Black and gold needs minor miracle
PITTSBURGH – What would it take for the Steelers to make the NFL playoffs? A minor miracle, that’s all.
First, the Steelers must beat Baltimore at home next Sunday and win at Miami in Week 17. That would place the Steelers at 9-7 for the regular season.
The Steelers would also need Baltimore to lose its regular-season finale at Oakland. That would leave Baltimore at 8-8. The Steelers can’t afford to be tied with Baltimore because their 2-4 division record would be worse that the Ravens’ 3-3 mark and would eliminate the Steelers from any tiebreaker involving any number of teams.
As of today, the two wildcard teams are Denver and Baltimore, both at 8-6. The Steelers join five teams at 7-7 – Miami, the Jets, Jacksonville, Tennessee and Houston. If the Steelers win their last two, they would be 6-6 in conference games and could afford to be in a tie only with Houston, Tennessee, Denver or Miami. They would lose tiebreakers to the Jets, Ravens or Jaguars.
MILESTONES REACHED
QB Ben Roethlisberger threw for a career-high and franchise-record 503 yards (473, Tommy Maddox, 2002). Roethlisberger joined only Hall of Fame quarterbacks Y.A. Tittle (1962) and Warren Moon (1990) as the only quarterbacks in NFL history to throw for 500 yards and three touchdowns without an interception in a game. Roethlisberger’s 3,849 passing yards this season sets a team single-season record (Terry Bradshaw, 3,724, 1979).
WR Hines Ward went over 1,000 yards (he has 1,069) for the second year in a row and the sixth time of his career. Ward has more 1,000-yard seasons than any receiver in team history. He caught seven passes for 126 yards for his 25th career 100-yard game. That ties him with Hall of Famer John Stallworth for the most in team history.
TE Heath Miller caught seven passes for 118 yards. That gives him 68 catches for the season, breaking the team’s single-season record for catches in a season by a tight end (Eric Green, 63, 1993). Sunday marked only the 11th time in team history a tight end has caught passes for over 100 yards.