Well, that’s another story altogether.
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The Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals play a wild card game Saturday at Paul Brown Stadium.
There was a year ago when Le’Veon Bell was knocked out in the final regular-season game and the Steelers were so desperate, they signed Ben Tate off the street to start at halfback for them.
If the Bengals defeat the Steelers, there is a chance Dalton could be ready for the Divisional round of the playoffs, but McCarron is Cincinnati’s guy for the fourth straight week.
So here the Steelers go again, into the playoffs with one leg tied behind their backs. They’re 16-4-1 against the spread in their last 21 road games versus the Bengals and have also covered four of the last five games with their AFC North rivals.
Coach Marvin Lewis indicated on Tuesday that there’s a possibility Dalton could be active as a backup, depending upon how his hand feels. Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant have combined for 2,599 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns while Markus Wheaton has 34 receptions.
“I’m doing treatments and rehab and trying to get back as soon as I can”, Dalton said, per Harvey. “When I didn’t have experience, I wouldn’t acknowledge that”.
The Bengals have contained Brown by disrupting his routes as he leaves the line, preventing him from turning a well-timed catch into a big play.
And don’t even get the old fans going about the time Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier, their dual 1,000-yard rushers in 1976, were injured in their 40-14 spanking of the Baltimore Colts in the first game of the playoffs that season.
There is no tomorrow to worry about if you don’t win. They’ll have one on Wednesday indicating which players are limited…. The Bengals haven’t won a single playoff game since 1990, the longest active playoff win drought in the NFL.
“It was a great team effort and it wasn’t just one sided where the defense had to carry the offense, or vice versa”, said Ward.
Some Steelers admitted they played with more intensity in that game, a 33-20 victory, than at any other time this season. “Watching that kid play-I mean, he’s something else”. “Being a No. 6 seed and playing Cincinnati, a place where we had won earlier that year, we just had a comfort level going in there and knowing that we could come out of that game with a victory”.
The second-year quarterback got his first significant playing time when Dalton broke his thumb during the first quarter of the loss to Pittsburgh. He’s seen the team go on extended postseason runs and also lose its postseason opener.
Combined with hate for one another and the playoff atmosphere, we can be in for an thrilling Saturday night football game.
“A lot of it has to do with confidence”.
“After the game, I went under the stadium to the locker room and saw his mom, dad, sister and him”, McCarron said. “What we did in the past, will not help us this year”.
The problem in facing the Steelers is you’re going to get a battle as long as Ben Roethlisberger is alive and has at least one leg to throw from. CB Leon Hall had a second full practice on Thursday. As of late, the Steelers have found success on offense.
The Bengals quarterback had the cast protecting his broken thumb removed, but his status for Sunday against the Steelers remains unknown.
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Yet, when the two teams meet on Saturday, it’s the Bengals who will enter as the underdog on home turf, and the Steelers as three-point favourites.
