The beginning of the end for the Cincinnati Bengals was running back Jeremy Hill’s fumble, recovered by the Pittsburgh Steelers, as the Bengals were trying to put away the AFC wild card game in the fourth quarter on Saturday night.
Advertisement
As soon as Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger went down with a shoulder injury on the last play of the third quarter at, things changed in the AFC wildcard game with the Cincinnati Bengals. He has a 112-94 record during the regular season but has never won a playoff. At all times, our team as a unit, everyone has got to understand the discipline of winning the football game, and that’s more important than anything else.
The Bengals, so close to winning their first playoff game in 26 years, absolutely embarrassed themselves on national television. Burfict dropped his shoulder and hit a defenseless Brown in the helmet as the All-Pro receiver came across the middle, and Jones lost his cool after getting into with Steelers assistant coach Joey Porter when Porter came onto the field as Brown was being tended to by trainers. The final one came when A.J. Green caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from AJ McCarron with 1:50 left.
Ten years ago the Pittsburgh Steelers entered the playoffs as the number six seed and had to face the Cincinnati Bengals in the wildcard round.
Wide receiver Martavis Bryant, challenged this past week by Roethlisberger to toughen up, caught the game’s first touchdown pass of 10 yards in the third quarter and set up a previous field goal with a 44-yard run from scrimmage. Bengals QB Andy Dalton had the cast removed from his fractured right thumb and worked on gripping the ball this week in practice, but on Friday he was officially ruled out of this game. Then Burfict committed the ultimate mistake for the Bengals.
Next, a penalty on Burfict puts the Steelers on the edge of field goal range. It’s possible he misses most of the week of practice, gets in one brisk session on Friday and is good to go against Peyton Manning and the Broncos.
Digest Player of the WeekSteelers rookie linebacker Ryan Shazier is your Steelers Digest Player of the Week for his outstanding performance on Saturday night against the Bengals.
He got a personal foul during a loss at Denver on December 28 for a late hit. While Brown should not have any limitations if he plays, Roethlisberger could still be limited from making longer passes with an injured throwing shoulder.
“We have to be smart in situations throughout the game and make smart decisions”, left tackle Andrew Whitworth said. Many disagree on the call on Jones at the end of the game, but it’s hard to argue against Burfict’s hit on Brown, as it clearly was unnecessary and the league clearly feels the same way with the impeding suspension.
“Ben and I have been together nine years,”?Tomlin said.
Advertisement
Watt, who recorded 17 1/2 sacks despite the painful injury this season, was still feeling the after-effects of the game on Sunday.
