On the Steelers: Rooting for Browns unpleasant chore
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Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey on the team's hopes for the AFC North title: "We can't depend on Baltimore to lose a game."
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It's so distasteful to some Steelers, rooting for the Cleveland Browns.
That goes too far, even for a rookie center.
"We're not really paying attention to that," said Maurkice Pouncey "We're not going to put our season in somebody else's hands. We have to worry about what we got to do and finish out the season strong."
That's the thing about the game Sunday between the Baltimore Ravens and Browns in Cleveland. Should the Ravens lose, the Steelers will not have to worry about what they must do; the regular season essentially will be a wrap. A Ravens loss would give the Steelers the AFC North Division championship, the No. 2 seed in the conference and the first-round playoff bye that goes with it.
They would not play another meaningful game until the weekend of Jan. 15-16.
"It would be nice, man, but we have to worry about us," Pouncey said. "We can't depend on Baltimore to lose a game."
The Steelers 27-3 victory Thursday night against Carolina at Heinz Field assured them that they will earn the No. 2 seed if Baltimore loses one of its final two games, or the Steelers win their finale Jan. 2 in Cleveland.
"We have a lot of key guys banged up," said cornerback Bryant McFadden, who left the game briefly Thursday night with a hip bruise after he intercepted a Jimmy Clausen pass.
"That gives us an extra week of just practicing and you don't have to worry about going into a four-quarter ballgame on that Sunday and you get a chance to get guys feeling a lot better for the next week."
If the Ravens lose tomorrow, the Steelers can enter their game against the Browns knowing it means little. They could rest and/or protect some of their starters. Injured players such as Ben Roethlisberger and Troy Polamalu could not only use the time off but avoid potentially more injuries or reinjury.
Older players such as James Farrior, Flozell Adams, Hines Ward, Casey Hampton and Brett Keisel also could be rested or used sparingly Jan. 2.
First Published December 25, 2010 12:00 am
