The Steelers took the lead early, maintained it and walked away with a win over the Bengals and the AFC North Division Championship! It was the first division title in four years, the sixth this century,\u00a0and it took the last game of the regular season to earn it! The Steelers are now the No. 3 seed in the AFC and will host Baltimore in the wild-card round Saturday night.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Steelers may have paid a heavy price losing newly elected\u00a0team MVP Le’Veon Bell to a hyper extended knee.\u00a0Le’Veon Bell was held to 20 yards on eight carries, but caught five big passes for 61 yards. The Bengals were determined to stop the run and that was there focus, so the Steelers passing game needed to step up. It did in a big way.<\/p>\n
Despite missing pregame drills because of the flu, Big Ben Roethlisberger passed for 317 yards and two touchdowns. He played well despite two key turnovers that the Bengals converted into points. His primary target was…no surprise, Antonio Brown! Brown finished with 7 catches for 128 and a Punt Return for a Touchdown! No play was bigger though than his fourth quarter 63-yard touchdown back breaker. Martavis Bryant also scored a touchdown on a\u00a021 Yard bubble screen where Heath Miller and Markus\u00a0Wheaton destroyed the Bengals defenders.<\/p>\n
The defense played a very good game, they sometimes struggled with the Bengals upbeat tempo but again bent but never broke and got the timely turnovers\u00a0needed to\u00a0win. Antwon Blake took\u00a0the Bengals out of field goal range with a strip of the\u00a0sure handed AJ Green. Green also had his bell rung by Mike Mitchell. Will Allen did a terrific job helping\u00a0to keep Green in check in the first half. Brice McCain picked off two Andy Dalton passes one of which led to a Steelers score.<\/p>\n
The pass rush\u00a0and run defense was effective albeit not spectacular. Sean Spence’s\u00a0fairy tale season continues as the Steelers continue to get better up front. Lawrence Timmons and Jason Worilds both played great. Cam Heyward might be the best defensive player the Steelers have right now.<\/p>\n
The Steelers put together a great special teams effort and won the battle on that side of the ball. Brad Wing, did throw a pick on a botched sneak play, but it was well timed and the Steelers forced a Bengals turnover soon after.<\/p>\n
It was a big win for\u00a0Coach Tomlin as he claims his fourth division title in eight years!!! I predicted the Steelers to go 11-5 this season and they met expectations.<\/p>\n
BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!!!<\/p>\n
My \u201cGAME BEER\u201d goes to<\/strong>:\u00a0I am going with Antonio Brown! The numbers speak for themselves and he has been outstanding all season and the most consistent performer. Due respect to Le’Veon Bell but Antonio Brown is the Steelers MVP and he gets my game beer!<\/p>\n