AFC JAGUARS AT STEELERS
USA TODAY’s Lorenzo Reyes previews the AFC divisional playoff matchup between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Pittsburgh Steelers When: Sunday, 1:05 p.m. ET, CBS Where: Heinz Field in Pittsburgh Line: Steelers by 7
Injuries: For the Jaguars, WR Marqise Lee (ankle) was questionable and played in the wild-card game, but he did not catch a ball on only one target and had just one carry for 5 yards. So even if he can go, he might very well still be hampered. The Steelers enjoyed a first-round bye, but WR Antonio Brown (calf) has missed two games, C Maurkice Pouncey (hip) did not play in the regular-season finale and CB Coty Sensabaugh (shoulder) has missed two games. CB Artie Burns injured his knee in practice Wednesday, and his status is unknown. THREE THINGS TO KNOW 1. Return of AB? Steelers receiver Antonio Brown, the only player who was a unanimous first-team all-pro, has been sidelined with a partially torn calf suffered in Week 15. Since then, Brown has been posting videos to his social media accounts showing progress. When healthy, he’s arguably the toughest cover in the league (with an NFLbest 1,533 yards and nine TDs in 14 games). Jacksonville’s corner tandem of Jalen Ramsey and A.J. Bouye have shut down dynamic receivers all season long, so Brown’s presence would be a huge boost for Pittsburgh. Even if Brown can’t go, the Steelers might weather the storm. Since Brown went down, no receiver in the NFL earned more yards than rookie JuJu SmithSchuster’s 332 in that span.
2. Inconsistent Bortles: Jaguars quar- terback Blake Bortles became just the second passer in the past 25 seasons to finish a playoff game with more rushing yards (88) than passing yards
(87), joining Michael Vick of the Falcons in 2005. Against the Bills, that was enough to win in the wild-card round. Not only is the Steelers defense stronger than Buffalo’s, but with Pittsburgh’s offense ranking eighth in scoring (25.4 points per game), the Jaguars are going to have to get far more consistency in the passing game.
3. Repeat performance? In a Week 5
30-9 loss to the Jaguars at Heinz Field, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had an abysmal performance. It was the only time in his career that he has finished a game with zero touchdowns and four or more interceptions (he threw five). Many wondered if that defeat was a sign of an imminent decline, but the 35-year-old passer quickly answered those questions. He rested in the regular-season finale, but his touchdown-to-interception ratio since the loss to Jacksonville is 22:7. In fact, since Week 11 he has scored 16 total TDs, averaged 325.5 yards a game and committed just four giveaways.