PITTSBURGH– Tears streamed down Ben Roethlisberger‘s face. Sitting next to him on the bench, Maurkice Pouncey, among his friends and long time colleagues, likewise wept as the feeling overflowed.
The scoreboard facing them lit up the unimaginable: Their season was over– and their professions may be too.
After falling back by 4 ratings in the very first half, the Pittsburgh Steelers could not finish the resurgence Sunday night, being up to the Cleveland Browns in the wild-card round of theplayoffs 48-37 An appealing 11-0 season was lowered to a 1-5 surface with a first-round exit in your home– with a last rating that looked closer than it ever felt.
” We didn’t do enough,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin stated of the late-season collapse. “We didn’t place them in enough excellent situations. We didn’t make sufficient plays, especially in the defining moments. We were a group that passed away on the vine.”
Pouncey, a 10-year veteran, and Roethlisberger made a vow years ago to play as long as the other one did, and with Sunday night’s loss and one year left on their agreements, that day is much closer than ever in the past. They rested on the bench long after their colleagues left the field, talking and soaking all of it in.
” I like that person,” Roethlisberger stated of Pouncey. “He is among the very best rivals and colleagues I have actually ever had. It’s been a lot enjoyable to share a football field with him. I dislike that it ended the method it did. I simply wished to say sorry to him that I wished to win it for him.”
As Roethlisberger and Pouncey rested on the bench, a couple of Steelers approached the set and shared a couple of minutes with them. Pass receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, now going into totally free firm for the very first time in his profession, tearfully hugged his quarterback.
” I’m so appreciative to have him as a quarterback, and I would not alter it,” Smith-Schuster stated in sharing what he informed Roethlisberger. “I informed him, I do not understand what your strategies or what’s prepared for you men, however I’m really appreciative, from the time I strolled in, very first day, to the time Ben taking me under his wing. Ben informed me that, ‘You combated hard, you’re a warrior and thank you.’ It was simply all love.”
Roethlisberger, 38, tossed for 501 backyards on 68 pass efforts with 4 goals on Sunday. However his 4 interceptions doomed the Steelers, who fell back 28-0 in the very first quarter.
From the beginning, the extremely first breeze of what might be the set’s last video game at Heinz Field didn’t go the method they anticipated. A high breeze from Pouncey cruised over Roethlisberger’s head on the preliminary play. Roethlisberger and James Conner rushed to confine the loose ball, however neither made an efficient transfer to protect it. Rather, the Browns caught it and took a 7-0 lead with simply 14 seconds off the clock.
It just worsened from there. The Browns turned 3 Roethlisberger first-half interceptions into 21 points for an eventually overwhelming lead, as the Pittsburgh defense could not slow Nick Chubb and the Browns’ offense. The Steelers didn’t tape-record a single sack or require a turnover; they are 1-4 this season when they have not had a turnover.
” We blew it,” Steelers protective captain Cameron Heyward stated. “I can’t sugarcoat it. You take a look at ball game. As a defense, we quit a lot of points. And as a leader, as a leader of the defense, I stopped working, badly; and you understand, it is difficult to lose. It is difficult to lose men in our locker space who have actually done fantastic things on and off the field. And you understand, that unidentified simply eliminates me. To misuse a chance like that and to understand we didn’t play our brand name of football, and it draws.”
Roethlisberger’s miserable very first half– 20-of-30 passing for 177 backyards and 3 interceptions– was an awful echo of the very first halves in the routine season versus the Cincinnati Bengals and the Indianapolis Colts, when it appeared the future Hall of Famer lost his touch. Versus the Colts, he discovered his groove for a resurgence win in the 2nd half. Versus the Browns, it was far too late.
” It wasn’t sufficient,” Roethlisberger stated of his efficiencies. “When you lose a video game like this, you can recall and assess all you desire on the season, how you did throughout this video game, that video game, runs, stretches. I suggest, at some time, we’ll review the entire thing.
” However when it does not end the method you desire it to, you’re constantly going to feel some type of method, like you lost or it’s your fault.”
The Steelers started rising after halftime on Sunday, outscoring the Browns 13-0. However Tomlin decided to bet field position and punt on fourth-and-1 from the 46 to open the 4th quarter, efficiently stopping his group’s momentum. The Browns scored on the occurring drive to take a 42-23 lead.
” We had some stops, wished to pin them down, perhaps supply the brief field for our offense,” Tomlin stated. “We had perhaps 2 or 3 successive stops. I simply wished to keep the momentum entering regards to field positioning. However we weren’t sufficient in regards to doing that.”
With the loss, the Steelers have actually dropped 3 championship game in a row, consisting of a 2017 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, when Pittsburgh quit 45 indicate the visitors.
” It is what it is,” Tomlin stated when inquired about individual responsibility for the postseason failures. “Our record is our record. Our efficiencies are our efficiencies. Do not flee from that.”
Tomlin, who does not have a losing routine season as the Steelers’ head coach, has simply a. 500 mark in the postseason.
” We didn’t carry out well sufficient tonight,” he stated. “Not training, not playing. You can chalk it approximately the turnover video game. However we weren’t sufficient in a great deal of other locations, interaction, in regards to information. Simply not an excellent night for us. In the single-elimination competitions, when you do not have an excellent night, you go house.”
With the season over, Roethlisberger has a significant choice looming. He has one year left on his agreement worth $41.2 million, and he has actually stated prior to that if he isn’t playing in such a way that assists his group, he’ll “hang it up.”
After Sunday’s contest, however, Roethlisberger stated he had not decided about his future yet.
” It’s going to begin in between me and God, a great deal of hoping. A great deal of talking with my household, conversations, choices. I still have a year left on my agreement,” he stated. “I hope the Steelers desire me back, if that’s the method we go. There will be a great deal of conversations. And now is not the time for that.
” This loss is fresh. It’s simply resting on our hearts and our minds today. It will for a while.”
