Antonio Brown led the Steelers to the AFC North title with two touchdowns in Pittsburgh’s 27-17 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals last Sunday night, sending them into the NFL playoffs.
The Steelers will face their arch rivals the Baltimore Ravens at Heinz Field Saturday, Jan. 3 (on NBC) in the first round of the playoffs. The Ravens defeated the Cleveland Browns 20-10Â but had to wait for the Kansas City Chiefs to defeat the San Diego Chargers 19-7 in order to qualify for the playoffs.
The Steelers (11-5) victory over the Bengals (10-4-1) moved them into the third seed in the AFC playoffs behind the AFC East champions New England Patriots (12-4) and the AFC West champions Denver Broncos (12-4), who will have a bye week. Even though the Steelers and the Indianapolis Colts, the AFC South winner, have identical records, the Steelers are seeded ahead of them because they defeated the Colts earlier this season. The Colts will host the Bengals Sunday, Jan.4.
The winners of these two games will take on the Patriots and the Broncos.
Brown scored on two spectacular plays, a 71-yard punt return and a 63-yard reception from Ben Roethlisberger. He was without a doubt the key to the win, in that without his 14 points the Steelers would have lost 13-17.