No room for error is Pittsburgh's plight

The team is in much better shape after beating Chicago.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- One Manning could help them, two Mannings could help them even more. So could Carson Palmer, even though he's all but relegated them to scrambling for a wild card for only the second time since 1989.
A week after the Pittsburgh Steelers (8-5) looked to be one or two more losses away from becoming the first NFL team to miss the playoffs after going 15-1 the previous season, a nostalgic Bus ride has them back in playoff contention.
They're not assured of being in, not hardly, but they look to be in much better shape after ending the Bears' eight-game winning streak 21-9 Sunday behind Jerome Bettis' 101 yards and two touchdowns than they did after losing consecutive games to the Ravens, Colts and Bengals.
Got outside help
For that, they can thank not only Bettis and his latest comeback but also the Colts, Cowboys and Dolphins. They defeated the three teams the Steelers are competing with for the two AFC wild-card spots -- the Jaguars (9-4), Chiefs (8-5) and Chargers (8-5) -- to tighten up the playoff race.
"We live to fight another day," Steelers coach Bill Cowher said. "That's basically where we're at. We have no margin of error."
But they do have more than they did a week ago, when they were only No. 8 in the AFC playoff race. Now they're No. 6, though that's effectively meaningless because the playoff positioning is likely to change during each of the final three weekends of play.
First things first: The Steelers are only one more loss, or one more victory by Cincinnati (10-3) away from being eliminated from AFC North contention. The Bengals' 38-31 victory in Pittsburgh on Dec. 4 effectively decided the division race, barring a Bengals collapse as they finish out the season against the Lions (4-9), Bills (4-9) and Chiefs (8-5).
Not customary status
That means that, for only the second time in Cowher's 14 seasons as coach, the Steelers are looking to make the playoffs as a wild card. The only other time they did so under Cowher was 1993 when, after going 9-7, the Steelers lost a 27-24 overtime game at Kansas City in the wild-card round.
Before that, the Steelers last were a wild card in 1989 when, in a season that began with a 51-0 loss to Cleveland and a 41-10 loss to Cincinnati, they upset AFC Central champion Houston 26-23 (also in overtime) before losing to Denver 24-23 for the right to play in the AFC championship game.
Of the four AFC wild-card contenders, the Jaguars and Steelers appear to have the easiest remaining schedules. The Jaguars play the only two NFL teams with two victories or fewer, the 49ers and Texans, while the Steelers have two teams with 4-9 records left:
Jaguars (9-4): Sun., San Francisco (2-11); Dec. 24, at Houston (1-12); Jan. 1, Tennessee (4-9).
Steelers (8-5): Sun., at Minnesota (8-5); Dec. 24, at Cleveland (4-9); Jan. 1, Detroit (4-9).
Chargers (8-5): Sun., at Indianapolis (13-0); Dec. 24, at Kansas City (8-5); Dec. 31, at Denver (10-3).
Chiefs: Sat., at New York Giants (9-4); Dec. 24, San Diego (8-5); Jan. 1, Cincinnati (10-3).
Jags own tiebreaker
The Jaguars own the tiebreaker over the Steelers by virtue of their 23-17 overtime victory Oct. 16 in Pittsburgh, when Tommy Maddox threw three interceptions and lost a fumble while subbing for the injured Ben Roethlisberger. And the Steelers own the tiebreaker over the Chargers after beating them 24-22 on Jeff Reed's last-minute field goal Oct. 10.
Peyton Manning's Colts could help the Steelers by beating the Chargers, who appear to have the toughest road to the playoffs among the four contenders. San Diego's remaining opponents are a combined 31-8, while the Chiefs play teams that are 27-12, including Eli Manning's New York Giants (9-4) on Saturday and Palmer's Bengals on Jan. 1. The Jaguars' opponents are 7-32 and the Steelers' are 16-23.
How Ward sees it
To Steelers receiver Hines Ward, the Steelers already are in a postseason mode because any other approach might leave them short.
"We're playing a one-week season now," Ward said. "Next week we'll play another one-week season. "Our playoffs have started. Lose, and you go home."
And if there is any benefit to being a wild-card team, it's this: It means the Steelers probably won't play at home, where they have lost four AFC championship games since the 1994 season.
Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.