Steelers 2nd Round Playoffs: Team Quotes and Comments
By Zack Goncz
The Steelers have a few things to say after the heartbreaking loss to Denver in the playoffs on Sunday
The Steelers lost a tough one to the Broncos on Sunday. It was a tough day for Steeler Nation. So many what ifs. What if this player, that player, any of three all-pro players who missed last game were there. What if that fumble, or what if we got that interception on the last TD drive. Who cares?
Like the dutiful existentialists we are we must soldier on and worry only about the things we can control. Which at this point is nothing. Season’s over gang. It was a long strange trip. The injuries were so great and the schedule so difficult it’s frankly a miracle the Steelers got this far. It really says a lot about Tomlin.
It was a tough game because in many respects, particularly on offense, the Steelers out played the Broncos. The ball just bounced the other way a few times. That’s football.
But the Steelers start fresh next season with a full roster of players yet to be intentionally injured by Vontaze Burfict and a defense that is now actually pretty darn good. But before we start looking forward let’s look back one more time and hear from the team.
The Fumble
Per Christine D’Antonio of CBS Sports, Toussaint said after the game, “I have to protect the ball. No excuses for that. In that situation, I put it on myself. Ben said just to keep my head up and take ownership of it. It’s a team game, so they’re going to be by my side.”
Roethisberger said of the exchange, “I told him, I said, we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him the way that him and Fitz played, especially last game and to be out there today. This is not all on them by any means, it’s on all of us. So proud of the way he played”
Tomlin
Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette quoted Martavis Bryant saying of Tomlin, “There was a lot of emotion. I never saw him cry like that. I cried too. It’s just a hurt feeling. It’s just really hard right now. Because of the adversity we faced. It’s a hurtful feeling.”
Heyward echoed that sentiment, saying, “I’m glad I have a coach like that. It hurts even worse, because he’s right in the battle with us.”
Harrison’s Future
James Harrison said, according to Kristie Chiapelli of Sporting News, “It’s a little tougher for me because I’m in a situation where I’m a little uncertain about what I’m going to do. I can’t say that was my final game right now, I wouldn’t be comfortable saying that. Me wanting to come back and me coming back are two different things. I’m 37 years old, I’ll be 38. It’s not as easy as I would hope. I’m not ready to make a decision. When that time comes, you guys will hear about it, I guess.”
Injuries and the Game Overall
Will Graves of AP Sports, from Macon.com, reported that Miller said of the year, “Yeah you think about it but I don’t know in the years that I’ve played, probably not many years that that roster, that the starting 11 guys you start Game 1 with or training camp with is there at the end. It’s how you deal with it and I feel like this team dealt with them time and time again.”
Ben added, “We dealt with a lot of issues this year. A lot of injuries, a lot of next man up, people going down. A lot of teams just kind of quit, and we didn’t. We stepped up and got to this point.”
Bryant on his performance without Brown, “The plan for me was to stay focused, stay focused on my job and go out and handle my business.”
Roethlisberger said of the offense outperforming Denver’s but still scoring less, “We were able to move the ball, and then we just, we kind of get down there and hurt ourselves. Part of that was because they’re the No. 1 defense in the world.”
Mike Tomlin said, “Bottom line, you lose the turnover battle in a hostile environment against good people and it’s going to cost you. And it cost us today. I’ve been doing this nine years. There’s only one year where the conversation ended in the manner in which you want it to end. Such is life in this business.”
Next: Steelesr at Broncos: What went wrong
Stay warm Steeler Nation. On to the offseason … and Super Bowl 51?