Steelers Roethlisberger Not Bad When Throwing Deep On 3rd And Short

As usual, Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers found a way. A win and they are in as a Wild Card team.

Fortunately, I won’t be able to use that headline, thanks to Pittsburgh taking care of business on the road against the Browns, 28-12, along with Rex Ryan getting his revenge, as his Bills closed out their 2015 campaign with a 22-17 win over the Jets at Ralph Wilson Stadium to knock his former team out of postseason contention.

The Browns (3-13) ended another losing season in disarray. Hours after the home finale, owner Jimmy Haslam fired both coach Mike Pettine and general manager Ray Farmer. Pettine is 10-22 in two seasons.

The Steelers (10-6) will travel to Cincinnati (12-4) in the opening round of the playoffs next weekend.

All that was left was for the Bills to help out.

The Jets were in Buffalo playing the Bills.

Sixth Seed: Pittsburgh Steelers (10-6) – The Steelers benefited from the Jets’ upset loss to the Bills.

In that Week 17 game, Ben Roethlisberger played great as he threw for 317 yards and 2 touchdowns.

-K Travis Coons tied a career high with four field goals. The Browns haven’t been to the playoffs since 2002, and have undergone five changes to their coach and GM since 2008. The 2012 Heisman Trophy victor hasn’t lived up to expectations on the field and continues to be a headache off it. He spent 73 days in a rehab facility during the offseason, got benched by Pettine for two games during the year for misbehavior and missed Sunday’s game with a concussion. The polarizing QB was reportedly spotted in Las Vegas instead of being with his teammates for the final time this season, not a good look for the 23-year-old or the Browns.

It’s simple, really. Roethlisberger is a Hall of Fame-caliber quarterback with, perhaps, the NFL’s best wideout (Brown) at his disposal.

The highlight of the day was Ryan and the Buffalo Bills stopping the Jets from making the playoffs and gave the Steelers the final playoff spot in the AFC.

Three plays later, Harrison jumped in front of an Austin Davis pass in the middle of the pack, 1 yard deep in the end zone, and picked it off. He returned it only 6 yards this time, to the 5, but it was a turning point.

Pittsburgh Steelers fans celebrate late in the second half of an NFL football game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns, Sunday, Jan. 3, 2016, in Cleveland.

In what was arguably Cleveland’s biggest victory of the game, they managed to keep Pittsburgh to only a field goal, ending the third quarter still only down by one score, 17-9. He left the locker room Sunday in a walking boot and had an MRI Monday. It was nearly that easy for him against Cleveland’s injury-ravaged secondary. He stressed the importance of protecting the ball on offense and creating turnovers on defense after the Steelers turned the ball over twice and failed to get any on defense in a loss to the Baltimore Ravens the previous week.