There’s no love lost when you’re talking about divisional rivalries in the National Football League, especially when you’re referring to the AFC North. The division is home to some of the most storied rivalries in all of professional football, and Week 17 was no different with the Cleveland Browns blocking the Pittsburgh Steelers’ from securing a playoff spot and a divisional title for at least another week.
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Aaron Rodgers, who was seen jawing back and forth with a Cleveland defender moments after the 13-6 loss, was quick to note that “they’ve got a good defense” after arriving at the post-game stadium. Although, that’s not what he believes to be the reason for the frustrating loss.
“We didn’t execute very well on third downs,” Rodgers flatly explained. “I didn’t have a very good game and we didn’t run the ball really, like we wanted to, and we were pretty bad on third down.”
As far as the Browns are concerned, the Week 17 victory now stands as a monumental feather in the cap of their rookie signal caller, Shedeur Sanders. After enduring one the most embarrassing slides in the history of the NFL Draft and being buried at the bottom of Cleveland’s depth chart, he’s now managed to find his way to the starting role and out duel one of the greatest quarterbacks of the modern era.
Nevertheless, he’s choosing to focus on the task at hand. So even though he was able to come away with the win, he still believes that there’s plenty to work on.
“It felt good getting the win, especially because of the team we won against. I think it’s bittersweet because, I feel like, offense, we’ve gotta do our part. I got to do my part. We can’t be happy with only 10 points.”
It’s a humble approach for a player that has often been criticized for being eccentric, and it may even suggest that Sanders has matured throughout the past several weeks. However, Pittsburgh doesn’t care about any of that, as they now have to worry about the Baltimore Ravens in Week 17 and what lies beyond that.
Regardless as to whether or not they find their first playoff win of the past decade, the Steelers will have a plethora of decisions to make this offseason. The futures of Rodgers, Mike Tomlin, D.K. Metcalf, and several others, are all up in the air following the conclusion of the Steelers’ campaign.
A playoff win would go a long way towards securing Tomlin’s future, but with Rodgers expected to retire, the franchise will once again find itself in need of a quarterback, a situation that typically foreshadows more losses than wins. Of course, those are all conversations to be had later, as no one in Pittsburgh can see past the next seven days.
