Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger leaves with injury

The Pittsburgh Steelers – a team that, we’ll remind you, would not be in the playoff field had the Buffalo Bills not won this past Sunday – split their season series with the Cincinnati Bengals. Cleveland Browns quarterback Connor Shaw had a torn thumb ligament in preseason and was forced to sit out the entire year.

Roethlisberger, who had left the game after being hurt on a third-quarter sack by Burfict, finished 18-of-31 for 229 yards and a touchdown in rainy conditions.

It didn’t take too long after kickoff until tempers flared.

Cincinnati lost running back Giovani Bernard for the rest of the game with a concussion, and cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick is out with a thigh injury. The Steelers would drive all the way to the Bengals 17 before they were held to their third field goal of the game. However, they stumbled late, finishing the season 4-4 to win the division, but miss out on a bye.

Television monitors in the Bengals locker room this week had the usual schedule of activities, plus a quote from franchise founder Paul Brown: “The key to winning is poise under stress”.

After Landry’s second drive stalled, the Steelers punted and it was fielded by Adam Jones and returned to the Steelers 45 with 3:28 left. This will be the fifth consecutive year that the Bengals will be playing in the first round – and the fifth consecutive time that Cincy will be seeking to avoid a one-and-done playoff failure. The line is now at 2.5-points, but was as high as a field goal for the Steelers.

But how risky can they be without Roethlisberger, who is one of the best quarterbacks in the AFC field? Roethlisberger walked off on his own accord but quickly got checked out by trainers and left the game on a cart.

But if the Bengals are able to beat the Steelers on Saturday night, would Dalton be able to play next week? He is doubtful to return.

Both quarterbacks have been inconsistent, with their teams fate coinciding with their effectiveness.

– Will Graves reporting from Cincinnati.

The two rivals are the Cincinnati Bengals (12-4) and the Pittsburgh Steelers (10-6). Toussaint and Todman combined for 64 yards in limited action this fall. Then again, they didn’t really have much choice, as members of both coaching staffs provided a black-clad DMZ at the 50.

The Chiefs will travel to Denver to take on 1st seed Denver Broncos next week. The play jumpstarted the Chiefs’ 30-0 victory over Houston. Rain showers soaked the turf, and only got worse as the game progressed.

The team says Roethlisberger has a shoulder injury and his return in questionable. The extent of his injury is still not clear, but he may or may not be ready to go next week, which will be a huge blow in the next round of the playoffs. As a team, Cincinnati racked up only 91 yards on 24 carries, but two of those runs were of 38 and 14 yards.

The obvious: J.J. Watt cannot be blocked by one individual human being and Alex Smith doesn’t turn the ball over. He also had a lost fumble and an interception. The Chiefs led the Texans 13-0 at halftime. He had 19 TDs and seven interceptions.

Watt has three career receptions and each was a touchdown. Fulton, a sixth-round pick in the same draft, started 22 games over his first two seasons.

To get scores on this Wildcard, go to NFL. Treat it like just a game.

The only recent catches that come close to being this spectacular are Jermaine Kearse’s tipped catch on the ground for the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX and Odell Beckham Jr.’s famous catch against the Cowboys last season. No NFL quarterback with so little starting experience had won a playoff game since 1979, when Gifford Nielsen led the Oilers over the Charger.