Pittsburgh Steelers

With Ben Roethlisberger back under center after missing almost all of the 2019 season through injury, the Steelers are legitimate Super Bowl contenders once again.

And as the weeks have gone by, it has become increasingly difficult to find a prospective loss on their remaining schedule.

No team has gone undefeated throughout the regular season and playoffs en route to Super Bowl glory since the Dolphins did so 48 years ago.

Here we look at the challenges the NFL's lone remaining unbeaten team face in attempting to replicate that feat.

Keep Big Ben standing

Roethlisberger has played in every game this season despite suffering a knee injury in their win over the Dallas Cowboys in Week 9.

Any hopes of a Super Bowl triumph, never mind an unbeaten season, are contingent on Roethlisberger staying on the field.

As the 2019 campaign proved, the drop-off from Roethlisberger to Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges is a precipitous one and it is a credit to Mike Tomlin's coaching that they still managed to finish 8-8.

The data reflects Roethlisberger's importance. Since 2004, when he led the Steelers to a 15-1 record as a rookie, they have a winning percentage of 68.1 in games he has played. That drops to 57.9 when he is not on the field.

Additionally, the Steelers have averaged 250.2 passing yards in games with Roethlisberger and 177.6 in games where he has been absent. When Roethlisberger is involved the Steelers score at a rate of 24.3 points per game, an average that dips to 20.4 without him.

Roethlisberger's passer rating in his 227 games for the Steelers is 94.3 compared to 75.5 for backups who have filled in for him in 38 contests.

The Steelers are also unsurprisingly better in key situations with Roethlisberger under center. Pittsburgh have converted 55.5 per cent of red zone opportunities and 43.4 per cent of third downs with Roethlisberger at quarterback.

With a different signal-caller, they turn a red zone opportunity into a touchdown 44.4 per cent of the time and get the required yardage on only 31.9 per cent of third downs.

Simply put, if the Steelers are to turn their tremendous start into a seventh Lombardi Trophy, Roethlisberger cannot afford to go down.

Maintain defensive dominance

Roethlisberger has been aided by an outstanding defense that is the best in the NFL by a number of measures.

Led by pass rushers T.J. Watt and Bud Dupree, the Steelers are first in the NFL in sacks with 36. Their advantage in pressure rate is startling, the Steelers pressuring opposing quarterbacks on 35 per cent of drop backs. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (27.4%) are the next best team.

It is a similar tale in terms of quarterback hits. The Steelers have registered 92 this season, 18 more than the Baltimore Ravens in second place.

Their stingy pass defense is allowing a passer rating of 79.2, only the Indianapolis Colts are superior in that regard. 

Pittsburgh's interception percentage rate of 3.6 trails only Indianapolis and the New England Patriots while their adjusted net yards per pass attempt allowed average of 5.0 is also good for third in the league.

The Steelers are slightly more generous to opposing running games, giving up 106.8 yards per game, but that tally is still the ninth-best in the NFL.

As long as the Steelers show this level of stoutness on the defensive side, dealing them a first defeat will be an extremely tough ask.

History against them?

However, history is not necessarily on the side of the Steelers when it comes to their Super Bowl aspirations.

Twenty-eight teams in NFL history have started 9-0 and 27 have made the playoffs - the 1934 Detroit Lions the sole exception.

But, since the merger in 1970, only seven of the 20 teams with 9-0 starts have gone on to win the Super Bowl.

The 2015 Carolina Panthers, the 2009 Indianapolis Colts and, infamously, the 16-0 New England Patriots team of 2007 all tasted defeat on the grandest stage.

Should the Steelers replicate the Patriots' regular-season heroics then the stakes will be raised as they bid to avoid the same ignominy.

Nobody hangs any banners for 18-1, but the Steelers have plenty of obstacles in their path before they can think about that.

Remaining hurdles

The Steelers have the 20th strongest remaining schedule in the NFL, with this week's clash with the one-win Jacksonville Jaguars and meetings with the Washington Football Team and Cincinnati Bengals expected to present the least difficulty for Pittsburgh.

But they also have four potential AFC playoff teams left on the docket.

A rematch with the Ravens is an enticing one after the teams played out a 28-24 thriller in Baltimore earlier this month.

And, with the Bengals game sandwiched by a December trip to the Buffalo Bills and contests with the Colts and Browns, the Steelers will have an extremely tricky finish negotiate before they can entertain the idea of joining the '72 Dolphins in their exclusive club.

"It was really junior varsity, to be quite honest with you," Tomlin said in the wake of their narrow 19-14 victory over a Baltimore Ravens team missing MVP Lamar Jackson and a host of others.

But the Steelers evidently failed to heed the lessons from that near miss, which has subsequently been followed by three successive defeats, significantly damaging their hopes of being the number one seed in the AFC playoffs.

There are several reasons for their sudden decline. An extremely talented wide receiving corps has struggled to realise its potential, the running game has failed to get going and an elite defense has been hamstrung by edge rusher Bud Dupree's torn ACL.

Yet it is quarterback Ben Roethlisberger who is under the most scrutiny after a string of unconvincing performances that have raised the question of whether they should look to replace the two-time Super Bowl winner.

Roethlisberger is expected to stick around for 2021 - the final year of his contract. Here we discuss whether it is wise for the Steelers to stick with the franchise legend with evidence indicating they may well fall short this year because of their quarterback's limitations.

Roethlisberger still a comeback king

There is some evidence in the raw numbers to support Roethlisberger remaining under center beyond this season, though it is not plentiful.

His 30 touchdown passes were the sixth most in the NFL entering Week 16 while only Ryan Tannehill of the Tennessee Titans has authored more fourth-quarter comebacks (4) than Roethlisberger (3).

Yet by several other measures, Roethlisberger is a quarterback in steep decline.

Fast but often inaccurate throws

While Roethlisberger has completed a respectable 65.3 percent of his passes, a deeper dive into the numbers hints at an inaccurate season.

According to the NFL's NextGen Stats, Roethlisberger is underperforming his expected completion percentage of 67.4 by 2.1 per cent.

He is getting the ball out very quickly, his 2.31 seconds is the fastest time from snap to throw in the NFL, but the problem is he is not always doing so accurately and rarely very far down the field.

Indeed, Roethlisberger's adjusted net yards per attempt figure of 6.13 was 23rd in the NFL going into the penultimate week of the season, and his struggles in that regard have come into even keener focus over the past three weeks.

A flat three weeks

In his first 11 games of the year, Roethlisberger adjusted net yards per attempt was 6.67. However, over the course of the past three weeks and the Steelers' successive defeats to the Washington Football Team, Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals, that figure has dropped to 4.31.

That change in fortune is reflected in the offense's overall production over the past three games. Pittsburgh's points per game tally has dropped from 28.8 in the first 11 games to 16.3, while the Steelers have averaged 264.7 yards per game during their losing streak compared to 346.5 beforehand.

They are significantly less efficient in terms of yards per play. The Steelers had been putting up 5.22 yards per play but that number has decreased to 4.32 in the previous three games, and their third-down conversion percentage has dropped from 46 to 26.8.

In short, Roethlisberger was delivering mediocre numbers to begin with and they are getting worse. He could argue, however, that his weapons on offense have not always helped his cause.

Supporting cast struggles

The Steelers have a dynamic group of young receivers, but their inconsistency in terms of catching the ball has plagued their offense all year.

Pittsburgh went into Week 16 leading the league in dropped passes with 37, Steelers receivers failing to handle 6.6 per cent of all passes thrown their way in 2020.

Roethlisberger has also received little help from the Steelers' running game, which approached Week 16 as the second-worst rushing attack in the NFL having put up just 88.9 yards per game on the ground.

Therein lies the case for Roethlisberger staying another year. With some improved focus at the catch point from his receivers and a remodelled arsenal at running back to boost the ground game, his potentially final season in the league in 2021 could end with a Lombardi Trophy.

Yet that is an expensive chance for the Steelers to take. They are forecast to be $21million over an assumed salary cap of $175m in 2021. Roethlisberger is due to earn $41.25m next year and, taking into account a dead cap charge of $22.25m, the Steelers would save $19m by parting ways with him.

A lack of avenues via which to immediately replace him may tie Pittsburgh's hands but, for an increasingly immobile quarterback who has been inaccurate and struggled to produce explosive plays downfield, Roethlisberger's price tag may prove too much to justify.

Damar Hamlin's cardiac arrest on the field has sent shockwaves through the sport, though it appears the 24-year-old is making progress in his recovery.

While Hamlin's health remains the league's priority over the rescheduling of that game from Week 17, there is also focus on the final round of fixtures.

There's plenty still be decided in Week 18, and Stats Perform has used Opta data to preview some of the key matchups.

SATURDAY (all times EST)

Chiefs (13-3) at Raiders (6-10) - 4:30pm

With the Bills and the Bengals having yet to finish the game that was rightly suspended on Monday, the AFC picture is not entirely clear. As things stand, a Kansas City Chiefs win in Las Vegas would mean they remain in with a chance of claiming the top seed, pending a decision on the Bengals-Bills game and the outcome of Buffalo's Week 18 clash against the New England Patriots.

The Chiefs have scored 28 or more points in nine consecutive games against the Raiders. The only longer streak of such games against a single opponent in NFL history is 10 by the Los Angeles Rams against the Green Bay Packers, and that came way back in 1949 to 1953. 

Jerick McKinnon caught two touchdowns in Kansas City's 27-24 win over the Denver Broncos and has seven touchdown catches in the Chiefs' last five games. That is the most receiving touchdowns by a running back over a span of five team games in the Super Bowl era. 

The Chiefs have scored 264 points on the road this season, averaging 33.0 points per game. If they hit their average on Saturday, they will finish with the third-most road points in a single season in NFL history, behind only the 2007 New England Patriots (314) and their own effort in 2018 (306).

Patrick Mahomes has 5,000 passing yards (5,048) and 250 rushing yards (329) in a single season for the second time in his career, also doing so in 2018.

Titans (7-9) at Jaguars (8-8) - 8:15pm

It will be winner-take-all in the AFC South when the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Tennessee Titans face off. The victor will clinch the division and become the fourth seed in the playoffs. While Jacksonville would still be able to make the postseason via a wild card should they lose, Tennessee must win if they are to avoid elimination.

The Jaguars are looking to sweep the season series with the Titans for the first time since 2005. The only other NFL teams that have gone that long since they last swept a current divisional opponent are the Cleveland Browns, who last swept the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1988, and New York Jets, who last swept the Patriots in 2000 (the Browns also have a chance to end their drought this week).

Jacksonville could become the first team in NFL history to make the playoffs immediately following back-to-back 14-loss seasons.

Meanwhile, the Titans are looking to avoid joining the 1994 Eagles as the only teams in league history to have at least seven wins before ending the season on a seven-game game losing streak.

SUNDAY

Giants (9-6-1) at Eagles (13-3) - 4:25pm

The Philadelphia Eagles have been the team to beat in the NFC all season, yet after successive defeats in the absence of Jalen Hurts, they now need a win to clinch the top seed.

Should they lose to the New York Giants, both the Dallas Cowboys and the San Francisco 49ers will have to suffer defeats in order for the Eagles to be guaranteed home advantage in the playoffs.

The omens are good for the Eagles, who have won eight straight home games against the Giants, tied for the second-longest home win streak against a single opponent in team history. It trails only their active 10-game home win streak against the Steelers that started in 1966. 

A win against the Eagles would give the Giants 10 wins after having just four last season. It would be the first time New York earned double-digit wins in a season after having four or fewer wins since doing so in 1933 (11 wins after a 4-6 record in 1932).

Lions (8-8) @ Packers (8-8) - 8.20pm

Given the NFC East will get two of the conference's three wild cards, matters are relatively simple for the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers. A Packers victory sends them through to the playoffs, while Detroit need to win and hope the Los Angeles Rams defeat the Seattle Seahawks.

The Packers are coming off a 41-17 win over the Vikings in which they had four takeaways and no giveaways. Green Bay are now 50-0-1 in the Super Bowl era (including playoffs) with a turnover margin of +4 or better in a game.

Green Bay's record at home against the Lions is 61-27-4, the most home wins by any team against a single opponent.

With another win, Aaron Rodgers would be the first QB in NFL history to have two seasons where his team was multiple games under .500 immediately before going on a five-or-greater game winning streak to end the regular season. 

But the Lions have scored at least 20 points while throwing no interceptions in eight straight games, tied for the longest streak in NFL history (regular season) with the 2005 Broncos, 2010 Patriots and 2018-19 Ravens.

Elsewhere...

New England will clinch a playoff spot should they defeat the Bills, who are of course recovering from that incident involving Hamlin. The Bills have won their last two games against the Patriots and are looking for three straight wins in the series for the first time since 1999-2000.

The Miami Dolphins have lost five in a row but can make the playoffs should they beat the Jets. The matchup is perfectly balanced all-time at 56 wins apiece with one tie entering this game. 

A run of five wins from six games has put the Steelers in playoff contention. They will have to beat the Browns and need results elsewhere go their way. Cleveland won against the Steelers in Week 3 this season. The Browns have not won multiple games against Pittsburgh in a season since the 1988 season.

The 49ers can still claim the top seed in the NFC by beating the Arizona Cardinals. San Francisco beat Las Vegas in Week 17, 37-34, despite trailing by 10 points in the third quarter. It was the Niners' second-largest comeback victory in the second half under Kyle Shanahan.

It has been a terrible season for the Rams (5-11), but they are 7-3 in their last 10 games against Seattle. The Seahawks got a 27-23 win in Inglewood in Week 13, the closest game between these teams since a 30-29 Seahawks win in Week 5, 2019. 

Roethlisberger was among four Steelers players activated from the reserve/COVID-19 list ahead of Sunday's clash against the Cincinnati Bengals and the Pittsburgh star fuelled the team's 36-10 victory.

Despite being kept away from the team's facility all week, Roethlisberger threw for a season-high 333 yards and four touchdowns, completing 27 of 46 passes as the Steelers improved to 9-0 for the season.

"Really just felt nice and rested coming into today," said the two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback. "I tried to talk coach [Mike Tomlin] into seeing if I could take next week off, too."

"I threw about 50 balls on Friday, and that was it," Roethlisberger said. "I wanted to kind of let it rest.... I iced it a lot."

Roethlisberger connected with Diontae Johnson and JuJu Smith-Schuster in the first half, before throwing TD passes to Chase Claypool twice in the second half.

"There was less anxiety, in terms of dealing with him in these circumstances, maybe than some of the other circumstances he and I have been in in the past, where his health was a factor in terms of availability," Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said of Roethlisberger's performance.

"His health was not a factor, so we had very little reservations about his ability to perform once we got him to the stadium."

T.J. Watt sacked Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow twice – he had two sacks, four QB hits and two tackles for loss. T.J. Watt and J.J. Watt (2015) are the only players over the past 15 seasons to record nine-plus sacks, 25-plus quarterback hits and 10-plus tackles for loss in their team's first nine games of a season, per NFL Research.

The Browns jumped to a 28-0 first-quarter lead on Sunday at Heinz Field, where they had been enduring a 17-game losing streak, the third-longest on the road at a single opponent in NFL history.

That first-quarter points tally, a joint record in the playoffs, was followed by some resolute second-half defense as they secured a 48-37 victory.

The triumph was made more remarkable by the fact a coronavirus outbreak meant practice sessions on Wednesday and Thursday were cancelled and coach Kevin Stefanski was forced to watch the action from home.

Mayfield, who completed 21 of 34 passes for 263 yards and three touchdowns, is already looking ahead to next Sunday's showdown with top seeds the Kansas City Chiefs.

"We're a team, we stick together, and to have those guys there in our celebration was great," he said. "But the best thing about it was the mentality of everybody saying, we didn't want to just win this game.

"It's a stepping stone to where we want to go. Nobody here is satisfied yet."

Before the game, Mayfield posted a video to Instagram with the caption 'Browns is the Browns', referencing comments made by Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, who had proclaimed himself happy to be facing "the same Browns teams I play every year".

"We believe in the people in this room no matter what is going on," said Mayfield afterwards. "We knew that everybody was counting us out. We knew what mentality we were going to have, and it's just to cut it loose, because no one believed in us besides us."

The result drew astonished reactions from the sporting world on Twitter, including from Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James and five-time NBA champion Magic Johnson.

Browns special teams coordinator Mike Priefer, who stood in as acting head coach in Stefanski's absence, said: "I want to congratulate our fans – I grew up one of them. I know what this means."

New England went into Sunday's heavyweight clash having won five successive games, and their ability to produce turnovers proved key in extending that streak to six.

Tennessee, minus their top offensive playmakers in injured running back Derrick Henry and wide receiver A.J. Brown, committed four giveaways while the Patriots produced a flawless game in that regard, rookie quarterback Mac Jones recording his second 300-yard passing game of a stellar first season.

Both teams now stand at 8-4, with the Patriots' victory giving them the tiebreaker, with another test of New England's Super Bowl credentials to come a week on Monday when they face AFC East rivals the Buffalo Bills (7-4) on the road.

Nick Westbrook-Ikhine's touchdown reception and a 68-yard rushing score from Dontrell Hilliard meant the Titans only trailed 16-13 at half-time.

But their first two drives of the second half, sandwiched by a field goal for New England, ended in a fumble and a punt and Tennessee's slow start to the third quarter was exacerbated when Kendrick Bourne's 41-yard catch and run for his second touchdown of the day gave the Patriots a 26-13 lead.

The Titans drove to New England's two-yard line in response, only for Ryan Tannehill to see a fourth-down pass to Cody Hollister tipped and intercepted by J.C. Jackson.

That allowed the Patriots to stretch the lead with Nick Folk's fifth field goal and, after another failed fourth-down attempt from Tannehill, Damien Harris capped things off for New England with a 14-yard run as they sent an emphatic message to the rest of the AFC.

FOURnette stars as Bucs win Colts thriller

Defending Super Bowl champions the Tampa Bay Buccaneers trailed by 10 points at the end of the half in a see-saw battle with the Indianapolis Colts.

But five Colts turnovers tipped the balance in the favour of the Bucs, Leonard Fournette's fourth touchdown securing a 38-31 victory and a 51st game-winning drive for Tom Brady, putting him three shy of Peyton Manning's all-time record, despite a late 71-yard kickoff return from Isaiah Rodgers that almost forced overtime.

The Bucs (8-3) have a commanding lead atop the NFC South, with the Carolina Panthers' defeat to the Miami Dolphins dropping them to 5-7. The 6-6 Colts remain firmly in the Wild Card picture in the AFC.

Bengals sweep Steelers

The Cincinnati Bengals moved within half a game of the AFC North lead as they completed their first season sweep of the Pittsburgh Steelers since the 2009 season.

It was a feat they achieved in style with a 41-10 rout, running back Joe Mixon the star of the show with 165 rushing yards and two touchdowns, with Joe Burrow's lone touchdown throw to Tee Higgins his 10th of 30 or more yards this season.

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger endured a miserable day, throwing two interceptions and suffering three sacks to drop Pittsburgh to 5-5-1. The 7-4 Bengals will end the day atop the division if the Baltimore Ravens lose to the Cleveland Browns later on Sunday.

New England suffered a 20-7 loss the Miami Dolphins in Week 1, Mac Jones and the offense struggling to get anything going as the Patriots' quarterback battled back spasms.

Should they lose by double digits again at Acrisure Stadium, it would mark the first time they have started a season with double-digit losses since losing three straight by that margin to begin the 1969 season.

The bad news for New England is that since Mike Tomlin became Steelers head coach in 2007, nine of the 10 games between Pittsburgh and the Patriots have been decided by at least a touchdown, with the average margin of victory being 14.7 points.

The good news? The Patriots have won seven of those matchups.

Yet the Patriots are hardly in an ideal situation to continue their dominance over the Steelers.

Jones has battled illness this week but is set to play in Pittsburgh. Yet, going against a defense that picked off Joe Burrow four times in the Steelers' season-opening win over the Cincinnati Bengals – their 25th overtime victory since the extra period was implemented in 1974, the third-most in the NFL – he picked a particularly bad week to miss practice time.

The Steelers are without star edge rusher T.J. Watt because of the torn pectoral muscle he suffered in Week 1 but avoiding leaving Pittsburgh having done something no Patriots team has done for 53 years promises to be a difficult challenge for Jones and New England.

New England went into Sunday's heavyweight clash having won five successive games, and their ability to produce turnovers proved key in extending that streak to six.

Tennessee, minus their top offensive playmakers in injured running back Derrick Henry and wide receiver A.J. Brown, committed four giveaways while the Patriots produced a flawless game in that regard, rookie quarterback Mac Jones recording his second 300-yard passing game of a stellar first season.

Both teams now stand at 8-4, with the Patriots' victory giving them the tiebreaker over the Titans, with another test of New England's Super Bowl credentials to come a week on Monday when they face AFC East rivals the Buffalo Bills (7-4) on the road.

Nick Westbrook-Ikhine's touchdown reception and a 68-yard rushing score from Dontrell Hilliard meant the Titans only trailed 16-13 at half-time.

But their first two drives of the second half, sandwiched by a field goal for New England, ended in a fumble and a punt and Tennessee's slow start to the third quarter was exacerbated when Kendrick Bourne's 41-yard catch and run for his second touchdown of the day gave the Patriots a 26-13 lead.

The Titans drove to New England's two-yard line in response, only for Ryan Tannehill to see a fourth-down pass to Cody Hollister tipped and intercepted by J.C. Jackson.

That allowed the Patriots to stretch the lead with Nick Folk's fifth field goal and, after another failed fourth-down attempt from Tannehill, Damien Harris capped things off for New England with a 14-yard run as they sent an emphatic message to the rest of the AFC.

FOURnette stars as Bucs win Colts thriller

Defending Super Bowl champions the Tampa Bay Buccaneers trailed by 10 points at the end of the half in a see-saw battle with the Indianapolis Colts.

But five Colts turnovers tipped the balance in the favour of the Bucs, Leonard Fournette's fourth touchdown securing a 38-31 victory and a 51st game-winning drive for Tom Brady, putting him three shy of Peyton Manning's all-time record, despite a late 71-yard kickoff return from Isaiah Rodgers that almost forced overtime.

The Bucs (8-3) have a commanding lead atop the NFC South, with the Carolina Panthers' defeat to the Miami Dolphins dropping them to 5-7. The 6-6 Colts remain firmly in the Wild Card picture in the AFC.

Bengals sweep Steelers

The Cincinnati Bengals moved within half a game of the AFC North lead as they completed their first season sweep of the Pittsburgh Steelers since the 2009 season.

It was a feat they achieved in style with a 41-10 rout, running back Joe Mixon the star of the show with 165 rushing yards and two touchdowns, with Joe Burrow's lone touchdown throw to Tee Higgins his 10th of 30 or more yards this season.

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger endured a miserable day, throwing two interceptions and suffering three sacks to drop Pittsburgh to 5-5-1. The 7-4 Bengals will end the day atop the division if the Baltimore Ravens, who own the top seed with Titans' defeat, lose to the Cleveland Browns later on Sunday.

No quarterbacks came off the board in the first 19 picks as defensive players and wide receivers dominated the headlines.

And, given the freedom to choose from what most considered to be an uninspiring litter at quarterback, the Steelers went with a player who already called Heinz Field home.

Pickett excelled in his final year playing for the University of Pittsburgh, leading the Panthers to an 11-3 record and an ACC title.

He completed 67.2 per cent of his passes for 4,319 yards, 42 touchdowns and just seven interceptions.

Arguably the most pro-ready quarterback in the class, Pickett delivered an accurate well-thrown ball on 82.70 percent of his passes last season, the highest ratio of anyone in the draft, according to Stats Perform data. His pickable pass rate of 2.11 percent was also best in class.

Pickett excels at throwing with timing and anticipation, frequently hitting his receivers in stride to maximise their potential to create yards after the catch.

He can make throws with pressure in his face and moves well in the pocket to escape pressure while also succeeding at breaking structure and creating with his legs.

A lack of elite arm strength to make deep throws outside the numbers is the concern with Pickett, but the Steelers were clearly not overly worried about that deficiency, catapulting him into a likely quarterback competition with Mitchell Trubisky in the first year of the post-Ben Roethlisberger era.

The Steelers rallied from a 10-point third-quarter deficit to score the game's final 13 points, including Pickett's go-ahead touchdown pass for the dominant Najee Harris with 56 seconds left.

Minkah Fitzpatrick intercepted Ravens quarterback Tyler Huntley's desperate pass with 13 seconds remaining to clinch victory for the Steelers, who claimed their third straight win to improve to 8-8 behind the Cincinnati Bengals (11-4) and Ravens (10-6) in the AFC North.

The Ravens' defeat, which is the fourth time they have lost after having a double-digit lead this season, significantly impacts their aspirations to win the division, with the Bengals able to clinch it with victory against the Buffalo Bills on Monday. The Bengals host the Ravens in Week 18.

Pickett and Harris were the stars for the Steelers, with the 24-year-old quarterback completing 15 of 27 passes for 168 yards with his only touchdown coming when it mattered most.

In the game-winning 11-play drive, the QB made 20-yard and 28-yard gains with passes to Pat Freiermuth and Steven Sims Jr respectively before evading Jason Pierre-Paul's tackle and finding Harris in the left corner on a third-and-8.

Steelers running backs Harris (111 rushing yards on 22 carries) and Jaylen Warren (76 rushing yards on 12 carries) were outstanding. Huntley completed 14 of 21 passes for 130 yards for the Ravens.

Earlier, the Ravens benefitted from a controversial unnecessary roughness penalty against Cameron Heyward on a third-and-14, which led to a verbal exchange with team-mate Fitzpatrick, after Huntley threw a touchdown pass for Isaiah Likely on the next play shortly prior to half-time.

The 29-year-old wide receiver is travelling to Pittsburgh on Tuesday for a physical, according to reports, and the trade will be completed if he passes.

There is no word on what the Rams are getting in return.

Robinson requested a trade out of Los Angeles last month and a move to Pittsburgh would mark a third team in as many seasons for the former Pro Bowler.

Robinson signed a three-year, $46.5million contract with the Rams in March 2022, but he added little to the offense, finishing with 33 catches for 339 yards and three touchdowns in 10 games last season as Los Angeles endured a dismal defence of their Super Bowl title.

He spent the previous four years with the Chicago Bears after playing his first four professional seasons for the Jacksonville Jaguars, who selected him in the second round of the 2014 draft.

A nine-year veteran, Robinson has three 1,000-yard receiving seasons – most recently with the Bears in 2020, when he had a career-high 102 receptions for 1,250 yards and six touchdowns.

In the two seasons since then, however, he’s caught just 71 passes for 749 yards and four TDs in 22 games.

His most receiving yards came during his Pro Bowl season of 2015, when his 1,400 receiving yards ranked sixth in the league.

Pickett threw for a pair of touchdowns, including a 24-yarder to Tyler Vaughns with three seconds remaining to lift the Steelers to a 32-25 victory over the visiting Seattle Seahawks. 

Pickett, the 20th overall selection in this year’s draft out of Pittsburgh, is competing with Mitch Trubisky and Mason Rudolph to replace retired two-time Super Bowl winner Ben Roethlisberger as Pittsburgh’s starting quarterback. He certainly did nothing to hurt his chances on Saturday. 

He played the entire second half and led a seven-play, 75-yard drive on his opening possession, completing all five of his passes, culminating in a three-yard TD pass to Jaylen Warren.  

His winning throw in the waning seconds capped a five-play, 43-yard drive. Pickett finished 13-of-15 for 95 yards with two scores, and completed 10 consecutive passes at one point.  

Trubisky, who spent last season as Josh Allen’s backup in Buffalo, led the Steelers to a TD on the opening possession with a 90-yard drive. He was four-of-seven for 63 yards, connecting with Gunner Olszewski on a 13-yard scoring strike. 

Rudolph, Roethlisberger’s backup the past four seasons, led touchdown and field goal drives on the first two of his three possessions. His 26-yard TD pass to exciting rookie George Pickens gave the Steelers a 14-0 lead. Rudolph was nine-of-15 for 93 yards.  

Pittsburgh made no secret of a desire to move on from Ben Roethlisberger this offseason, but the best the Steelers could do was to restructure his contract, with his new deal voiding after 2021, making him a free agent and likely ending a glittering career next year.

But that means they will have to go into the new season with a 39-year-old signal-caller coming off one of the most inefficient seasons of his time in the league, in which the Steelers started 11-0 only to fade badly down the stretch and suffer a humiliating playoff loss to long-time AFC North whipping boys the Cleveland Browns.

Cleveland and the Baltimore Ravens look well-placed to contend again, and the Steelers are in a position where the team around Roethlisberger must elevate him to levels that now appear beyond the two-time Super Bowl winner to ensure they can compete.

How should Pittsburgh go about achieving that goal? We attempt to find the answers by using Stats Perform data to analyse their 2020 campaign and their offseason moves so far.

Offense

Whenever he decides to bring his career to an end, Roethlisberger is a near-certainty to reach the Hall of Fame.

However, in 2020 he was at the helm of one of the least dynamic offenses in football, with Pittsburgh's struggles illustrated by a yards per play average of 5.13 that ranked a lowly 26th in the NFL.

The lack of a consistent downfield element to the passing game was a significant contributor to the Steelers' problems on offense.

Roethlisberger's yards per attempt average of 6.3 was the lowest of his career across seasons in which he has played double-digit games - it was 5.7 in his two appearances in 2019.

He had 43 pass plays that went for 20 yards or more, tied for 17th, though yards after catch was clearly a massive contributor to those plays. Pittsburgh ranked eighth with 50.4 per cent of the Steelers' gross passing yardage made up by yards after the catch.

His passer rating of 81.0 on throws of at least 21 air yards was 18th among quarterbacks with 25 such attempts and he completed only 30.2 per cent of those attempts (22nd of 28 QBs with a minimum of 25 attempts).

There were still bright spots on the passing offense even in a down year, the most prominent of which was rookie wide receiver Chase Claypool.

Claypool led all rookies with nine receiving touchdowns. Five of those were of a distance of at least 20 yards, with only Tyreek Hill (nine) and Nelson Agholor (six) recording more such touchdown receptions

Beyond Roethlisberger's issues pushing the ball downfield, the running game was a source of major frustration for Pittsburgh.

The Steelers were last with a yards per carry average of 3.62, their 32 runs of 10 yards or more were also the fewest in the league and only three teams had fewer rushing touchdowns than their 12.

If the Steelers want to maximise Roethlisberger's hopes of a bounce-back year, they must give him more support from the ground game.

Defense

The Steelers succeeded despite the travails of their offense in large part because their defense was again one of the best in the league.

Pittsburgh finished the year with the third-best mark in terms of yards per play allowed, giving up an average of 4.91.

Conceding 55 scores (touchdowns or field goals) from 188 opponent drives, the Steelers were second in opponent scoring efficiency behind the Los Angeles Rams.

Their stingy performance on defense was fuelled by a ferocious pass rush, which led the league in sacks (56) and knockdowns (129) while finishing fourth in hurries (180).

T.J. Watt was the leader of that potent front seven, the 2017 first-round pick missing out on Defensive Player of the Year despite leading the league with 15.0 sacks.

He lost out to Aaron Donald, who had the edge in terms of combined knockdowns and hurries, posting 94.5 to Watt's 83.

The efforts of Watt and Bud Dupree, who had 8.0 sacks before tearing his ACL in Week 12, helped the Steelers finish second with 27 takeaways.

Five of those takeaways were produced by Minkah Fitzpatrick (four interceptions and one fumble recovery) in another stellar campaign for the All-Pro safety.

While this was a second successive year in which the Steelers were a top-five defense in yards per play, elite play is typically tougher for defenses to maintain than offenses.

Performing to that standard for a third straight year will be a substantial challenge, and one that may prove beyond them if they cannot find a replacement for the departed Dupree.

Offseason

While there are elite talents at running back that should be within the Steelers' reach in the first round of the draft, the priorities should be two positions at which they now have holes.

The Steelers may hope Alex Highsmith can step up and fill the void left by Dupree - five of his six quarterback hits as a rookie came after he took over the starting role from the now Tennessee Titans pass rusher - but they will have much better odds of effectively replacing him by adding a draft prospect into the mix.

Of more pressing concern, however, is likely to be the left tackle position. The Steelers did not make an effort to bring back veteran Alejandro Villanueva, a move likely motivated by the depth of this year's tackle class in the draft.

If the Steelers can land a rookie tackle who can step in and can maintain solid protection for Roethlisberger while improving the line's ability to open holes for the backs, he will do more for an offense that badly stuttered down the stretch than any of the top runners in the draft.

Assuming they succeed in doing so, Roethlisberger will have an excellent support system around him once more, with Juju Smith-Schuster surprisingly returning to keep an excellent receiving corps intact.

Yet, after a dismal end to 2020, Roethlisberger's ability to make the most of that support system is firmly in doubt. As such, it would be no surprise to see the Steelers spend a day-two pick on a rookie passer who can provide better competition for a quarterback who is certainly not their long-term future and may not even be a short-term solution.

It's the end of an era in Pittsburgh, as the Steelers announced on Monday their longtime stadium will no longer be called Heinz Field. 

The Steelers will now play in Acrisure Stadium after reaching a 15-year sponsorship deal with the financial tech company. Financial terms were not released. 

"We are excited to partner with Acrisure for the naming rights to our stadium," Steelers President Art Rooney II said. "Acrisure provided us with an opportunity to ensure our stadium continues to be a valuable asset for our fans as well as keeping up with the market value of NFL stadiums."

The name change will take place immediately at the 68,400-seat venue, which had been known as Heinz Field since it opened in 2001. 

In their 21 seasons since its opening, the Steelers have won two Super Bowls, 10 division titles and made the playoffs 14 times. In this span, only the New England Patriots (80.5) and Green Bay Packers (73.8) have achieved a higher home winning percentage than Pittsburgh's 72.8 (122-45-2). 

Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be expected to win in routine fashion in their Wild Card round matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles, while the team they beat in last season's Super Bowl, the Kansas City Chiefs, are anticipated to end Ben Roethlisberger's career with a routine victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Sandwiched between those two potential blowouts is the game of the weekend as two storied rivals, the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys, contest a long overdue renewal of acquaintances in the postseason.

As Stats Perform's look at Sunday's action explains, both the Niners and the Cowboys possess the offense firepower to ensure the matchup lives up to its lofty expectations.

Philadelphia Eagles @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The defending champion Bucs are unsurprisingly the heavy favourites against an Eagles team that claimed nine wins in the regular season, none of which came against an opponent that made the postseason.

Not much stock will be put in the history of this encounter, even if it does make pleasant reading for any Eagles fans looking for reason for hope.

The Eagles and Buccaneers have split their 20 all-time meetings, with each team winning eight regular-season games and two in postseason play. Their only postseason matchup in Tampa was a 24-17 win by the Bucs in 1979, their first-ever playoff win.

All eyes at Raymond James Stadium will be on Bucs quarterback Tom Brady, who is set for another piece of history in his seemingly endless career.

Brady will be playing in his 19th postseason and in his 46th career playoff start, the most by any player in NFL history. At age 44, Brady will break his own record for the oldest quarterback to start a playoff game. Brady has more playoff wins since turning 36 years old (17) than any other QB has in his entire career.

Warning signs were there early that it may not be the Vikings' day as Defensive Player of the Year favourite Micah Parsons came roaring around the edge for a strip-sack, forcing a turnover from Minnesota's third play of the game.

In his return from injury, Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott scored the game's first touchdown, and his backfield partner Tony Pollard made it 14-3 in the second quarter when he took a short pass down the sideline for his own touchdown.

Pollard would strike again to begin the second half, this time getting on the end of a deep pass from Dak Prescott for a 68-yard touchdown, and it was 37-3 late in the third quarter after Elliott also forced his way in from the one-yard line for his second score.

Prescott completed a terrific 22 of his 25 passes to set a new season-high completion percentage (88 per cent), tallying 276 yards, and it was the first game this campaign he did not take a single sack.

Pollard and Elliott finished with 15 carries each, while Pollard also collected 109 receiving yards from six catches.

In his past three games, Pollard has had 326 rushing yards, 138 receiving yards and six touchdowns.

Adams delivers walk-off winner for Las Vegas

In a low-scoring, grinding contest, the Las Vegas Raiders needed some brilliance in overtime from Davante Adams to defeat the Denver Broncos 22-16.

There were no touchdowns in the second half as both sides continued to fight for field goals, and the Raiders came back to tie it at 16-16 after mounting a crucial drive with less than two minutes remaining in regulation.

In overtime, the Raiders won the toss and opted to receive the ball first, and it paid off. After a deep completion down the middle to Foster Moreau, Adams completely shook his coverage and got himself wide open for the game-winning score.

Adams finished with seven catches for 141 yards and both of the Raiders' touchdowns.

Prescott completed 28 of 39 passes for 330 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions, as the Cowboys reached 50 points for the first time since Super Bowl XXVII in 1993.

The Dallas QB recorded his fourth career game with 300 yards, four passing touchdowns and no interceptions, which is the most by any player in franchise history, going past Tony Romo (three). Prescott remarkably passed for 320 yards by half-time.

The Cowboys also became the first team this season to score in all three facets of the game as they dismantled Washington.

Ezekiel Elliott scored two touchdowns in the first half as the Cowboys opened up a 42-7 half-time lead. Elliott had nine carries for 37 yards and one rushing TD, along with one receiving touchdown.

Dallas had good contributions from receivers Amari Cooper (seven receptions for 85 yards and one TD), Dalton Schultz (eight receptions for 82 yards and one TD) and Malik Turner (three receptions for 82 yards and one TD).

Demarcus Lawrence also scored a TD after intercepting Washington QB's Taylor Heinicke's first-quarter pass with Chauncey Golston cleaning up in the end zone for a touchdown after Corey Clement blocked a punt.

The Cowboys, who have clinched the NFC East division earlier in the day after the Las Vegas Raiders beat the Denver Broncos 17-13, improve to 11-4 while Washington are 6-9.

Burrow blows against Lamar-less Ravens

Joe Burrow was in record-breaking form with the fourth most passing yards in a game in NFL history to lead the Cincinnati Bengals won 41-21 over the Baltimore Ravens, who were without Lamar Jackson.

Burrow completed 37 of 46 passes for 525 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions, which was a new franchise record for passing yards as the Bengals claimed a major AFC North win to improve to 9-6 ahead of the 8-7 Ravens on a four-game skid.

The Bengals quarterback also becomes the fourth player in NFL history to have 500 pass yards, four pass touchdowns and zero interceptions in a game, joining Derek Carr, Ben Roethlisberger and Y.A. Tittle.

Wide receivers Tee Higgins (12 receptions for 194 yards and two touchdowns) and Ja'Marr Chase (seven receptions for 125 yards) were excellent against the Ravens whose stand-in QB Josh Johnson had two TD passes.

Chiefs clinch AFC West yet again

The Kansas City Chiefs became the first team to ever clinch the AFC West title for six straight seasons after a 36-10 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw 23 of 30 passes for 258 yards with three TD passes, while Steelers veteran QB Ben Roethlisberger struggled with 23 of 35 passes for 159 yards with one TD and one interception.

Wide receiver Byron Pringle had six receptions for 75 yards with two touchdowns as the Chiefs improved to an unassailable 11-4 record in the AFC West, ahead of the Los Angeles Chargers (8-4) who lost 41-29 to the Houston Texans earlier on Sunday.

The contest, which had been postponed three times, came during a period in which the Ravens had at least one player test positive for 10 successive days.

They have also had to put 23 individuals on their reserve/COVID-19 list, either because they returned a positive test or had come into close contact with someone who contracted the virus.

Although that number was reduced to 17 for Wednesday's match, they were still forced to call on 10 players from their practice squad in order to fill their roster for the game, which saw the Steelers improve to 11-0.

The situation made the Ravens' preparations for the game far from ideal as their training facility had been closed for five days prior to Monday, with the team then limited to walk-throughs Monday and Tuesday.

Quarterback Robert Griffin III, who took the place of reigning MVP Lamar Jackson due to his positive coronavirus test, was the most vocal post-game, questioning whether the NFL had properly considered the players' safety as he also considered the impact of a lack of training.

"It's not about whether or not guys want to play," Griffin said. "It's about whether or not our safety is actually being taken into account. I can't say much more than that.

"I pulled a hamstring today. I've never pulled a hamstring in my life. You see guys going down left and right."

During the game, Griffin was seven of 12 for 33 yards and an interception, while he rushed 68 yards before being replaced by Trace McSorley as the Ravens (6-5) were left third in the AFC North.

But afterwards he was in little mood to discuss the game itself, as he also hit back at suggestions the team cannot be bothered to play, adding: "When people think, 'Oh, maybe they just don't want to play. They just don't want to do this.'

"It's not that -- we love football. We want to play football, but we also want to make sure our families are safe. Those things [family members becoming ill] don't get reported."

Ravens safety Chuck Clark chimed in as well, pondering why the players were allowed back into the training facility at all on Monday.

Clark said: "I don't know what comes with me saying this, but, of course, on Monday and Tuesday, we're wondering, 'Why were we allowed back in the building if we say everything is based off contact tracing and things like that, and that's what's told to us?'.

"We've got to look at some of those things."

It is the second time this season that Pittsburgh has had its schedule affected by COVID-19 after a visit to the Tennessee Titans in Week 4 was postponed due to an outbreak for the Titans.

That led to the NFL rescheduling the game for Week 7, when the Steelers were supposed to be on their bye. 

An NFL statement said: "This decision was made out of an abundance of caution to ensure the health and safety of players, coaches and game day personnel and in consultation with medical experts."

Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster took to Twitter to voice his displeasure with the league’s decision. 

'"First the NFL takes away our bye week because another team can't get their Covid situation together, now they take away our Thanksgiving primetime game for the same reason. Smh,'" Smith-Schuster posted. 

Pittsburgh have made a 10-0 start for the first time in franchise history and own a three-game lead over the Cleveland Browns in the AFC North.

Baltimore are alone in third place in the division with a 6-4 record after finishing an NFL-best 14-2 last season. 

The AFC North match-up was moved from Thanksgiving Day to the weekend after several Ravens players were placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list.

However, further cases followed, including a positive test for reigning NFL MVP Lamar Jackson, widely reported on Thursday.

Coach John Harbaugh then told ESPN the team would not be able to return to their training facility - shut down earlier in the week - until Monday at the earliest, putting the Steelers game in serious doubt.

And the second postponement of the game followed on Friday, also affecting next week's Thursday night fixture between Baltimore and the Los Angeles Rams.

Jackson would appear a major doubt to play in either match due to the recency of his positive test.

Back-up quarterback Robert Griffin III appeared to confirm Jackson had contracted the virus as he posted on social media.

Griffin wrote on Twitter on Thursday: "Praying for my brother @Lj_era8 and every player, staff member and their families dealing with COVID-19.

"Ensuring the safety of the entire organisation is important. Handling this outbreak within the team is bigger than football."

Jackson has had a more testing campaign in 2020, throwing for 15 TDs but six picks - already matching his total interceptions for 2019.

He has added three rushing scores, yet the 23-year-old has been sacked 24 times - one more than last year - for 138 yards and has had six fumbles.

However, the news still represents a blow to the Ravens, who can ill afford a third straight defeat after losing to the New England Patriots and the Tennessee Titans.

Baltimore have fallen to 6-4 and third in the division, a game behind the second-placed Cleveland Browns and four back of rivals the Steelers.

Heading into this game, Pittsburgh are the only remaining unbeaten team in the NFL, top of the AFC North with a 10-0 record.

Griffin has taken just 17 snaps across three games this season. Jackson had built a big lead on all three occasions, with Griffin completing only one pass this year and also throwing a pick.

Griffin's last regular season start came against the Steelers in 2019, when Baltimore ran out 28-10 winners but the QB threw 11-of-21 for no touchdowns and an interception.