The Pittsburgh Steeler won’t post a winning record in 2013, and despite making a run in the middle weeks of the season, Pittsburgh was never able to figure out exactly how to win football games. Now, with a playoff berth out of consideration, the Steelers have to begin to ponder what needs to happen moving forward to get back to the postseason.

First and foremost, there quite obviously needs to be a change on offense. Since Bruce Arians left, or was run out of town, the Steelers have been unable to find their way into the playoffs. Ben Roethlisberger’s relationship with offensive coordinator Todd Haley is up and down at best, and the two often appear to disagree about what should be happening on offense.

The Steelers’ offensive line is, well, terrible. Roethlisberger has absorbed 39 sacks this season. Only Joe Flacco (41) and Ryan Tannehill (48) have been sacked more often than the Steelers’ trigger man. That’s a big problem, especially because Roethlisberger often holds the ball, trying to make big plays. Sure, he runs himself into some sacks, but the Steelers do a poor job giving him an opportunity to make those big plays that have defined his career.

So, with an offseason of uncertainty looming, what do the Steelers need to do?

Based on the fact that we now have what appears to be a full-blown officiating controversy in the NFL, we sure picked a good year to starting documenting all of the stupid things that take place in the world of professional football. Week 14 didn't disappoint. Or did it? I guess it depends on whether your team got screwed.

The stupidest fourth-quarter coaching strategy

As soon as Colin Kaepernick converted a first down inside Seattle's 10-yard line with 3:18 to play in a game that the Seahawks led by a point, Pete Carroll should have done the quick math and opted to let the Niners score. The Seahawks were out of timeouts, which means San Fran was able to run the ball three straight times to take the clock under the 30-second mark before making a chip shot field goal. The odds of them missing that kick or turning the ball over on first, second or third down were still definitely lower than the odds of Seattle scoring a touchdown in a two-minute drill to finish the game. 

Had Seattle let San Fran score on first down, the 'Hawks would have had about 2:30 to respond with a game-tying or game-winning touchdown (depending on what happened on the Niners' two-point attempt). So for all intents and purposes, Seattle had to choose between these options:

1. Drive for a field goal in about 25 seconds with no timeouts. 

2. Drive for a touchdown in about 150 seconds with the two-minute warning. 

To me, that shouldn't even be a debate. 

The stupidest fourth down defensive formation

This one comes from Sam Monson over at Pro Football Focus...

Come on #Browns, you can't defend 3rd/4th and 1 vs the #Patriots like this. Inviting the sneak pic.twitter.com/7Yyce29tuq

— Sam Monson (@PFF_Sam) December 9, 2013

Yes, Tom Brady picked up an easy first down on a drive that resulted in a field goal. 

Late in Minnesota’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens during Sunday’s early round of games, the Vikings thought they had the game finally wrapped up. A Joe Flacco pass had been intercepted, and without enough times out to save the clock, the Vikings could have took a few knees, ending the game.

But then, just when the Vikings were ready to celebrate a hard-fought victory, the officials took it away, calling a very touchy pass interference penalty that would set up the Ravens for their winning touchdown. It was a punch in the gut for a team that’s experienced little success this season.

Earlier in the day, the Bengals were awarded a touchdown on a play that seemed clear cut. On the play, BenJarvus Green-Ellis seemed to be tripped up by a Colts defender. Although he stretched for the goal line as he fell to the ground, his knees were clearly down before the ball broke the plane of the endzone. As fate would have it, Jeff Triplette, the referee that was blasted for his crew’s poor handling of the down and distance late in the Giants’ victory over the Redskins just a week ago.

With questionable, or in some cases downright terrible, calls flooding through the NFL each week, we have to wonder if the NFL can do better. Is there anything the league could do to ensure that its officials get the call right more often?

After a wild, snow-filled early round of games, the playoff picture got just a little bit clearer on the AFC side of the bracket, and the NFC bracket tightened up just a bit. Let’s reset our brackets plugging in the current standings.

The Ravens avoided disaster against the Minnesota Vikings. Late in the fourth quarter, both teams went nuclear, scoring touchdown after touchdown. The Ravens scored for the final time with just four seconds left on the clock, leaving no time for the Vikings to win the game. A highly controversial call of pass interference against the Vikings negated a game-ending interception, giving Minnesota fans plenty to complain about.

As we continue to assess the fallout produced by the firing of Texans head coach Gary Kubiak, we now can begin to consider just who will take over as the Texans’ vacant head coaching position. Owner Bob McNair indicated the Texans would seek a coach with NFL experience, which narrows the field to a select few. So, who’s on the in, and who’s on the out?

The first name to come to mind is Wade Phillips, not because he’s the best candidate, but because Phillips is taking over as the Texans’ interim head coach, meaning he’ll have three games to impress McNair and general manager Rick Smith. Phillips has an outside shot at the job, but it’s likely the Texans will go in a different direction. If someone else is hired, the new regime will have to decide whether to hang on to Phillips as the defensive coordinator or to cut him loose.

The favorite to claim the Texans’ top job appears to be former Bears head coach Lovie Smith. Smith has a career head coaching record of 83-61 in the NFL, and he was able to turn the Bears into a contending franchise after years of mediocrity. Still, the Bears were never able to win the big game, and that ultimately cost him his job.

There was little doubt Texans now-former head coach Gary Kubiak was going to be fired at the conclusion of the Texans’ most disappointing season in franchise history, and that was before the Texans lost for the second time in as many weeks to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Now, with Kubiak officially ousted as the Texans’ top coach, the healing process can begin.

General manager Rick Smith, who was considered on at least a warm seat, is safe for the time being, and he’ll be helping owner Bob McNair put the Texans back together. Wade Phillips, as expected, will be taking over as Houston’s interim head coach, a position Phillips has occupied with many teams over the course of his career. Still, the biggest piece of news aside from Kubiak’s firing has to be that Case Keenum, not Matt Schaub, will be starting the rest of the Texans’ games.

Now, maybe it’s completely possible the Texans are simply trying to evaluate their young quarterback before they make any decisions on the future of the position. More likely, especially considering Keenum’s play against the Jaguars, is the possibility that the Texans’ top decision makers are positioning the teams to maintain their top draft selection.

Here's a breakdown of six major records that are in peril of being broke over the next four weeks. 

Passing touchdowns: Peyton Manning was falling off the pace he needed to break Tom Brady's single-season passing touchdown record, but then he tossed five of them against the Chiefs last week and now it's going to get interesting. With 41 touchdown passes through 12 games, Manning is on pace to throw 54 touchdown strikes. Brady had 50 in 2007. It would probably be an upset now if Manning fell short. 

Passing yards: Manning is on pace to put up exactly 5,500 passing yards, which would break Drew Brees' single-season record by 24 yards. He'll need to average 338 yards over the last four weeks in order to break that record. He's averaged only 320 per game the last seven weeks, so it looks as though he'll probably fall short of this mark. 

Completion percentage: Right now, Philip Rivers is on pace to become one of only five quarterbacks to complete 70 percent of his passes in a season. Rivers is at 70.0 percent on the money, which is 1.2 percent back of Brees' single-season record. However, he's been held below the 70 percent mark in five consecutive games now, so Brees' mark is probably safe.

It's pretty much impossible to compare quarterbacks from era to era, so we won't attempt to conclude, especially based on the statistics, that Geno Smith is the worst rookie quarterbacks in NFL history. But we think the numbers are ugly enough for us to conclude that the second-round pick shouldn't be starting at this point. I mean, what's happening with him can't possibly be good for the young man's chances of experiencing long-term success. 

Smith is, at the moment, the lowest-rated qualifying passer in the NFL by a margin of nearly nine entire points. The only two quarterbacks he's within 13 points of -- Brandon Weeden and Terrelle Pryor -- have been benched. He's got a league-high 19 interceptions and is one of only three qualifying quarterbacks with a sub-55 completion percentage. 

We mentioned that comparing players from different eras is tricky, so let's keep stay in the 21st century and go back only as far as the 2000 season. Since that point, only two quarterbacks have posted lower passer ratings than the one Smith currently has while starting a minimum of 12 games. Kyle Orton had a 59.7 rating in Chicago in 2005 and Joey Harrington was at 59.9 in Detroit in 2002. Both were rookies. 

The Houston Texans’ nightmare season reached a new low late Thursday night, falling to the Jacksonville Jaguars for a second time this season. On the positive side, Houston furthered their campaign to claim the top draft selection in next year’s draft. So, what did we learn in the Texans’ eleventh straight loss?

First and foremost, Matt Schaub is still a better quarterback than Case Keenum. In addition to that, it seems somewhat obvious Keenum isn’t the quarterback of the future in Houston.

Statistically, Matt Schaub wasn’t actually that much better than Keenum, especially after throwing a game-ending interception with just over two minutes to play. That being said, Schaub clearly provided a spark, shock, or some other positive motivation to the Texans’ offense. One would believe Matt Schaub did enough to earn his spot in the starting lineup. Now, the Texans have to determine whether they’ll move forward with Schaub, and if the answer is no, it’ll be on to the draft to find a new quarterback.

With four weeks remaining in the 2013 NFL regular season, here's how we see things wrapping up on Dec. 29. 

AFC

1. Denver Broncos (14-2)
2. New England Patriots (12-4)
3. Cincinnati Bengals (11-5)
4. Indianapolis Colts (10-6)
5. Kansas City Chiefs (11-5)
6. Baltimore Ravens (8-8)

No way Denver loses to Tennessee or San Diego at home or to Houston or Oakland on the road. They should hang on. New England still has to travel to Baltimore, though, which could make Week 17 meaningless for both the Broncos and the Patriots. The Bengals should beat the Colts this weekend to gain a significant edge, and Indy still has to travel to Kansas City. The Chiefs' remaining schedule isn't a lot easier, but they're locked in as a No. 5 seed. That last wild-card spot really is a toss-up, but the Ravens have the edge right now and they've been here and done this. The schedule isn't easy, but I don't see anyone else being better than 8-8.