Browns in playoff picture make-or-break moment in Week 11

The Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns square off in a Week 11 contest that has huge playoff implications. Well, huge for this point in the season. Plenty will change between now and January, but this is a make-or-break game for the Browns and a chance for Pittsburgh to potentially build some leverage.

The Browns are 3-6 entering Thursday Night Football, and sit 13th out of 16 teams in the AFC playoff picture. And yet, they are only two games back of the Steelers for the second wild card berth. They are four game back of the Baltimore Ravens atop the AFC North, so it’s all about the wild card at this point.

The Steelers are 5-4 and hold the second wild card berth due to tiebreakers. They’re tied with the Oakland Raiders and Indianapolis Colts, and hold tiebreakers based on conference record vs. Oakland and head-to-head vs. Indianapolis.

DraftKings Sportsbook offers odds on whether or not a team will make the playoffs. The Steelers and Browns are as follows:

Steelers: Yes (-134), No (+110)
Browns: Yes (+700), No (-1115)

It’s notable that the 5-4 Steelers actually have better playoff odds than the 6-3 Buffalo Bills (-125/+104). The Steelers have the third easiest remaining schedule while the Bills have the 16th easiest remaining schedule, per Football Outsiders. More importantly, the Steelers and Bills face off in Pittsburgh, so that gives the Steelers a modest edge.