The Steelers have had to get by without top running back Le’Veon Bell after he was lost for the season in Week 8, and they now could have to go without DeAngelo Williams.
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The Steelers also faced Browns backup Johnny Manziel in Week 10, which means that counting McCarron on Saturday, Pittsburgh will have faced a backup in seven of its last eight games. In Week 14, the Steelers were the victors by a score of 33-20. The same team that handed Cincinnati its most crushing playoff defeat in 2005, when quarterback Carson Palmer suffered a devastating knee injury on the first offensive play. There is a high possibility that the Bengals offense won’t be able to stay on the field for as long as they had hoped for because every time AJ throws an incompletion the clock stops. Will Dalton be playing the game?
Despite being thrust into the starting role when Dalton went down making a tackle against the Steelers on December 13, McCarron has managed to pass for 851 yards and six touchdowns.
“I think no matter if it’s me or (Dalton), Keith (Wenning) or Mike (Kafka), we want to win”, he said. 1-2 versus the Steelers, 19-2 against everybody else. That’s three starts without a single interception.
Until the cast is removed, Dalton is relegated to working on the side in practice, which he began last week with simulated drop-backs and conditioning work. You and I both know gamesmanship is as much a part of the playoffs as bad blood is to this rivalry. “If the (opposing) quarterback turns the ball over and you don’t, it puts your team in a situation to win the ballgame”. Although those sound like fighting words, players on the Bengals defense say they are bringing a different mindset into Saturday’s game. But the Seahawks have some special late-season magic going. Linebacker Vincent Rey added, “We’ll be ready”. After that we still have two other games that will be played in the AFC divisional round. An MRI showed no break and the Steelers will list him as day-to-day with a chance to play Saturday.
In that game, less than two years after McCarron’s meeting with Roethlisberger at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, the freshman quarterback’s St. Paul’s Saints lost to the 10-ranked Wolverines 20-0 in their season-opening game at E.E. Delaney Stadium in Mobile. “We’ve had a great year”, Dunlap said.
Tomlin said in the conference, according to the report, “In the meanwhile, I think it’s appropriate to build our plan around Toussaint and Jordan Todman, guys that have been here, guys that are healthy and guys that are willing and capable of being positive contributors to our efforts”.
The Bengals were close to earning a first-round bye against the Denver Broncos and now face Roethlisberger, who many feel is the most talented quarterback in the division. In fact, the Bengals have not won a playoff game anywhere in 25 years, the longest postseason victory drought in the NFL and one of the longest in the league’s history.
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In the team’s last four games, A.J. The Pittsburgh run defense has given teams problems during the past five games as well. It sounds obvious, but between these two teams there is absolutely no guarantee of success. Christina is a freelance writer covering all things National Football League as well as a published author.
