Ben
Roethlisberger's ribs are bruised but not broken.
The Pittsburgh
Steelers believe the same could be said about their wildly
uneven season.
Roethlisberger believes he'll play on Sunday when New
England visits Heinz Field, one of the few certainties for a team in search of
answers thanks to a three-game losing streak, the latest setback a baffling
24-21 defeat in Oakland that included Roethlisberger missing most of the second
half after taking a shot to the ribs, another late meltdown by the defense and
the latest botched kick by Chris Boswell.
Starting, potentially, at placekicker.
Boswell was a Pro Bowler in 2017 -- a season in which he
drilled three game-winning field goals -- and signed a contract extension in
August that runs through 2022. Yet he has struggled with consistency this
season.
When his left foot gave way on the final snap in Oakland,
turning his potentially game-tying 40-yard attempt into a line drive that
smacked into the sea of players in front of him, it marked his 11th missed kick
this season (six field goals, five extra points). He missed just 13 combined
kicks from 2015-17.
Tomlin said the team plans "to explore options that
gives us the very best chances of the ball going through the upright this
weekend." That includes holding tryouts to give others a look, though
Tomlin admitted there isn't exactly much to choose from in mid-December.
There are no such questions at quarterback despite an odd
sequence in Oakland that led to Roethlisberger standing on the sideline in the
fourth quarter while backup Josh Dobbs tried to build on a four-point lead.
The issue? Apparently an ancient X-ray machine at the
Coliseum that offered no clarity on the extent of the rib injury Roethlisberger
sustained while being driven into the ground late in the second quarter.
Roethlisberger, team physician James Bradley and general
manager Kevin Colbert spent all of halftime trying to get a clean X-ray but
none surfaced.
Treatment that included "medicating" the
36-year-old quarterback while also keeping him out of the game as a precaution.
Tomlin likened the approach to the one the team took during
a wild-card game in Cincinnati three years ago in which Roethlisberger hurt his
right (throwing) shoulder at the end of the third quarter.
In that game, Roethlisberger stayed off the field until the
Bengals rallied to take the lead in the final minutes. Roethlisberger came on
and -- with more than a little help from Cincinnati -- helped the Steelers
rally to the victory.
It nearly happened again in Oakland. Roethlisberger
completed all six of his passes on Pittsburgh's penultimate drive, the last a
1-yard touchdown pass to JuJu
Smith-Schuster that put Pittsburgh in front 21-17.
Roethlisberger said during his weekly radio appearance
Tuesday he expects to face the Patriots (9-4).
Tomlin indicated pain management will be the biggest
concern. Roethlisberger rarely practices on Wednesdays and there's a chance he
could be given an additional day off.
Tomlin said the team did not file a complaint with the
league about the X-ray machine in Oakland and declined to use it as an excuse
for any of the decision-making on the sideline or the play on the field. He's
well aware Pittsburgh's issues extend far beyond Boswell, sloppy turf or
outdated medical equipment.
The defense has allowed second-half leads to get away each
of the past three weeks. The Raiders, who came in tied with San Francisco for
the worst record in the league, went the length of the field twice in the final
10 minutes, just as the Los Angeles
Chargers at Heinz Field did the week prior while storming back
from a 16-point deficit to pull out a 33-30 victory.
While Tomlin cautioned the defensive tweaks he's considering
might not be "noticeable to the naked eye" he's aware the Steelers --
their AFC North lead over Baltimore down to a half-game -- are in serious need
of a kick-start.
GAME NOTES
RB James Conner (ankle)
could return against New England. Conner missed his first game of the season
last week after getting hurt late against the Chargers. ... RT Marcus
Gilbert (knee) could return to practice. Gilbert hasn't played
since mid-October.
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