As if you need a reminder if you're from Jacksonville, or Pittsburgh, or are just somebody who watches the NFL playoffs, the Jaguars stunned the Steelers this past Sunday by beating them 45-42 at Heinz Field. While the two-seed dropping the game at home to a team that has been a perennial doormat for the past several seasons was embarrassing enough, that humiliation was compounded by reports that the Steelers looked past Jacksonville to this week's conference title game against New England. In addition to Pittsburgh O-lineman David DeCastro revealing that teammates were talking about getting their revenge over the Patriots in the locker room last week, look no further than this Saturday night tweet from star running back Le'Veon Bell that was perhaps overplayed, but is still relevant:
In addition to that inaccurate prediction, a report from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Ed Bouchette revealed that Bell arrived to the Steelers' Saturday walkthrough roughly five minutes before it ended. That's not optimal. In addition to that, Bouchette says that coach Mike Tomlin wants coaches and players to show up to the team locker room a minimum of two hours prior to kickoff on gamedays, but Bell didn't show up on Sunday until "much later than that."
This most recent report comes just a week after the 25-year-old Bell said he'd consider retiring if the franchise opted to stick him with the franchise tag for the second straight year. He later clarified those remarks (kind of). For what it's worth, on Sunday he had 16 carries for 67 yards and a TD, in addition to 9 catches for 88 yards and another TD.
Honestly, not saying that blowing off a freakin' walkthrough prior to a playoff game isn't a big deal if you're a Steelers player/fan, but *takes a look at that score again* I'm also really not sure this is anyone on the offense's fault.
