The Steelers got past the Bengals in a penalty-marred, controversial game at Cincinnati that ended in the wee moments of Saturday night. Now the question is if they'll have any healthy players available to tackle the Denver Broncos on the road next week.
After the game, Mike Tomlin said he didn't know if Antonio Brown would be available next week, and didn't know how far his quarterback could throw the ball. Brown will be in the concussion protocol this week, while Roethlisberger's shoulder injury was bad enough that he wasn't put back into the close game until Landry Jones threw an interception that should have cost the Steelers a chance at winning.
"(Roethlisberger) was able to go back in the game, and I don’t know how far he was able to throw the ball," said Tomlin. "That’s why that last drive looked the way it looked in terms of feeling fluid. He didn’t throw many balls down the field, but he was good enough."
The Steelers racked up plenty of offense in their regular-season win over the Broncos, but that was in Pittsburgh, and it had Roethlisberger and Brown healthy. In Denver, if either of those guys can't go (or in Roethlisberger's case, can't throw the ball downfield), it's going to be an ugly situation for the Steelers offense.
The game will be played on Sunday, so Brown has an extra day to pass the necessary tests.
--Andy Richardson
