A Jeremy Hill fumble and two costly penalties combining for thirty yards from Cincinnati, gift wrapped a Wild-Card win for Pittsburgh. Cincinnati’s defense showed their true colors proving to be undisciplined due to an implosion with 22 seconds left in regulation.
The Denver Broncos can now begin to prepare for their Divisional Round opponent – the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Steelers came away with a victory in Cincinnati following a blown 15-point fourth quarter lead, including a wild finish. The Bengals Jeremy Hill fumbled giving the ball back to Pittsburgh with less than 1:30 to play, providing an opportunity for Pittsburgh and the return of Roethlisberger (who exited with a shoulder injury earlier).
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With time winding down, Vontaze Burfict was flagged for unnecessary roughness on a defenseless receiver in Antonio Brown with 22 seconds remaining, on a disturbing blow to the head leading to an additional fifteen yards for the Steelers.
While the officials were sorting out the penalty, CB Adam Jones was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct (which led to a profanity laced, post-game Instagram tirade video about the officials) giving the Steelers another fifteen yards – thirty-free, gift wrapped, late Christmas gift penalty yards to seal the game for Pittsburgh, as Chris Boswell nailed a 35-yard field goal for the game winner.
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The Bengals comeback from fifteen down in the fourth quarter will forever be outshadowed by an epic implosion, essentially giving away the game – showing their true character, and not being able to keep calm and focused in the most critical point of the game.
The unnecessary roughness penalty which led to the departure of Antonio Brown becomes a major factor for next week’s divisional round against the Broncos, along with the right shoulder health of Ben Roethlisberger. Brown is now in the league’s concussion protocol after suffering two consecutive blows to the head – one from the initial head shot from Vontaze Burfict, and the next from Brown’s head violently slamming to the ground.
For Roethlisberger, we have learned that he suffered a sprained AC Joint and will follow up with an MRI later in the day on Sunday.
Roethlisberger seems to always be dinged up, and as suffered injuries to various parts of his body year after year including this season. He is one of the toughest quarterbacks in the league and will do everything he possibly can to be out there next Sunday to face the number one seed at Sports Authority Field.
Denver will most certainly prepare to face both Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown (given Brown’s progress throughout the week). Big Ben seems like a lock to play given the fact that he re-entered the game with the sprained AC Joint already and was able to throw the ball, however short the passes were.
Peyton Manning will be immensely prepared as he always is, with earlier reports last week stating that he looked to have more zip on the ball, throwing the best he has in months. Whether this is just positive talk or not from the Denver camp, it is a good sign to have arguably the smartest quarterback to ever play back under center for a team who has a dual-threat at wide receiver in Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders, along with a two headed monster at running attack in Ronnie Hillman and C.J. Anderson, that thrives under Manning’s lead.
Denver’s number one defense and extremely talented secondary featuring Chris Harris Jr., Aqib Talib, T.J. Ward and Darian Stewart, matches up very well against Pittsburgh’s receivers in Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant and Markus Wheaton.
Denver’s secondary ranks first in the league having only allowed 199.6 yards per game with 23 interceptions. However, this team has seen what Roethlisberger can do and what he is capable of against them. On December 20th, Big Ben lit up Denver’s secondary for 380 yards passing – 180 of those yards to Antonio Brown. However, Denver had dominated the first half of that game.
The Broncos secondary has an extraordinary amount of confidence in knowing their scheme against Pittsburgh can and will work, especially with a banged up Roethlisberger.
Pittsburgh’s defense simply does not have the man power to match up with Denver’s high-powered offense, as they rank 30th against the pass. As long as Manning’s offensive line can provide him with some-time in the pocket, Denver’s offense can handle Pittsburgh and come away with a divisional round win.
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The last time Pittsburgh came to Denver in the post-season was January 8, 2012 when a quarterback by the name of Tim Tebow, was leading the Denver offense, and set up a game-winning pass to Demaryius Thomas in an OT thriller, 29-23.
Fast forward four years to this Sunday’s Divisional round matchup between these two iconic franchises, and this Denver team is light years better than the one that took the field back in January of 2012. The Broncos know the formula for victory, they just have to come out and execute, while holding their foot down on the gas the entire game.