Who has the bye? Steelers, for now, but Alex Smith just did the Chiefs a major solid
Alex Smith did the Chiefs a favor.
But he didn’t launch them to the AFC’s No. 1 seed for the playoffs.
Smith did, however, lead the Washington Football Team to a 23-17 win against previously unbeaten Pittsburgh Monday evening. But the Steelers remain the top seed in the AFC — and therefore the owners of the only bye under the NFL’s new playoff format that includes seven teams from each conference.
That’s how it stands for now, at least.
The Steelers and Chiefs are both 11-1. The first tiebreaker is head-to-head, and the two teams are not scheduled to play this season.
That moves it to the second tiebreaker, which is record against in-conference opponents. The Chiefs have one loss against an AFC team (Las Vegas), while the Steelers remain unbeaten against the AFC.
That could change over the final month, of course. The Steelers play at Buffalo, at Cincinnati, vs. Indianapolis and at Cleveland over the last four weeks of the regular season.
The Chiefs travel to Miami and New Orleans before closing the regular season with back-to-back home games against Atlanta and the Chargers.
Smith? He had a decent night Monday, completing 31 of 46 pass attempts for 296 yards and a touchdown. He helped pull Washington even with the New York Giants atop the NFC East, and he made things a bit more interesting for his former team in Kansas City.
This story was originally published December 7, 2020 at 7:47 PM.