“It doesn’t mean anything now”, safety Ron Parker said. The Steelers offense lost a lot firepower due to his absence and they fell in the first round of the playoffs to their AFC Divisional Rival, the Baltimore Ravens. The Steelers have worked on putting together a shot at a seventh by withstanding the loss of Bell, center Maurkice Pouncey, left tackle Kelvin Beachum and four-plus games without Roethlisberger. Barring injuries, the Steelers could be boasting an offensive unit that would have the likes of Heath Miller as the fifth option in the pass game! “We will certainly have our hands full there”. I feel there’s a good, young nucleus here.
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The Saints’ defense surrendered an National Football League record 45 touchdown passes this season, a statistic that cost defensive coordinator Rob Ryan his job.
It’s less than ideal, but the Steelers (10-6) are hardly quibbling. Minnesota’s 20-13 win over Green Bay gives the Vikings the NFC North crown and puts the Packers into the playoffs as a wild card.
ARLINGTON, Texas – Kirk Cousins passed for three touchdowns and Washington, the NFC East champion, closed out the regular season by rolling past Dallas. In order to prolong their season, they had to beat the Browns (3-13) and get help from the Buffalo Bills against the New York Jets to seize a wild-card spot prolong their season.
They’ve taken the long road to the Super Bowl before, and the Steelers are grateful they get to take another trip.
“We have to take care of our business first”, said quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. “This is our house – and it’s hostile”.
Denver’s victory finally settled the AFC playoff picture. The Steelers (10-6) will travel to Cincinnati on Saturday night to face the Bengals in the wild-card round. It was their 18th defeat in the last 21 games.
The Jets managed to step away from their shocked ability in the first half and make it a two point game up until the middle of the fourth quarter, but two terrible throws from Fitzpatrick were intercepted, as a quarterback who never made the playoffs and seemed to be hitting a new, successful phase of his career immediately reverted back to the guy who had so many disappointing seasons while playing for the Bills themselves. “When I saw the towels getting out I kind of assumed what was going on”.
Ryan has plenty of friends in the Steel City now.
Ben Roethlisberger threw three touchdown passes, Pittsburgh’s defense recorded seven sacks and the Steelers, sometimes sloppy, sometimes superb, slipped into the postseason with a 28-12 win Sunday over the Cleveland Browns, whose season ended with yet another coaching and front-office overhaul.
“We’re capable of doing that”, coach Mike Tomlin said.
The Texans (9-7) closed the season with three consecutive division wins for their first AFC South title since 2012. Houston is the fourth seed.
“We do have the second pick in the draft”, he said. “There are bigger goals ahead of us”.
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The Browns simply weren’t good enough on Sunday, even against an opponent missing its top two running backs and led by a quarterback all too willing to throw the ball to the other side. It’ll be their second trip to Minnesota in about a month. If so, those folks have forgotten the shellacking Seattle handed the Vikings in Minneapolis in early December.
