How likely is it that the steelers will make the playoffs and what needs to happen?

i'm a huge bengals fan who has the number one amount of hate for the steelers and have a really errogant friend who has guarnanteed a playoff spot after beating the ravens yesterday. i've tried looking at ESPN and NFL and am too confused. waht needs to happen for the stelllers to make it and why do the pats have the 3 seed over us?