When healthy Ben Roethlisberger is one of the best quarterbacks in pro football. That fact should become clear again in the 2012 National Football League playoffs.
Big Ben leads his Pittsburgh Steelers into the American Football Conference Wildcard round on Sunday, 8 January. At 4.30pm the Steelers take on the Denver Broncos on CBS. The other AFC wildcard showdown is on Saturday, 7 January as the Cincinnati Bengals battle the Houston Texans at 4.30pm on NBC.
Pittsburgh heads into Sunday’s contest with a fifth seed after a 12-4 regular season put them in a tie for first in the AFC North. The Baltimore Ravens won both of their match-ups and got a first round bye with the second seed. Denver meanwhile hosts the Steelers after posting a 8-8 mark that was good enough to win the AFC West and clinch a fourth seed.
Though his Steelers are the lower seed, Roethlisberger should be favoured. The former Super Bowl Most Valuable Player fought through injuries this year to post 4,077 passing yards and 21 touchdowns (granted he had 14 interceptions). His main targets were Mike Wallace (1,193 receiving yards and eight TDs) and Antonio Brown (1,108 yards and two TDs).
If the Broncos hope to defend home turf, they will need to limit Pittsburgh’s aerial assault. Much of that responsibility falls on veterans Champ Bailey and Brian Dawkins in the secondary and Von Miller and Elvis Dumervil up front. They will have help in that the Steelers’ running game is severely limited with Rashard Mendenhall (928 yards, nine TDs) set to be sidelined with injury.
Denver will also need more heroics from Tim Tebow, the second year quarterback out of Florida. In only a handful of games this season Tebow (1,729 yards, 12 TDs) has become a legend, producing a number of fourth quarter comebacks and game-winning drives. At the same time he also stumbled badly when his running game (660 yards, six TDs) has been stalled.
Pittsburgh has proven playoff experience and is a solid team. For all of their offensive ability, it is a physical defence led by Troy Polamalu that should carry the Steelers to victory and provide an end to Tebow’s 2011 saga.
The other wildcard match-up has some drama as well. Cincinnati is the sixth seed after finishing with a 9-7 record, good enough for third in the AFC North. The Bengals take on a Texans team that clinched the AFC South with a 10-6 record and earned the third seed.
Cincy have a lot going for them. They have a balanced offensive attack steadied by running back Cedric Benson (1,067 yards, six TDs) and rookie tandems Andy Dalton (3,398 yards, 20 TDs at quarterback) and A.J. Green (1,057 yards, seven TDs at wide-out). Their defence is devoid of stars but is fundamentally good behind Geno Atkins (team-high eight sacks) and Thomas Howard (team-high 99 tackles).
Houston meanwhile have been decimated by injury. A bad right foot sidelined QB Matt Schaub while a broken left collarbone took down Matt Leinart, leaving rookie T.J. Yates to fight through a shoulder injury. Back Arian Foster had a bum hamstring and knee at the start of the year (he rebounded to post 1,224 yards and 10 TDs) and wide-out Andre Johnson has battled multiple hamstring problems.
The Texans defence, with Brian Cushing (114 tackles, six sacks) could keep things respectable. But chances are Cincy will outpace Houston’s depleted offence and win by a comfortable margin.
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