BEWARE BIG BEN’S STEELERS
Experienced and explosive, Pittsburgh crashes AFC playoff party
The Pittsburgh Steelers found a way into the playoff conversation and that changes everything.
Until Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown (with help from the Buffalo Bills) succeeded in dragging the Steelers kicking and screaming into the playoffs Sunday afternoon, the AFC post-season was shaping up to be something of a drab affair.
There’s always Tom Brady and the Patriots at the top of the marquee, but after Sunday’s pathetic effort by New England against the hapless Miami Dolphins, you had to start wondering where the excitement in the AFC is going to come from over the next few weeks.
Until Roethlisberger and Brown imposed their collective will Sunday on the Cleveland Browns with Roethlisberger completing 24 of 36 passes for 240 yards and Brown catching 13 passes for 187 yards, Brady was the only AFC starting quarterback in these playoffs who had ever been to a Super Bowl. Now with Roethlisberger joining the tournament, with his track record of playoff success, the Steelers are going to be a force to be reckoned with.
“We need to be perfect,” said Roethlisberger. “We need to be great. We need to do it as a team. Post-season ... throw all records out.”
It doesn’t much matter the Steelers are the No. 6 seed and will have to travel throughout the playoffs. They are a danger to any team they play.
Among their 10 victories are wins over Denver, Cincinnati and Arizona. And don’t forget that in Week 1 without suspended No. 1 running back Le’Veon Bell, they gave the Patriots a run for their money before losing.
Even without Bell, the Steelers have become the most dangerous offence in the league. Sunday, Brown became the only receiver in NFL history to put together back-toback 125-catch seasons.
The Steelers are a team no one wants to face. They have a collection of weapons that can strike with lightning speed. And with Roethlisberger orchestrating the dance, only Brady is in his league among the AFC qualifiers. Denver has Brock Osweiler, who has Super Bowl winner Peyton Manning backing him up. In Kansas City, Alex Smith has become more dynamic, but he’s still Alex Smith. Houston has Brian Hoyer. Cincinnati is relying on A.J. McCarron.
Of course, the Steelers didn’t qualify for the playoffs until the last game of the season without having some flaws. They are thin at running back and that’s why the ankle injury suffered by DeAngelo Williams is a blow. Behind him, Fitzgerald Toussaint is raw and untested. And you can’t ignore the fact Roethlisberger, for all his positive attributes, has thrown 16 interceptions this year.
“It’s been a tough 16-week fight for us,” said head coach Mike Tomlin. “But we’re where we want to be. We’ve had a lot of ups and downs, but this is a resilient group.”
Regardless, they are headed in the right direction at the most important time of the year. They won six of their last eight games. Most importantly, there isn’t a team in the playoffs that they fear. From the other side of that equation, you can bet there were some playoff teams who were rooting hard and ineffectively Sunday for the New York Jets. Now they have to deal with the Steelers.
AXE FALLS ON PETTINE
After the firing of GM Ray Farmer early Sunday, it was a foregone conclusion Cleveland Browns head coach Mike Pettine would be next.
Just a couple of hours after his Browns had lost the season finale to the Steelers, Pettine got the axe.
Before he learned of his fate, he was asked about his future after Sunday’s loss to the Steelers and while he would have liked another chance, he wasn’t kidding himself.
“I feel like we’ve done a lot of good things, but I’m the first one to tell you — you’ve heard me say it a million times — this is a pass/fail league and the results aren’t there,” he said. “Nobody wants to hear it takes time. Nobody wants to hear it’s a process, but that’s the situation that we’re in. I feel there’s a good, young nucleus here.
“I love it here, passionate about football, passionate about the Cleveland Browns. I love the city. I think these are some of the best fans in the league, if not the best, and they deserve it.
“If it does go the wrong way for me, that’s my biggest regret is not being able to deliver for these fans that have suffered for a long time.”
It wouldn’t have been a Browns news conference without questions about Johnny Manziel’s latest misstep. There were unconfirmed reports the troubled QB, currently in the league’s concussion protocol and not required to be at the game, was seen partying Saturday night in Las Vegas.
Asked if he knew whether Manziel spent the night in Vegas, Pettine responded: “I don’t know. I wasn’t (there),” he said.