I'm conflicted on this. It's not conspiracy, it's coaching.
One one hand, I think it's completely against the cheaters nature to allow themselves to lose - ever. On the other hand, look at the AFC playoff field. The Steelers are the only team that poses a significant threat in terms of a decent offense. If the coach doesn't **** things up, the team can be dangerous. On the other hand, the Steelers are obviously just as likely to goat **** the football.
It's entirely possible that Hoodie knows that in this AFC playoff field he knows that the 2nd seed is completely good enough for homefield throughout as it's unlikely that the #1 seed can even beat a team coming to visit. Honestly. I wouldn't even have to mark that up to conspiracy, that's just killing a potential threat before they become one. Yes, the Steelers defense is God-Awful. But that's largely because they're coached by some guys who utterly refuse to play aggressive defense and challenge QBs. For all his talk about not living in his fears, Butler et al **** in their pants alot. At least that's my take on what happens with those soft zones and 2 deep coverages. How you let a guy who's played for a team for 2 ******* weeks surgically slice you apart is completely beyond me. This isn't about an evolving NFL. This is about fear. Let the ****** go deep on you once or twice, but you hit him 10 times while he's trying to do it.
Anyway, I digress.