Tag: Pittsburgh Steelers

Sources: Raiders set to acquire WR Antonio Brown from Steelers

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photo from bleacherreport.com file: Antonio Brown joins the Oakland Raiders in a three year deal, the former Pittsburgh Steelers wideout is looking forward to catching passes from Raider quarterback Derek Carr

By Joe Hawkes-Beamon
SRS Contributor

The Pittsburgh Steelers have agreed to trade star wide receiver Antonio Brown to the Oakland Raiders, a source close to the situation told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Brown announced the move via his Instagram account late Saturday night wearing his No. 84 in the Silver and Black of the Raiders.

The trade cannot be made official until the new league year, which begins this Wednesday.

According to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, Brown will receive a new three-year contract at $50.125 million, with a maximum value of $54.125 million. Brown will earn $30.125 million in guarantees. He was due no guaranteed money in his previous contract.

Armed with three first-round picks (No. 4, No. 23, and No. 27 respectively), the Raiders didn’t have to part ways with any of those precious picks for Brown.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported the Raiders will send 2019 third- and fifth-round picks to the Steelers as compensation. Pittsburgh originally thought that they were going to send Brown to the Buffalo Bills, but discussions broke down between the two clubs late Thursday night into early Friday morning.

After taking a beating last season for trading away stars in defensive end/linebacker Khalil Mack (to Chicago) and wide receiver Amari Cooper (to Dallas), the Raiders needed to land an impact player this offseason.

By all accounts, the All-Pro wide receiver is an impact player that makes the Raiders better today than they were yesterday with this trade. Brown should become Raiders quarterback Derek Carr’s best friend, with his penchant for getting open and making acrobatic catches in traffic.

In 130 career games, the 30-year-old Central Michigan product has 11,207 receiving yards and 74 touchdowns. He is the only receiver in NFL history to have six consecutive seasons with at least 100 receptions, 1,200 receiving yards and eight touchdowns.

In 2018, the 30-year-old Brown hauled in 104 catches for 1,297 yards for an NFL-best 15 touchdown for the Steelers.

The Raiders should call the Steelers for Antonio Brown

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Photo credit: musiccitymiracles.com

By Joe Hawkes-Beamon
SRS Contributor

There have been multiple reports in recent days that the Raiders would be interested in trading for Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown, which Oakland should do in a heartbeat. Armed with three first-round picks in this April’s NFL draft and flushed with nearly $73 million in salary cap space per Overthecap.com, the Raiders can send one of those picks to Pittsburgh and pay the going rate for the dynamic Brown.

Imagine quarterback Derek Carr throwing touchdowns to a wide receiver like Brown?

Carr threw for 4,049 yards with 19 touchdowns and 11 interceptions last season, much of that with insufficient talent at wide receiver. After the team traded away Amari Cooper to Dallas near midseason, free-agent addition Jordy Nelson was slowed by injuries for much of the season.

In fact, Carr’s most trusted receiver in 2018 was tight end Jared Cook, who had a career-year across the board. Cook had career-highs in catches (68), yards (896) and touchdowns (six) is an unrestricted free-agent and chances of him returning to the Silver and Black are a possibility.

But Antonio Brown would give Carr a legit weapon that other teams would have to fear. Brown has the ability to score from anywhere on the football field and the way that Raiders head coach Jon Gruden can design plays, getting Brown the ball shouldn’t be a problem.

Brown finished with 104 catches for 1,297 yards and 15 touchdowns, which led the NFL in 2018. Last season was the sixth-straight season that Brown recorded at least 100 catches, an NFL record per the Elias Sports Bureau.

With the Steelers reportedly seeking a first-round pick, the Raiders could ship either their own No. 4, or the No. 24 (from Chicago) or the No. 27 (from Dallas) respectively to Pittsburgh for Brown.

Just a thought, but the Raiders should make the move.

Headline Sports podcast with Tony Renteria: No scoring, just boring or too much Pats in low Super Bowl ratings; Raiders still out of a site to play; Domestic abuse accusation at Antonio Brown; plus more

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Photo credit: @NFL

On the Headline Sports podcast with Tony Renteria:

#1 Lots of criticism towards last Sunday’s Super Bowl in Atlanta–which one weighed in as most critical of the game, boring no scoring or just seeing the Patriots in it almost every year?

#2 The Oakland Raiders find themselves in another conundrum they have to find a site to play at for 2019 and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wants them to get it done soon because the NFL needs to start making their schedules for next season

#3 The Pittsburgh Steelers’ Antonio Brown in the latest of incidents allegedly in another domestic abuse case in January no arrests have been made in the case and Brown has said in the last month that he wanted out of Pittsburgh and wants to play in San Francisco.

#4 Former Tennessee Titans and Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Vince Young has been arrested for the second time in three years for drunken driving charges. In this recent arrest, Young was fined $300 and ordered to do 60 hours community service.

#5 The New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge said he would welcome Bryce Harper to the Yankees if Harper decided to play in New York. Judge said a Harper acquisition would be an added improvement.

Tony does the Headline Sports podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Derek Carr’s two TDs in the fourth quarter lifts Oakland over Pittsburgh, 24-21

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Photo credit: @offclockpodcast

By Joe Hawkes-Beamon
SRS Contributor

OAKLAND, Calif. — Derek Carr throws a 6-yard touchdown to tight end Derek Carrier with 21 seconds left in the fourth quarter before Chris Boswell slipped on the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum turf as he attempted a 40-yard game-tying field goal as the Oakland Raiders defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers, 24-21 on Sunday afternoon.

Carr threw two touchdowns in the final period of the game, leading to his 16th career fourth-quarter comeback. In the contest, Carr completed 25-of-34 passes for 322 yards and no interceptions for the Raiders (3-10). Carr found tight end Lee Smith for a 3-yard touchdown that gave Oakland a 17-14 lead with 5:20 left in the game.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Carr has not thrown an interception in his last 261 passing attempts this season, which is second-most behind Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ (359). Rodgers, a future Hall of Famer, broke Tom Brady’s (who will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer for sure once he’s done playing) record of 358-straight passes without an interception through the 2010 and 2011 seasons.

After suffering a rib injury in the first half, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger played just one series in the second half, leading the Steelers to the go-ahead touchdown, a 1-yard score by wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, that gave the Steelers a 21-17 lead with 2:55 left in the game.

Roethlisberger passed for 282 yards and two touchdowns on 25-of-29 passes, while backup quarterback Joshua Dobbs struggled, completing 4-of-9 passes for 24 yards and one interception.

With fellow wide receiver Antonio Brown having a quiet day with just five catches for 35 yards, Smith-Schuster finished with eight catches for 130 yards and two touchdowns. Smith-Schuster scored his first touchdown of the game in the second quarter (another 1-yard score) from Roethlisberger that gave the Steelers  their first lead of the the game, 14-10 with 10 seconds remaining before halftime.

The play was initially ruled incomplete on the field, but was overturned by the replay booth after video showed Smith-Schuster had both feet down in bounds. At times, the crowd that made up the 53,960 in attendance at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum looked and sounded like Heinz Field with the strong presence of Steelers fans in attendance.

But the real story was how cool Carr was on the Raiders’ final drive of the game.

On the drive that started on their own 25-yard line, Carr led Oakland on an 8-play, 75-yard drive in 2:34 for the go-ahead score to Carrier.

Carr completed 4-of-6 passes for 68 yards (39 of those yards coming on a completion  to wide receiver Seth Roberts) down the middle of the field into Pittsburgh’s territory.

Tight end Jared Cook finished with seven catches for 116 yards (all game-highs) for Oakland, giving him his back-to-back 100-yard receiving games.

Carr, Raiders win it in the end against the Steelers 24-21

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Photo credit: @E_Geerlings

By Jeremy Kahn

OAKLAND — It seems whenever the Oakland Raiders and the Pittsburgh Steelers face off against each other, it is going to be a pier six brawl between the two longtime rivals.

Derek Carr threw a six-yard touchdown pass to Derek Carrier with 21 seconds remaining in the game, as the Raiders hung on to defeat the Steelers 24-21 before a crowd of 53,960 at the Coliseum.

After the Carr touchdown pass to Carrier, Ryan Switzer returned the kickoff to the Steelers 30-yard line and then Ben Roethlisberger went into action for the second time in as many series.

Roethlisberger found James Washington for a five-yard catch, and then the wide receiver out of Oklahoma State played hook-and-ladder with Juju Smith-Schuster, who took the ball at the 35 and rumbled down to the Raiders 22-yard line, where he was tackled by Raiders Safety Karl Joseph.

Chris Boswell then came on for a potential game-tying 40-yard field goal; however, Boswell slipped on the Coliseum grass and his kick went awry, giving the Raiders an improbable victory.

Carr was magical on that final drive, as he found Seth Roberts for a diving catch for 39 yards down to the Steelers seven-yard line.

Jalen Richard then gained a yard on first down, but then Carr was unable to complete a pass on the next two downs, setting up a fourth-and-goal and then Carr found Carrier with what proved to be the game-winning touchdown.

Roethlisberger, who was forced to leave the game at the end of the first half due to a rib injury came back on the field, like he was Willis Reed in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals for the New York Knicks against the Los Angeles Lakers and led them on a six-play 75-yard drive to give the Steelers a 21-17 lead with 2:59 remaining, as he found Smith-Schuster for his second touchdown of the day.

On the Raiders previous series prior to the Roethlisberger touchdown pass, Carr found Lee Smith in the end zone to give the Raiders 17-14 lead.

It was a good day for Carr, as he went 25-for-34 for 322 yards passing and two touchdowns, while Jared Cook led all receivers with seven catches for 116 yards.

Doug Martin led the Raiders ground game, as he carried the ball 16 times for 32 yards and opened the scoring with a one-yard over-the-top touchdown on the Raiders first series of the afternoon.

Stevan Ridley got the Steelers even in the second quarter, as he scored on a two-yard run much to the delight of the allegiances of Black and Gold Steelers fans that invaded the Coliseum.

Daniel Carlson gave the Raiders for the second time in the game, as he kicked a 44-yard field goal. After the Carlson field goal gave the Raiders the lead, Boswell missed a 39-yard field goal that would have tied up the game.

The Raiders were unable to take advantage of the missed field goal, and Johnny Townsend was forced to punt the ball back to the Raiders, which helped the Steelers out in the long run.

Roethlisberger drove the Steelers down the field, and the drive when Roethlisberger found Smith-Schuster for a one-yard touchdown pass with 10 seconds remaining in the half.

Jon Gruden challenged a call in the third quarter that looked like Smith-Schuster was out of bounds; however, he caught the ball inbounds and the Raiders lost a timeout. Luckily for the Raiders, the drive ended when Josh Dobbs, who replaced Roethlisberger at quarterback, his pass to former San Francisco 49ers tight end Vance McDonald was stopped for no gain and the Raiders took over on downs.

Unfortunately, on the Raiders next drive, Carr was hit Mike Hilton, where he fumbled the ball and it was recovered by Hilton.

On the ensuing Steelers series, it looked like that Dobbs fumbled the ball; however, the officials called it incomplete, but Gruden challenged the ruling, but the call stood.

Dobbs gave the ball back to the Raiders on the next play, as his pass intended for Antonio Brown was intercepted by Tahir Whitehead.

The two teams traded touchdowns in the fourth quarter, but in the end, the gods were on the Raiders side, as Boswell missed his second field goal of the afternoon that sent the Raiders players and the fans into a frenzy.

NOTES: It was a rough day for the Raiders with penalties, as they were called for 13 penalties for 130 yards.

UP NEXT: After a two-game home stand that ended 1-1, the Raiders head to Cincinnati, where they will face the Bengals next Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium. Kickoff set for 10:00 am PST on CBS.

Oakland Raiders podcast with Joe Hawkes Beamon: First place Steelers come to the Coliseum against a Raider team looking for the next win

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On the Oakland Raiders podcast with Joe Hawkes Beamon:

#1 The Oakland Raiders and Pittsburgh Steelers were originally scheduled to be the Sunday Night Game, but were moved to a 1:00 PM time slot. Did the Raiders poor season have anything to do with them being moved from Sunday Night Football?

#2 The Steelers make their first trip to Oakland since 2013 when the Raiders defeated the Steelers 21-18. The Raiders have a 12-10 edge over the Steelers in their all-time meetings record.

#3 The Raiders have a three-game home winning streak over the Steelers when playing in Oakland. Could the Raiders get a little of that sensation this Sunday when the Steelers come to town?

#4 The Raiders’ offense was humming, with big performances by quarterback Derek Carr, tight end Jared Cook, wide receiver Jordy Nelson, and running back Jalen Richard on offense from last Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs.

#5 The Steelers first in the AFC North (7-4-1) and the Raiders (2-10) with only two wins this season. Do the Raiders have a chance even with home field?

Joe does the Raiders podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Raiders welcome the Steelers to the Black Hole Sunday

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Photo credit: @mohurstjr

By Joe Hawkes-Beamon
SRS Contributor

OAKLAND, Calif. — In a game that was originally set for NBC’s Sunday Night Football, the Raiders will complete their two-game homestand when they will take on the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum this Sunday in a classic AFC tilt. Kickoff is set for 1:25 p.m. PT on FOX.

The Steelers are making their first trip to Oakland since 2013, where they lost the Raiders 21-18. Oakland holds a slim 12-10 record over Pittsburgh all-time in 22 meetings, and are riding a three-game winning streak over the Steelers at home.

Oakland (2-10) lost to their bitter AFC West rival, the Kansas City Chiefs in a 40-33 shootout last Sunday at home in Week 13. The Raiders’ offense was humming, with big performances by quarterback Derek Carr, tight end Jared Cook, wide receiver Jordy Nelson, and running back Jalen Richard.

Carr threw for 285 yards on 29-of-38 passes with three touchdowns and no interceptions. With his 14th completion of the day, Carr moved into second place in NFL history for most completions (1,655) through a player’s first five years, trailing only Peyton Manning (1,749) with four games remaining this season per the Elias Sports Bureau. Carr also moved into second place on the all-time passing list for the franchise with 17,802 yards, passing Rich Gannon.

Cook hauled in his sixth touchdown catch of the season, establishing a new career-high. The tight end finished with seven catches for 100 yards. Nelson tied a team season-high 10 catches in the game, six of them going for first downs.

Richard showed great versatility against the Chiefs, finishing with 126 yards from scrimmage, including a career-high 95 yards on the ground on six carries for a 15.8 yards per carry average for the game.

But it wasn’t all great for Oakland offensively, as the team fumbled the ball four times (losing three), all coming from Richard and fellow running backs Doug Martin and DeAndre Washington.

The addition of running back C.J. Anderson, whom the team signed on Wednesday for depth, will be interesting to watch down the home stretch of the regular season.

Anderson, a six-year veteran who is just 27-years-old, was most recently with the Carolina Panthers this season appearing in just nine games with just 24 carries for 104 yards. Anderson signed with Carolina in the offseason after being released by the Denver Broncos.

In his first five seasons with the Denver Broncos from 2013-17, Anderson rushed for 3,051 yards and 20 touchdowns on 693 carries while earning a Super Bowl ring in 2015. During his final season in Denver, Anderson rushed for a career-high 1,007 yards and three touchdowns on 245 carries while starting all 16 games.

Pittsburgh enters Sunday’s contest losers of their last two games, the most recent to the visiting Los Angeles Chargers 33-30 at Heinz Field on Sunday Night Football. The Steelers (7-4-1) sit atop the AFC North heading into the final month of the regular season.

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger leads an offense that ranks fourth in the NFL in scoring, averaging 28.8 points per game. Through 12 games this season, Roethlisberger leads the NFL in passing yards (3,945) to go along with 26 touchdowns, but his 13 interceptions are second-most behind Jets rookie quarterback Sam Darnold’s 14 for most in the league.

The bulk of the Steelers’ areal attack is highlighted by their explosive wide receivers in Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster.

The duo has combined for 164 catches (Smith-Schuster leads the team with 83 to Brown’s 81), for 2,132 yards (Smith-Schuster leads the team with 1,104 to Brown’s 1,028), and 16 touchdowns (Brown has 12 to Smith-Schuster’s 4).

Second-year running back James Connor has filled the shoes of dynamic running back Le’Veon Bell nicely this season. While Bell has sat out the entire season in a contract dispute with the organization, Connor is seventh in the NFL in rushing with 909 yards and 12 touchdowns on 201 carries.

Connor is third on the team with 52 catches.

Connor will miss Sunday’s game after suffering an ankle injury in Week 13 to the Chargers.

Following Sunday’s game, the Raiders will travel to Cincinnati to clash with the Bengals in Week 15 to round out the AFC North portion of their schedule for 2018. Oakland will return home to face the Broncos on Christmas Eve in Week 16.

Pittsburgh will return home for a big AFC showdown with the New England Patriots in Week 15 before heading down to New Orleans to face off the Saints in Week 16.

The Fantasy Football Doctors Thanksgiving Weekend Show: Finish off the holiday a winner!

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Your hosts: Dr. Vasu Vaddiparty & Dr. Charlie O

  • Fitzmagic is over. Is Winston a good play this week?

  • Tom Brady is nursing his knee. Should you still start the “O.G.”?

  • How well will Russell Wilson play in Carolina?

  • How will Cam Newton fare vs. the Seahawks at home in Carolina?

  • Can “Big Ben” keep it going in Denver against the Broncos?

  • Is Eli Manning the sleeper QB play of the week?

  • Matt Breida is a must start at RB vs. the Bucs

  • Peyton Barber may be a strong start in the backfield vs. the 49ers

  • The Pats’ Sony Michel could be a big play with Brady having a bum knee

  • Look for Doug Baldwin to be a prime target for Russell Wilson

  • What will Josh Gordon do on Sunday for the Pats vs. the Jets?

  • DJ Moore should see lots of targets from Cam Newton

  • The Steelers’ Vance McDonald will have another productive game at TE in Denver

  • The Broncos’ TE Jeff Heuerman is expected to do well versus the Steelers

Turkey Fantasy

Do you want to win? Of course, you do! Push play and find out who to start and sit to come away with a victory this weekend. The playoffs are coming!

NFL Playoffs Podcast with David Zizmor: A look at eight teams that’s battling it out for the Super Bowl

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NFL Playoff Podcast with David Zizmor:

Sunday’s game AFC: Jacksonville 10 Buffalo 3

AFC Divisional Round

Saturday: Tennessee Titans @ New England Patriots

Sunday: Jacksonville Jaguars @ Pittsburgh Steelers

Sunday’s game NFC: New Orleans 31 vs. Carolina 26

NFC: Divisional Round

Saturday: Atlanta Falcons @ Philadelphia Eagles

Sunday: New Orleans Saints @ Minnesota Vikings

David goes through the NFL Playoff schedule for this weekend at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

NFL Wild Card Weekend Preview: Road teams get it done

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

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If you’re like me, you have to love the single-elimination that is the NFL playoffs. One game to decide who moves on and who is packing up for a long offseason after a grueling 17 weeks (16-game) NFL season.

No disrespect to the NBA, MLB, and NHL for their playoff series’s where if you lose a game, its not the end of the world, but when you talk about the playoffs in any sport, in all honesty, the NFL playoffs is where its at.

The march to Super Bowl 50 on Feb. 7 in Santa Clara starts Saturday with Wild Card Weekend and with some intriguing match ups, I hope you’re like me (a football die-hard), ready for the games to begin.

Since the NFL instituted the Wild Card round in 1978, only 10 teams have made it to the Super Bowl.

Out of those 10 teams, six have gone on to win the Lombardi Trophy (the 1980 Oakland Raiders, the 1997 Denver Broncos, the 2000 Baltimore Ravens, the 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers, the 2007 New York Giants, and 2010 Green Bay Packers.)

With all that said, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the road teams get it done this weekend.

Kansas City Chiefs (11-5); 5th seed at Houston Texans (9-7); 4th seed –  Saturday 4:35 p.m. ET/1:35 p.m. PT – ESPN

Sure its been 22 years since Kansas City has won a playoff game (currently tied with the Detroit Lions for the most consecutive playoff losses with eight), but the Chiefs are arguably the hottest team in the NFL closing out the season with 10 straight wins.

Remember, people counted out the Chiefs when they were 1-5 and lost star running back Jamaal Charles for the season with a torn ACL.

Quarterback Alex Smith has played some of his best football for a Chiefs team that defeated the Texans 27-20 in Week 1 down in Houston. Smith threw for 243 yards and three touchdowns, two to tight end Travis Kelce in that game.

Kansas City’s seventh-ranked defense harassed Texans quarterback Brian Hoyer, sacking him four times and intercepting the signal caller once.

Houston does have a dynamic player on offense in wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who caught nine passes for 98 yards and two touchdowns against Kansas City in Week 1.

Hopkins had a career year with 111 catches for 1,521 yards and 11 touchdowns (all Texans records), while becoming the only wide receiver in NFL history to have 100-yard receiving games with four different quarterbacks this season (Hoyer, Ryan Mallet, T.J. Yates, and Brandon Weeden.)

No wonder why Hopkins, along with teammate defensive end J.J. Watt (NFL-best 17.5 sacks), were selected as All-Pros at their respective positions.

This could be a close game, but the Chiefs look prime to snap its playoff drought.

Chiefs 24 – Texans 19

Pittsburgh (10-6); 6th seed at Cincinnati Bengals (12-4); 3rd seed –  Saturday 8:15 p.m. ET/5:15 p.m. PT – CBS

These two AFC North rivals are meeting up for the third time this season after splitting two games during the regular season, each winning on the others’ home field.

Cincinnati won the AFC North, but are heading into the game with backup quarterback A.J. McCarron under center. McCarron will make his fourth start for the Bengals after coming in for starter Andy Dalton, who broke his thumb in Cincinnati’s 33-20 home loss to Pittsburgh on Dec. 13.

Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis (0-6) is still seeking his first career postseason victory. If Cincinnati doesn’t win Saturday, will Lewis be patrolling the sidelines for the Bengals in 2016?

Just like Chiefs, the Bengals are on a seven-game losing streak in the playoffs (25 years to be exact.) In fact, Cincinnati is the only team in NFL history to have lost four consecutive opening-round games.

Sure with Dalton being out, Lewis does have a built in excuse, but the way coaches are being fired left and right in the NFL, Lewis’ chair is no longer hot, its got to be near nuclear.

Pittsburgh is led by two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who may have to win the game with his arm since the Steelers’ ground game has been decimated by injuries.

Starting running back Le’Veon Bell was loss for the season with a knee injury in Week 8, while backup DeAngelo will not suit up Saturday night after suffering an ankle injury in Pittsburgh’s 28-12 victory in Cleveland. Fitzgerald Toussaint and Jordan Todman will share carries in the backfield.

It was Pittsburgh’s fourth win in five games to close out the regular season.

Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown is a match up nightmare for any team. Brown finished tied with Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones with 136 catches, and second behind Jones with 1,834 yards, and 10 touchdowns.

Pittsburgh’s defense, which hasn’t been as dominate this year as its been in years past, are an opportunistic bunch. The Steelers’ 48 sacks trailed only Denver and New England and their 17 interceptions were tied for sixth in the season.

In their last 16 trips to Paul Brown Stadium, Pittsburgh is 13-3.

As much as I want to pick Cincinnati, there is something that is telling me that Pittsburgh will continue its dominance in the Queen City.

Steelers 27 – Bengals 23

Seattle Seahawks (10-6); 6th seed at Minnesota  Vikings (11-5); 3rd seed –  Sunday 1:05 p.m. ET/10:05 a.m. PT – NBC

If there is one team that is the most dangerous in the playoffs, its got to be the sixth-seeded Seattle Seahawks.

We’ve become accustomed of seeing the two-time NFC champion hammer teams behind the deafening sound of the 12th Man at the CLink during their last two Super Bowl runs, but if there is a team that isn’t afraid of going anywhere and playing anybody with the stakes are at their highest, its Seattle.

Whenever you have a quarterback like Russell Wilson, who became the first quarterback in NFL history to pass for over 4,000 yards, 30 touchdowns, and rush for over 500 yards, and a take no prisoners defense headlined by cornerback Richard Sherman and free safety Earl Thomas, you definitely have a chance to win.

Running back Marshawn Lynch was ruled out for Sunday’s game after being listed as questionable throughout the week. Lynch missed Seattle’s final seven games of the season with a sports hernia.

“Beast Mode” is a big-time playoff performer, rushing for over 100 yards in six of his 10 career playoff games.

Seattle steamrolled Minnesota 38-7 on Dec. 6 thanks in large part to the NFL’s second-ranked defense limiting Vikings running back Adrian Peterson to a season-low 18 yards rushing on eight carries.

If Minnesota has any chance to win on Sunday, they will need more from the NFL rushing champion. With the temperature expected to be below zero at kickoff, Peterson is expected to get a lot of carries.

I’m not sold on Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.

Bridgewater tends to lock on his receivers and rarely takes chances down field and in the playoffs, you need a quarterback who isn’t afraid of throwing the ball and  Bridgewater looks like a deer in headlights.

Yes, Minnesota does have a good defense, but Seattle and Wilson with their championship pedigree will find a way to make a few more plays than the Vikings, who are hosting their first playoff game in six years Sunday.

Seahawks 27 – Vikings 9

Green Bay Packers (10-6); 5th seed at Washington Redskins (9-7); 4th seed –  Sunday 4:40 p.m. ET/1:40 p.m. PT – FOX

Wild Card Weekend concludes with what has to be the trickiest game to decipher when the Packers travel to Landover, MD to face the Redskins.

Which Packers team will show up on Sunday? The one that looked virtually unbeatable with a 6-0 start, or the team that went 4-6 down the stretch that saw Green Bay lose the NFC North crown to Minnesota at Lambeau Field in Week 17?

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers finished the season with his lowest completion percentage (60.7) since 2006, and his lowest passer rating (92.7).

Since Rodgers led the Packers to a Super Bowl victory in 2010, Green Bay has lost thee of its last four playoff games. During that march to the Super Bowl, the Packers became just the fourth team to win back-to-back-to-back road playoff games.

Washington is playing with some serious house money with starting quarterback Kirk Cousins having his best season of his career.

Since Week 7, the fourth-year pro leads the league in completion percentage (72.4) and passer rating (119.1) to go along with 23 touchdown passes and only three interceptions. Cousins is one of four quarterbacks to throw at least one touchdown in all 16 games this season, helping Washington win the NFC East.

I like the weapons that Cousins has at his disposal, in particular smooth tight end in Jordan Reed emerging as Cousins’ top target. In his last four games, Reed has been on a tare hauling 29 catches for 378 yards and five touchdowns.

This game could be a shootout as both teams’ defenses are nothing special to write home about. Green Bay is ranked 15th in the league in total defense, while Washington is ranked 28th.

Green Bay has to do a better job of protecting its franchise quarterback, who has been sacked 13 times over the past two games.

In the team’s most recent victory over the Redskins, a 38-20 victory at Lambeau Field for Green Bay, Rodgers shredded Washington throwing a career-high 480 yards and four touchdowns.

Green Bay has won five of their last six meetings against Washington.

Green Bay 30 – Washington 24

Stats provided by Elias Sports Bureau, NFL.com,  and STATS LLC.