It did not look good for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
A week after losing control of their own fate following a crushing loss to the Baltimore Ravens, the Steelers needed a win and some help to make the AFC playoffs.
The win had to come at 3-12 Cleveland, and the Steelers were more than a comfortable favorite. After all, the Browns had a whole other set of problems to deal with, including the imminent firing of head coach Mike Pettine, a missing quarterback (maybe spotted in Las Vegas) and an injury-riddled lineup.
It was close for a while, but Ben Roethlisberger and the Steeler defense were too much and Pittsburgh pulled away for a 28-12 win.
The other foot that needed to fall was far more troubling. The Buffalo Bills had to upset the N.Y. Jets to eliminate them from playoff contention and allow the Steelers to qualify as the No. 6 seed in the AFC.
Surely, the Jets, needing just a victory over the 7-9 Bills and former coach Rex Ryan to clinch their first playoff spot since 2010, would show up with their A-game.
Wrong.
Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick threw three fourth-quarter interceptions — on the final three Jet possessions—and the Bills held on for a 22-17 win in cold Orchard Park.
The Bills won despite a depleted lineup that was missing numerous starters, including star running back LeSean McCoy, and despite coming into the game with four losses in their last six games. (Although, on Nov. 12, the Bills beat the Jets in New York by the exact same score, 22-17, so somebody should have noticed that.)
What all this shakes out to mean is that the Steelers are in as the No. 6 seed, and they will travel to Cincinnati for a third showdown against the division-rival Bengals this season — a game in which Bengals’ coach Marvin Lewis said his team needed to have an “exorcism.”
Apocalyptic references aside, it’s easy to see what Lewis was talking about. The Bengals have not won a playoff game since the 1990 season, and they have lost 14 of the 17 games they have played against the Steelers in Paul Brown Stadium since it opened in 2000.
The last time the teams played this season, the Steelers knocked out Bengals’ quarterback Andy Dalton with a thumb injury in the first quarter of a 33-20, fight-marred win. Dalton has not returned since.
Coming into that game, the Bengals were 10-2 and since, with replacement A.J. McCarron at the helm, they are 2-2. Besides the loss to the Steelers, Cincinnati lost at Denver, 20-17, and beat the 49ers, 24-14, and the Ravens, 24-16.
Whether Dalton can return for the Steelers’ game is up in the air, but he is still in a cast and it seems unlikely that he could return by game time.
Besides, McCarron has filled in capably. He has completed 79 of 119 passes (66 percent) for 854 yards and six touchdowns. Although he has averaged just 113 yards per game, he has been steadily improving with playing time. Against the Ravens in the season finale, the 6-foot-3, 210-pound rookie was 17-27 for 160 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.
McCarron also has a solid supporting cast. Running backs Jeremy Hill (794) and Giovani Bernard (730) have combined for 1,524 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns. And, fifth-year wide out A.J. Green is having a stellar season. He’s caught 86 passes for 1,297 yards and 10 touchdowns so far. In the two games against the Steelers, he caught a total of 17 passes for 250 yards and two touchdowns.
The Bengals’ defense, meanwhile, is one of the best in the NFL. They rank second in points allowed with 17.4 points per game and are led by linebacker Vincent Rey (98 tackles) and free safety Reggie Nelson, who has eight interceptions for the season.
Cincinnati holds opponents to under 94 yards rushing, and the Bengals have 21 interceptions and 42 sacks.
For the Steelers, it has been all about Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown and the offense.
Big Ben has thrown for just less than 4,000 yards this season and 21 touchdowns. He has had some down games, notably against the Ravens in Week 16, and has 16 interceptions, but when he gets time, he is among the best in the league.
Brown sometimes looks unstoppable. He has 136 catches this year for 1,834 yards and 10 touchdowns, with 25 catches of more than 20 yards and an average of 115 yards per game.
The only troubling area for the Steelers may be in the running game. DeAngelo Williams, who took over for the injured LeVeon Bell, put up 907 yards and 11 touchdowns for the year, but he was injured against the Browns and his status as of this writing in not yet known. No other player on the roster ran for more than a total of 100 yards.
The last time these two teams met, there were six unsportsmanlike and unnecessary roughness penalties and $140,000 in fines handed out by the NFL. It is an understatement to say that they are not the best of friends, but do not look for a repeat of the skirmishes and fights and penalties. In a playoff situation, a big penalty at the wrong time can be the difference in the outcome of the game.
Most of the attention, therefore, will likely be placed on the quarterbacks. Can Roethlisberger stay hot or can Cincinnati force him into mistakes? Or can the rookie McCarron, in his first playoff game ever and only his fifth start in the NFL, put up enough points against a good Steelers defense to pull out a win?
Steelers fans are pinning their hopes on the grit and experience of Roethlisberger, and it’s difficult to argue with them.
