2011 wildcard tie: Pittsburgh Steelers yet to swallow loss to Denver Broncos-NFL News
As they look back at their wildcard game against the Denver Broncos in the last season, some of Pittsburgh Steelers’ players believe their opponents were not the team to have lost against but insist the loss has proven as a motivation for them to perform
better next time.
The performance of Broncos’ star quarterback, Tim Tebow, ruined Steelers’ hopes of victory in the first game of the 2011 postseason, a loss that shocked the players and officials alike, who had been rating their opposition as a mediocre team.
Steelers’ linebacker, LaMarr Woodley, says they should have won the game.
He said:
“It’s a team we should have easily beaten. That’s motivation, watching teams play the week after us.”
He added:
“What gives you motivation is not playing in the Super Bowl, getting eliminated in the first round, losing to a team we had no business losing to.”
Steelers had made it to the playoffs through a wildcard opportunity. They were tied with the Baltimore Ravens in the American Football Conference (AFC) North division, but since Ravens had beaten them twice in the regular season, Steelers could not finish
as winner of the division.
The team had strong ambitions of progressing in the postseason, but because of their loss against Broncos they failed to achieve anything out of it.
One of the reasons for their poor show was the lingering injury problem of quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger.
The player was also a subject of controversy for his participation in a couple of games into later period of the regular season as head coach, Mike Tomlin, allegedly objected to it.
Tomlin, however, denied the reports, saying that he wanted the player to play in the game in spite of his injury.
Later, Ben himself came with a statement into defence of the head coach, clarifying he was not against his participation.
Nevertheless, Steelers lost to the Broncos and it was so unexpected for some players that they are unable to get over with it even now.
Another linebacker, Larry Foote, says:
“When you lose in that manner, the game sticks with you. It’s going to stick with us forever.”
Yet, they are confident of learning from their mistakes and doing better this season.
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