The Pittsburgh Steelers head into Week 17 with an opportunity to earn home-field advantage in the AFC Playoffs. If they are able to beat Cleveland with New England losing to the Jets, the playoffs will go through Heinz Field.
But apparently, keeping their stars healthy is more important than potentially locking up the top seed in the conference.
The team announced on Thursday that it will sit quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and running back Le’Veon Bell for Sunday’s game against the winless Browns.
Marcus Gilbert tells our @TimBenzPGH that the Steelers won't play Ben Roethlisberger or Le'Veon Bell in finale vs. Cleveland
— Joe Rutter (@tribjoerutter) December 28, 2017
Not only does this give Cleveland a real opportunity to win its first game of the season, it could lead to the AFC Playoffs going through New England. Then again, the Steelers might believe internally that the Jets will not beat New England, making Pittsburgh’s game against Cleveland rather meaningless.
Big Ben ends his 2017 regular season playing darn good football. He’s thrown 22 touchdowns compared to seven interceptions in 10 games since that dreadful five-pick performance against Jacksonville back in Week 5. Meanwhile, Bell ends the regular season having put up 1,946 total yards in 15 games.