Steelers defense rises to occasion in win

The team that played in the first game of the year – the Hall of Fame exhibition against Minnesota in early August – remains in contention to play in the last despite an uneven path. They’re not ideal, not by a long shot.

To the surprise of absolutely no one, the Cleveland Browns “relieved” general manager Ray Farmer and head coach Mike Pettine of their duties Sunday evening. Pettine went 10-22 during his two-year stint, losing 18 of his final 21 games.

“I had faith in the guys in Buffalo that they were going to pull it out”, Moats said. We know it is something that we are very cognizant of. “Nobody wants to hear it takes time”. The Browns, on the other hand, could not touch Roethlisberger. Watt participated with thick protective padding and played like a whirling dervish with three sacks, two deflected passes, eight tackles and a fumble recovery. Sitting here right now, that feeling of elation you have, knowing the Steelers players will be boarding a plane for Paul Brown Stadium as opposed to some offseason tropical destination, I admit that feeling as Exhibit A as evidence that simply landing in the postseason is enough to make you rejoice.

Roethlisberger threw his third touchdown pass, to Markus Wheaton of 8 yards with 10:43 left in the game. “That’s the leader you want to be behind”.

Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review relays that Williams (ankle) was sporting a walking boot after Sunday’s win over the Browns. Williams will be re-evaluated Monday and Tomlin said he would not rule him out against the Bengals.

The Steelers are already without Le’Veon Bell, their primary running back, who is on injured reserve with a knee injury. He also intercepted a pass in the third quarter and returned it 38 yards to the Pittsburgh 9.

“It was a bad decision and a bad throw”, Davis said. “He undercut it. He made a good play on it”.

The Seahawks cruised behind three touchdown passes from Russell Wilson and a franchise-record 139 yards in punt returns by Tyler Lockett. Smith finished with two TD passes and two interceptions.

With Cleveland down just 17-12 in the fourth quarter, Pittsburgh’s defense came up with the game’s biggest play as linebacker Lawrence Timmons dropped Davis, who fumbled inside the 10-yard line.

-K Travis Coons tied a career high with four field goals. Kelly interviewed with the Browns three years ago, but spurned their overtures and took the Eagles job instead. Second-year pro Fitzgerald Toussaint managed all of 24 yards on 12 carries against a Cleveland “defense” that entered Week 17 allowing 135 rushing yards per game and 4.6 yards a carry.

The Houston Texans (9-7) will also be in the AFC play-offs after they clinched the South division with a 30-6 thrashing of the Jacksonville Jaguars (5-11).

He had one kick blocked in four of the previous five games. The scary fact is Brown could have reached 2,000 yards if Ben Roethlisberger was healthy. The Browns did not convert either takeaway into points.