the stretch to maintain the top spot. Right now, the Steelers have the tiebreaker over the Chiefs because of a better conference record. The Steelers' lone loss is to the Washington Football Team, while the Chiefs fell to the Las Vegas Raiders earlier this season.

The Steelers team -- at least the offense -- is dramatically different from the one that made it to the playoffs in 2017. Anchored by Le'Veon Bell and Antonio Brown, that group won the AFC North with a 13-3 record and had a first-round bye. JuJu Smith-Schuster is the only remaining wide receiver who was on the team in 2017, and no running backs on this year's squad were on the team in 2017.

The Steelers lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the divisional round of the playoffs that season, falling 45-42 at Heinz Field.