Steelers embrace challenge of playing without All-Pro Brown

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. – In the wake of the Denver Broncos’ Dec. 20 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Broncos coach Gary Kubiak said if he had an MVP vote he would consider giving it to Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown. After watching a video of him mic’d up and reacting to Vontaze Burfict’s penalty that gave the game to the Pittsburgh Steelers, I was honestly almost in tears at the pure pain he was going through. With 136 receptions and 1,834 yards, Brown had one of the greatest seasons for a wide receiver in National Football League history.

Will the Steelers dress three quarterbacks Sunday with starter Ben Roethlisberger questionable with a shoulder injury? Ben Roethlisberger injured his shoulder at the end of the third quarter and, upon returning to the game, was unable to throw the ball more than ten to 15 yards downfield.

While Roethlisberger will look to suit up this weekend, the team decided after Friday’s practice that Williams would not play.

Brown apparently did make progress this week, so if the Steelers defeat the Broncos, he should have a chance to return for the AFC Championship. “You might not have it on the field, but you get it from a guy like DeAngelo and I am able to take it out there”. “He did everything we asked him to do”.

Denver’s defense is good enough to shut down Pittsburgh’s offense even if Brown were to take the field. Unfortunately, for the Steelers and their fans, the update is not what they wanted to hear. “We have a lot of faith in those guys and I think what they did can only help their confidence as well”. Big deal. The Steelers have won games with both. Jones made contact with an official, which caused the second of two personal foul penalties to be called at the end of the game. Burfict was fined $69,454 for three separate infractions in that game, which started with a pregame skirmish at midfield when Burfict and Steelers linebacker Vince Williams got into it. Yeah. But am I looking to get back at him or do anything dirty?

Bengals defensive linemen Domata Peko and Wallace Gilberry were each fined $8,681, Peko for unnecessary roughness and Gilberry for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier, who hit Bengals running back Giovani Bernard with the crown of his helmet, was not fined. “He’s very powerful. He’s one of the best tacklers I’ve seen in a long time”.

Two days before last week’s AFC wildcard game in Cincinnati, several members of the Bengals discussed the need to control their emotions against the Steelers after a pair of heated regular-season meetings.