Exclusive Pacman Jones story and audio

ESPN and the NFL Network reported early Sunday morning that Cincinnati cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones didn’t speak with reporters after the game. I did speak with Jones and here is the exclusive story and audio. 

Guess if major networks don’t report something it doesn’t happen. 

Importance of getting a high seed

This is why teams fight so hard for 17 weeks to get home field advantage throughout the playoffs. It’s not so much getting a home game although that’s nice. The most important reason for trying to attain the best, or second-best, record in your conference during the regular season is you don’t have to play wild card weekend.

The Steelers will be held together by duct tape and chewing gum when they travel to Denver for an AFC divisional round game vs. the Broncos. Ben Roethlisberger injured his shoulder in the second half, and although he returned to lead the winning drive in the waning seconds, his availability and effectiveness if he does play is in question.

Antonio Brown is in the concussion protocol after taking a head shot from Vontaze Burfict. Our Gerry Dulac reported early Sunday morning that he is fine and is expected to play in Denver so there might be some good news there.

But it’s probably not good for fullback Will Johnson, who left and did not return to the game after sustaining a hamstring injury early in the game. If he can’t play the Steelers will play without a fullback. Rosie Nix was injured vs. Baltimore and placed on injured reserve with a fractured bone in his foot.

It was no better for Kansas City yesterday. The Chiefs’ top receiver, Jeremy Maclin, might have suffered a torn ACL. He is having an MRI today. He was in tears on the sidelines after he was injured.

Meanwhile, the Denver and New England watched from its couches and watched the games. And they no doubt felt fortunate.

Advantage Patriots and Broncos.

The Steelers overcame a lot to beat the Bengals in what turned out to be a physically brutal game for both teams. Bengals players were dropping like flies. Defensive back Reggie Nelson was knocked out of the game with an ankle injury. Dre Kirkpatrick left with a quad injury. Gio Bernard was knocked out of the game with a concussion.

There is no way Bernard would have been able to play had the Bengals advanced. Who knows about Nelson and the others?

The Steelers will lick their wounds this week and fly to Denver in hopes of continuing their Super Bowl run. But their road became a lot tougher after Saturday night.