Cincinnati Bengals do not plan to fire Marvin Lewis

That irony will probably not be lost on Bengals fans as they cope with yet another playoff meltdown, this one unlike any other. They fought their tails off today, got back and went ahead. Pittsburgh’s defense played perhaps its best three quarters of the season before letting the Bengals put together 16 points in the fourth quarter, a rally fueled in part by Roethlisberger’s absence. Jones, Burfict and Porter are likely to be on that list.

Cincinnati tacked on a field goal with five minutes to go in the game to make it 15-10.

Roethlisberger threw the ball up for Bryant in the back corner of the endzone and he caught it, followed it with a somersault, and was able to hang on to the ball for the score.

On the first play of the next series, Bengals running back Jeremy Hill fumbled the ball, and Pittsburgh recovered. He defended Jones, saying Steelers assistant coach Joey Porter was on the field cursing at Bengals players and that was what provoked Jones, who appeared to bump an official trying to get to Porter.

Once tensions settled the Steelers were forced to punt, and suffered what looked to be a crushing blow. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger injured his right shoulder on the final play of the third quarter.

With Roethlisberger on the sideline, the Bengals were able to lead a comeback scoring 16 straight points following the Steelers quarterback injury.

As the game proceeded, it got more testy, almost out of control in the fourth quarter. But how stupid can Burfict and Jones be to cost their team the game and much more this way?

For Denver, Mile High Stadium is more of a home field advantage for them than most teams not only because it can get cold in Colorado during the winter, but because they are at a higher elevation than most cities.

Roethlisberger completed short pass after short pass and drove the Steelers down to the their own 41 yard line. Leon Hall is matched up against Antonio Brown in the slot on the three wide receiver side of the formation. He then courageously led the Steelers down the field, with the aid of a couple of personal foul penalties to win the game with a final field goal. It was just enough time for Roethlisberger – with plenty of help from Cincinnati – to send the Steelers to Denver and a rematch with the Broncos, whom Pittsburgh beat 34-27 on December 20. Instead, it kept the drive alive and the Steelers eventually won. It was the only Steelers touchdown of the night and it was awesome.

While the game is still a week away, it is great news for the Pittsburgh Steelers that Brown is expected to play next week.

Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict is reportedly facing a suspension for his hit on Antonio Brown in the first round of the National Football League playoffs.

Lewis declined to criticize either player directly after the game.