Aufträge » A season filled with promise six weeks ago

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The win they needed but at times didn’t act like they particularly wanted finally secured http://www.minnesotavikingsteamonline.com/irv-smith-jr.-jersey , the Pittsburgh Steelers lingered on the Heinz Field turf after a sluggish 16-13 victory over Cincinnati on Sunday and turned their eyes to the massive videoboard in the south end zone. before things came undone boiled down to something entirely out of Pittsburgh’s control: whether Cleveland could pull off a stunning rally in Baltimore.As a decidedly out-of-place chant of “Let’s Go Browns” reverberated and Cleveland marched into Ravens‘ territory, a third straight AFC North for the Steelers seemed possible.Then Cleveland rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield threw a late pick. The Ravens held on. Optimism evaporated. Replaced by a mix of harsh reality and a hint of wistfulness.Article continues below ...The Steelers (9-6-1) firmly believe they would be a tough out in the playoffs. Instead, they won’t get the chance. The team that appeared assured of a fifth consecutive playoff berth following a six-game midseason winning streak instead will miss the postseason for the first time since 2013 after Indianapolis beat Tennessee later Sunday to lock down the final wild-card spot.“It just sucks,” Steelers guard David DeCastro said. “How hard we work, how much effort we put in. To go from 7-2-1 to where we are now is heartbreaking.”And avoidable. Yet four losses in five games — all of which the Steelers led at some point in the second half — forced them to enter Week 17 needing to beat the injury ravaged Bengals and a hope surging Cleveland could upset the Ravens on the road.“It’s just tough,” said Pittsburgh running back James Conner, who ran for 64 yards in his return to the lineup after missing three games with a sprained left ankle. “We’re relying on somebody else to advance.”The team that stressed it wouldn’t spend all afternoon scoreboard watching certainly looked distracted as Cincinnati took a 10-3 halftime lead. Pittsburgh eventually rallied behind quarterback Ben Roethlisberger — who threw for 287 yards and a touchdown despite missing injured star receiver Antonio Brown to finish with a career-best and NFL-high 5,129 yards passing — and new kicker Matt McCrane booted three field goals, the last a 35-yarder with 1:56 to go that put the Steelers ahead to stay.Pittsburgh held on when Cincinnati backup quarterback Jeff Driskel’s fourth-down pass intended for Josh Malone fell incomplete with 1:08 to go. Roethlisberger then took a pair of knees to run out the clock, setting the stage for the bizarre sight of the Steelers and thousands of black-and-gold clad fans cheering on the Browns.For a few anxious minutes http://www.newyorkgiantsteamonline.com/dexter-lawrence-jersey , the dominoes appeared to be falling into place. When they didn’t, Pittsburgh didn’t place blame on Cleveland but countless missed opportunities.“It just makes me mad that as a leader of this group, we put ourselves in this situation like this, looking for others to do our job,” Steelers defensive end Cam Heyward said. “Cleveland played a heck of a game … it’s frustrating and as a leader of this group it’s just unacceptable.”Roethlisberger vowed to return for a 16th season. He turns 37 in March and doesn’t think Pittsburgh’s window is closing as long as the offensive line in front of him remains intact.“I still feel good,” he said. “We keep that line together, that’ll give us a good fighting chance.”MARVIN’S MURKY FUTUREJoe Mixon rushed for 105 yards for the Bengals but Cincinnati (6-10) — which entered Sunday with 18 players on injured reserve, including quarterback Andy Dalton and wide receiver A.J. Green— lost for the seventh time in eight games and head into another offseason unsure about the future of longtime head coach Marvin Lewis.Cincinnati’s season turned at home against the Steelers back in October, when the Bengals let Pittsburgh go down the field in the final minute to pull out a 28-21 victory on Antonio Brown’s 31-yard catch and run with 10 seconds to play. An avalanche of injuries and losses followed. Lewis headed to the locker room surrounded by cameras, which he found “ridiculous” after his beat-up squad took the Steelers basically to the wire.“I think it’s sad (my status) is the only thing they can point to http://www.oaklandraidersteamonline.com/josh-jacobs-jersey ,” Lewis said. “This isn’t about me. This is about this football team and what they do. To make this about one person. It’s not about one person. This is my job. That’s it.”INJURIESBengals: WR Cody Core left late in the first quarter with a left elbow injury. Core was hurt while diving for a pass deep down the left sideline. … LT Cordy Glenn injured his left ankle after getting rolled up on during a scrum following fumble by Driskel in the third quarter. Safety Brandon Wilson left in the second half with a chest injury and tight end Matt Lengel exited with a left knee issue.Steelers: Brown missed his first game of the season while dealing with a knee injury. Pittsburgh also sat starting safety Sean Davis (quadriceps) and inside linebacker Vince Williams (toe).UP NEXTBengals: Owner Mike Brown will meet with Lewis to decide whether a 17th season is in the offing for the winning coach in franchise history.Steelers: While head coach Mike Tomlin is on firm ground, changes to the coaching staff could be made. Defensive coordinator Keith Butler’s unit struggled to create turnovers and the special teams were a mess under coordinator Danny Smith. It wasn’t a surprise that things weren’t going well in Green Bay last year, and a change might be coming.But Packers coach Mike McCarthy said he was stunned by the way it happened.Asked by Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com if he had any indication that team president Mark Murphy was going to fire him, McCarthy said he didn’t.“Frankly, no I did not,” McCarthy said. “As a head coach, I’ve always tried to stay immune to and stand in front of all the outside noise. That was always my focus with my players. It was always to protect them as much as possible from the drama. I think that’s important. And I stayed true to that to the last day. If we missed the playoffs, I expected change might happen.“But the timing surprised me. Actually it stunned me. But time provides the opportunity for reflection and clarity and that’s where I’m at now. And it’s clear to me now that both sides needed a change.”McCarthy said that in the wake of his firing, his wife told him she was relieved, because of the toll the job had taken on him in recent years. She pointed out that it was clear he wasn’t happy Ben Banogu Jersey , and that the job “beat the hell out of you the last couple of years.”Still, he thought he deserved a better ending.“Obviously. It couldn’t have been handled any worse,” McCarthy said. “Anytime you lose a close game, it’s a difficult time emotionally afterwards, but when you lose a home game at Lambeau Field in December, it’s really hard. And that hasn’t happened very often. I walked out of my press conference, and I’m thinking about the game, thinking about how our playoff shot was now minimal. That’s where my head was at. And when I was told Mark Murphy wanted to see me �? and the messenger was cold and the energy was bad. Mark said it was an ugly loss, and it was time to make change. He said something about the offense and the special teams, and he didn’t think it was going to get any better. There was no emotion to it. That was hard.“Every time I released an individual Parris Campbell Jersey , you get your words right. There’s a personal component to it. You know he has a family. He’s family. There wasn’t any of that. So that was off. The way people leave that building was very important to me. That’s a part of the business. Hopefully moving forward for guys like Clay [Matthews] and Randall [Cobb] and Nick Perry and Jordy Nelson and T.J. Lang, it’s important for them to leave the right way. That way represents the Green Bay Packers standard that I tried to uphold every day.“That exit, frankly, Rob, the exit really stuck with me for a while. It was hard to swallow. The emotional challenge of shifting from humiliation to reflection was a very important step in seeking clarity so I could personally grow from the experience of my entire Green Bay Packer career; that’s what I wanted to get to, not just the ending of it.”McCarthy sounds like he’s in a better place now, but clearly needed some time to work through his 13-year run which ended a few weeks short.