Steelers glad for extra rest

Jan 2, 2018 - 12:37 AM PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers know when they will be playing their first playoff game. They just don't know the opponent yet.

The Steelers beat the Browns, 28-24, in the regular-season finale at Heinz Field and finished the season with a 13-3 record and the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs.

They received a bye to the divisional round of the playoffs and will play host to a playoff game Sunday January 14 at 1:05 p.m. ET.

The Steelers will play Jacksonville if the Jaguars beat the Bills on wild-card weekend. If the Bills win, the Steelers will play the winner of the wild-card game between Kansas City and Tennessee.

"We'll rest up some guys," linebacker Vince Williams said. "We need that. We've been grinding it out. It's been a hard season. We're going to rest some people and then come back strong for the push."

The Steelers might have missed out on the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, but the No. 2 seed has treated the Steelers very well over the years.

They won Super Bowl XLIII as the No. 2 seed in 2008 and reached Super Bowl XLV as the No. 2 seed in 2010.

"It's perfect for us," defensive end Cameron Heyward said. "No one is expecting us because we're not the No.1 seed. We're just ready to play football right now."

By earning the bye to the second round of the playoffs, the Steelers gave star receiver Antonio Brown some extra time to recover from a calf contusion that kept him from playing in the final two games of the regular season. That means Brown will have had almost a full month to rehabilitate the injury.

The extra week's rest also will be beneficial for other players who are dealing with more minor injuries.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, running back Le'Veon Bell and offensive linemen Maurkice Pouncey and David DeCastro were rested in the regular-season finale and will have 20 days between games.

The Steelers might have to deal with some rust in their first playoff game, but it's a welcome trade-off for a team that's had to play on wild-card week in their previous four playoff appearances.

--Good general managers don't miss on their early-round draft choices, and it's looking like Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert drafted a couple of stars in wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and outside linebacker T.J. Watt.

Smith-Schuster set the franchise record for most receiving yards by a rookie with 917. That number also was good enough to lead all NFL rookies. Cooper Kupp of the Los Angeles Rams was next with 869 yards.

Watt finished his rookie campaign with seven sacks after registering one in the regular-season finale against the Browns. That's as many as No. 1 overall pick Myles Garrett. The only other rookie with more sacks was Bengals linebacker Carl Lawson, who had eight.

"They were mature beyond their years, but we've gotten good contribution from the rookie class wholly," head coach Mike Tomlin said. "Obviously, they have different paths and so forth to participation. I can't say enough about Cam Sutton, a guy that missed a lot of time - training camp, preseason, and so forth. He has come on and provided some quality play for us as well. So the rookies largely, not only today but throughout the season, have been positive contributors to our efforts."

Sutton, a cornerback drafted in the third round, played in the final five games after spending the first half of the season on injured reserve. Running back James Conner was the backup running back before a knee injury sent him to injured reserve two weeks ago.

--The Steelers aren't very eager to find out what life is like without Ben Roethlisberger. But at the very least they know if Roethlisberger does decide to retire that Landry Jones can beat the Browns.

Jones has three career victories as a starter and all three came against the Browns. For the second year in a row, Jones started the regular-season finale against the Browns and played with backups at key positions and still managed to win. His other victory against the Browns came in 2015, when he started but got injured on the first series of the game. The Steelers won the game, 30-9, and Jones was credited with the win.

Jones was 23-for-27 for 239 yards and passed for a touchdown Sunday. He also threw an interception and lost a fumble.

"It's always one of those things when you feel like you did some good things, and obviously you did some things you wish you could take back," Jones said. "Early in the game I threw that pick. I did not see the safety coming back into the play and he made a great break on the ball. That is probably the play that will stick with me more than anything."

NOTES: C B.J. Finney suffered the only injury of significance during the Browns game. Finney, who started because the Steelers rested Pro Bowler Maurkice Pouncey, left the game with a thigh injury in the second quarter and did not return. If Finney isn't ready to return for the first playoff game, the Steelers must ready for Chris Hubbard to be the backup center. Hubbard played the final 2 1/2 quarters and had two bad snaps that led to fumbles by QB Landry Jones. ... RG David DeCastro saw his strong of 71 consecutive starts end. The Steelers rested DeCastro and others in the regular-season finale against the Browns. ... RB Stevan Ridley went over 3,000 rushing yards for his career and has 3,022. ... DL Tyson Alualu, who started in place of Cameron Heyward, established single-game highs with eight tackles and two sacks.



REPORT CARD VS. BROWNS

--PASSING OFFENSE: B - Landry Jones made his first start of the season and played a solid game. He was 23-for-27 for 239 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Playing without Pro-Bowl receiver Antonio Brown, Jones connected with rookie JuJu Smith-Schuster, who set the franchise record for receiving yards in a season after catching nine passes for 143 yards. Martavis Bryant added six catches for 65 yards. The only negatives for Jones were an interception and a lost fumble.

--RUSHING OFFENSE: B - Stevan Ridley was signed two weeks ago after James Conner went on injured reserve with a knee injury. Ridley hadn't played in the NFL all season, but he knocked the rust off against the Browns. Ridley led the Steelers with 80 yards on 17 carries and scored his first touchdown in more than three years. His previous touchdown came on Oct. 5, 2014 when he was with the Patriots. The Steelers finished with 124 yards on 28 carries.

--PASS DEFENSE: F - Browns rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer struggled mightily during his rookie season, but he had his way against the Steelers Sunday. Kizer threw for 314 yards and had the Browns in position to win the game late in the fourth quarter before Corey Coleman dropped a pass at the Steelers' 11-yard line. Four Browns receivers had catches of 30 yards or more. Josh Gordon and Rashard Higgins had receptions of 54 and 56 yards, respectively. Luckily for the Steelers, the Browns committed two turnovers in the fourth quarter, including a lost fumble in Steelers territory. The Steelers had one of the NFL's top pass defenses early in the season, but they have been susceptible to big plays in the second half of the season.

--RUSH DEFENSE: C - The Steelers did a nice job of shutting down Browns running backs, but they allowed quarterback DeShone Kizer to scramble for 61 yards on six carries. They will have to clean that up for the playoffs because they will be facing a quarterback in the divisional round that can scramble. It will be Blake Bortles of Jacksonville, Alex Smith of Kansas City or Marcus Mariota of Tennessee. All three are very good scramblers. The good news is the Steelers didn't give up much beside that. Isaiah Crowell managed just 21 yards on 15 carries and Duke Johnson had 20 yards on six carries.

--SPECIAL TEAMS: A - The Steelers' kickoff return unit has been among the league's worst all season, but maybe things are on the upswing for the playoffs. Rookie receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster returned a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown, the decisive points in the game after the Browns tied the score. Kicker Chris Boswell became the Steelers' single-season scoring leader by kicking four extra points, giving him 142 points this season. He broke the 22-year-old record of Norm Johnson, who had 141 points in 1995.

--COACHING: B - Head coach Mike Tomlin decided to rest most of his star players, and the Steelers still finished the season strong with their 28-24 win over the Browns. He made the decision early in the week to rest quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, running back Le'Veon Bell and others. That set the tone for the week. The expectation early on was for the backups to step in and uphold the standard. It's hard to judge the overall performance of an offense that had so many key players out, but defensive coordinator Keith Butler can't be happy with his defense. Tomlin rested only star defensive end Cameron Heyward, and the 0-16 Browns were in position to win the game at the end before a dropped pass deep in Steelers territory. Butler has to be concerned about a pass defense that continues to give up big plays. They can't continue to give up big plays and expect to reach the Super Bowl.