The Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t earn a bye through the first week of the 2017 NFL playoffs, so Mike Tomlin’s team used the extra game to showcase how deadly the league’s hottest team can be. Pittsburgh won its eighth straight game Sunday, sprinting past the Miami Dolphins in a 30-12 victory at Heinz Field.
NFL playoffs bracket 2017: Le’Veon Bell, Antonio Brown lead Steelers to date with Chiefs
The AFC side of the bracket is set, and Pittsburgh is for real.
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The outcome of this one was hardly in question. With 6:50 left to play in the first quarter, Pittsburgh led 14-0 and Antonio Brown already had 119 receiving yards and a pair of touchdowns.
The Steelers set the tone early, using a beautifully executed wide receiver screen to take an early 7-0 lead. Brown would score his second long touchdown of the day on the team’s second drive, beating the Dolphins’ secondary over the middle and sprinting to the end zone to give his team a comfortable lead early on.
One drive later, Pittsburgh decided to give its wideouts a rest and just handed the ball to Le’Veon Bell nine straight times. The end result? 83 yards and a touchdown to make the score 20-3.
Bell finished the day with a franchise playoff record 167 yards on 29 carries. He also scored two touchdowns.
Bell and Brown’s masterful play was a challenge to the rest of the league; who can stop the Steelers now their big three are all finally healthy for the playoffs? The trio had never shared the field for a postseason game before Sunday, then won as convincingly as any team could reasonably expected. Punter Jordan Berry didn’t even enter the game until the fourth quarter.
Pittsburgh’s defense, once thought to be a weak point, came up big, as well. James Harrison showcased his strength and leadership with a strip of Matt Moore that ended a Miami scoring threat as time ran out on the first half. Another turnover-jarring sack, this time from safety Mike Mitchell, snuffed out the Dolphins’ next drive.
A Ryan Shazier interception minutes later made it three straight giveaways for the Dolphins and all but ended the game midway through the third quarter.
It came against a Miami team with just one victory over a winning team and a backup handling quarterback duties, but the Steelers still found a way to impress. Pittsburgh put the Kansas City Chiefs on notice Sunday with a big victory on a frozen field. It will need to do the same next weekend to keep any Super Bowl hopes alive.
Wild Card Round
Saturday, Jan. 7
GAME 1: Houston Texans 27, Oakland Raiders 14
GAME 2: Seattle Seahawks 26, Detroit Lions 6
Sunday, Jan. 8
GAME 3: Pittsburgh Steelers 30, Miami Dolphins 12
GAME 4: Green Bay Packers vs. New York Giants, 4:40 p.m., FOX
Divisional Round
Saturday, Jan. 14
GAME 5: Atlanta Falcons vs. Seattle Seahawks, 4:35 p.m., FOX
GAME 6: New England Patriots vs. Houston Texans, 8:15 p.m., CBS
Sunday, Jan. 15
GAME 7: Kansas City Chiefs vs. Pittsburgh Steelers, 1:05 p.m., NBC
GAME 8: Dallas Cowboys vs. Green Bay/New York, 4:40 p.m., FOX
Championship Round
Sunday, Jan. 22
NFC Championship, 3:05 p.m., FOX
AFC Championship, 6:40 p.m., CBS
Super Bowl 51
Sunday, Feb. 5
AFC champion vs. NFC champion, 6:30 p.m., FOX
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