NFL’s fines add insult to injury following Bengals’ loss to Steelers

Brown had made 55 consecutive starts for Pittsburgh.

By establishing a running game similar to what they did last week against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Steelers will be able to take some of the pressure off of Roethlisberger in the passing game, especially considering he’s dinged up.

With the injury, even with cortisone shots, it will be challenging for him to get anything going as far as throwing at full strength.

Roethlisberger will no doubt do whatever he needs to do to play, but his ability to throw the ball deeply and accurately will likely be compromised.

“That was pretty much the last time I saw him”, Anderson said, with his fist punching his palm, “really, really, this is what we’re going to do, super detailed”.

This is good news for the Steelers, as if they had to put Landry Jones under center against that Denver defense, they’d be in some serious trouble. Last Friday, Denver defensive coordinator Wade Phillips remarked that the team “would have had a hard time playing” in a wild-card round game with all of the injuries to their defensive stars.

However, with Peyton Manning taking over the starting role once again, I expect him to utilize Davis and Daniels quite often, Sunday, to help offset the attention that Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders will draw from the Steelers secondary.

He got another chance to play this season when that did not look certain at all.

This might be the battle the Broncos need to win the most on Sunday.

The Steelers found out they had suitable replacements for Williams against the Bengals.

Brown’s absence is a blow for the Steelers, after the 27-year-old finished the regular season as the league’s leading receiver with 136 receptions and 1,834 yards. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is recovering from a shoulder injury (also courtesy of Burfict), and the Steelers are down to their third- and fourth-string running backs for the uphill clash in Denver.

It’s the first time in National Football League history a team will be without its top rusher and receiver for a playoff game. Bengals players, including Jones, accused Porter of cursing at them while on the field.

But just because the Steelers will not have Brown doesn’t mean they don’t have risky targets.

No player has more on the line this weekend than Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer given that the next playoff game he wins will be his first. The Broncos offense will do its best to lean more on the run game and limit Manning’s throws. “Maybe four or five years ago I had 20 sacks and I wore a brace”, Ware said. Brown said in a way best described as a humblebrag.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are now down two of their biggest offensive weapons for Sunday’s divisional round game in Denver.