The Bengals react happily to the Steelers’ elimination. We are pretty ecstatic ourselves. Peyton Manning told Emmanuel Sanders to be ready in case he fell over. Pass-rushing options are limited in the draft at pick no. 6. There has been only one non-Brady/Roethlisberger/Manning quarterback to lead an AFC team into the Super Bowl in the past 13 years.
Bengals players react to Steelers being eliminated
The Around the NFL staff compiled a few reactions from Bengals players to the Steelers’ elimination from the NFL playoffs. It’s fair to say that they still hold a little bit of a grudge against Pittsburgh for the way last week’s game ended for Cincy. Last week gave me a newly found dislike toward the Bengals, but I think many of their sentiments echo those of Ravens fans.
The Steelers Couldn’t Afford the Mistake They Made
Here at RSR, we are, by no means, above reveling in the misfortune of others, particularly when that misfortune is felt by the Steelers or the Patriots. This week, it’s the Steelers, and the Ravens’Â double agent, Fitzgerald Toussaint, fumbled the game away for the Steelers, which led to the Broncos’ game-winning touchdown.
Barry Petchesky of Deadspin discusses how all of the injuries to the Steelers reduced their margin of error to zero, and Toussaint’s fumble was their downfall. Of course, we don’t feel at all bad for them for their rash of injuries late in the season. At least, their starting quarterback could play, despite being carted off the field in the Wild Card round with a SHOULDER injury.
Peyton Manning Told Emmanuel Sanders to Be Ready for His Self-Sack
If you missed the play here it is:
Peyton Manning is old, so he uses new tricks like "pretend I am sacked" to avoid rushers. https://t.co/h7A6QHwer8 pic.twitter.com/4QLYRQqrMN
— SB Nation GIF (@SBNationGIF) January 18, 2016
Petchesky of Deadspin thinks Peyton Manning’s comments after his completion to Emmanuel Sanders are telling. He said:
“I was stepping up. When you fake that way and kind of get your head around, I felt that guy closing, so I stepped up and kind of leaned forward. My momentum kind of just took me down, I guess. I didn’t think that he had touched me. I told Emmanuel just to kind of be alert in case I fall down, get back up, to be uncovered.”
Petchesky thinks this means that Peyton knew he was giving himself up with an intent to deceive the defense. But you could still interpret that Manning knows he is old and clumsy, and he often falls over when trying to make sharp movements with his feet in his old age. Whatever the case may be, the call would have been a hard one to make in real time.
Ravens Eyeing Pass-Rushers, But Options Limited At Pick No. 6
Garrett Downing of Ravens media details Mel Kiper’s explanation of why fans shouldn’t expect the Ravens to go with a pass rusher early in the draft. There aren’t very many options outside of Joey Bosa, who is unlikely to fall out of the top 5. One of the players who may have been of interest, Notre Dame OLB Jaylon Smith, will miss the entire first season of his NFL career. They should look to the later rounds if they want to find a contributor.
Anthony Levine waiting on Snoop Dogg
In case you don’t remember, Snoop Dogg went on an expletive-filled rant a few weeks ago about the Ravens on Instagram, complaining about how the Ravens always give the Steelers a tough game (Poor babies). In response, Ravens DB Anthony Levine had this to post to his Instagram today:
The AFC’s lone wolf of the past 13 years
In 12 of the last 13 years, the starting QB of the AFC team in the Super Bowl has been either Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, or Ben Roethlisberger. The lone exception comes in 2012…
 12 of the 13 last Super Bowls will have either featured Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, or Ben Roethlisberger.  A photo posted by SportsCenter (@sportscenter) on Jan 17, 2016 at 5:47pm PST
It would be great to see Flacco up in that graphic again next year. The Ravens have a lot of work to do this offseason in order to make that happen.
