The Steelers are on the verge of securing a playoff spot and could clinch it as early as Saturday night.

If the Baltimore Ravens fall to the Green Bay Packers on Saturday, the Steelers will clinch the AFC North title, regardless of their outcome against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.

If the Ravens actually lose, the Steelers could sit some starters against Cleveland to make sure they are healthy for the playoffs.

The Browns currently have a 3-12 record, which puts them in position to select No. 3 overall in the 2026 NFL Draft. Given that Cleveland has one of the weakest schedules in the NFL, it’s likely they would win any draft position tiebreakers with teams that have the same record.

Currently, five teams have secured three wins. The New York Giants and the Las Vegas Raiders, both with two wins, face off this Sunday. The winner of that game — barring any ties — will drop below the Browns in the draft order, assuming Cleveland loses to Pittsburgh.

The Browns’ primary objective right now is to position themselves within the top two picks of the draft. This would allow them to select a franchise quarterback if they don’t believe rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders is the solution.

If the Steelers rest some starters, like quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the Browns might actually secure a win. This scenario could potentially drop them from the No. 2 draft position all the way to No. 6, especially if none of the other three win teams come out on top this weekend.

The upcoming quarterback draft class is expected to be weak, with potentially only two quarterbacks worth selecting in the first round. If Cleveland doesn’t secure a top-two pick, it likely won’t have a chance to draft one, which could mean waiting until 2027 for a viable option.

If the Steelers want to secure a double win this weekend, they should be cheering for the Ravens to lose to the Packers and then to fall to the Browns. This way, the Steelers could grab a playoff spot while pushing Cleveland out of position to draft a quarterback.

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This article originally appeared on SteelersNOW.com.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have ruled out outside linebacker T.J. Watt (lung), cornerback Brandin Echols (groin), cornerback James Pierre (calf) and wide receiver Calvin Austin III (hamstring) for Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns.

Watt has been sidelined since suffering a partially collapsed lung on Dec. 10. Watt’s injury reportedly followed him undergoing a dry needling procedure at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex after a workout on a players’ off day. He was quickly hospitalized and had a procedure to correct the injury.

Watt missed each of the Steelers’ last two games, but returned to practice this week. He was a limited participant in all three practices.

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Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has heard a lot of criticism over his 21 NFL seasons. It just comes with the territory, especially for a lightning rod like Rodgers who’s not afraid to speak his mind and stir up controversy.

He’s used to it and understands that part of the game, but he doesn’t always agree with it.

Rodgers recently addressed fan behavior after Steelers teammate DK Metcalf took a swipe at a Detroit Lions fan last week, advocating for rules to limit some of the nastier barbs directed at players.

“There’s always a lot of different things that are said. Some things that are benign, and some things that aren’t,” Rodgers said. “I think there’s a mindset that you pay for a ticket, you say whatever the hell you want. I think there should be some sort of code of conduct. Obviously, that was intentional, and I think there was some celebration afterwards on (the fan’s) part.”

Rodgers also thinks fans feel emboldened to say mean things to players because they don’t have to face them up close, similar to online bullying. He said most of his in-person interactions with fans have been “cordial,” even in rival cities.

“Obviously, I don’t condone what DK did, but I understand. There’s been a lot of crazy comments said my way over the years,” Rodgers said. “The truth is, that would never happen face-to-face.”

Rodgers added that “there are two sides to every story” and said he’ll continue to support Metcalf, who’s been suspended for Pittsburgh’s final two regular-season games.

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During his media availability on Wednesday, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers gave his input on DK Metcalf’s two-game suspension for getting into an altercation with a fan at Ford Field during the team’s 29-24 win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE >>> NFL upholds DK Metcalf’s suspension after appeal following altercation with fan, reports say

While the Steelers were on defense in the second quarter, Metcalf got into it with the fan, who was in the front row. Metcalf grabbed the fan by his shirt and swiped at him. He didn’t hit him directly, but there was some contact.

Rodgers doesn’t condone what Metcalf did, but he thinks there should be a stricter code of conduct for fans.

“I think there’s a mindset that you pay for a ticket, you can say whatever the hell you want,” Rodgers said. “I think there should be some sort of code of conduct. Obviously that was intentional, and I think there was some celebration afterward on his part. Obviously don’t condone what DK did, but I understand. There’s been a lot of crazy comments said my way over the years. The truth is that would never happen face to face. There’s two sides to every story. I support DK, I’ll continue to support DK.”

The NFL and the Lions are still investigating whether or not they will take any action against Lions fan Ryan Kennedy for inciting the incident between Metcalf, according to a report by NFL Network. Kennedy was spotted bragging after he provoked Metcalf.

Rodgers thinks the rise of gambling, fantasy football and social media has changed fan behavior. There’s some positives to those aspects, but there’s also a detrimental effect.

“A lot of that stuff is really good for the sport. Now, at the same time, as you’re seeing parts of society erode, maybe the conduct has changed over the years,” Rodgers said.

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The Pittsburgh Steelers have a golden opportunity to wrap up the AFC North division in Week 17 when they face off against the Cleveland Browns. With injuries mounting across the board, though, the team opted to give their defense a present for the holidays by bringing some reinforcements into town.

Perhaps the Steelers’ most banged-up position is at cornerback, where both James Pierre and Brandin Echols are facing the possibility of being unable to play on Sunday. In the event they can’t suit up, Pittsburgh opted to hit the free agent market, where it signed veteran cornerback Tre Flowers to its active roster.

“We have signed CB Tre Flowers to the Active Roster,” the Steelers announced in a post on X.

Flowers has bounced around the league quite a bit over the past few seasons after he initially broke into the league as a starter with the Seattle Seahawks. Flowers took the field for two games with the Detroit Lions earlier this season, but he failed to record a single statistic of note during his limited time in action.

Pittsburgh could need somebody who can come in and log some snaps when needed, though, and that’s precisely what Flowers appears to be. He’s an experienced corner who can at least hold his own in coverage, which makes him a solid depth option for the Steelers. If either Pierre or Nichols can’t go, look for Flowers to quickly find himself on the field for his new team.

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Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers on Wednesday argued that fans should be held accountable after receiver DK Metcalf was suspended for his altercation with one.

During the Steelers’ game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field, Metcalf exchanged words with a Lions fan in the stands. That exchange quickly turned physical when Metcalf approached the fan, grabbed him by his hair, and swung at him. The incident occurred at halftime, and Metcalf finished the game.

The NFL later suspended him for the final two games of the regular season. As a result of that suspension, the Steelers now have the option to void $45 million in guaranteed money from his contract.

In the days following the incident, it was revealed that the fan — whose name is Ryan Kennedy — had a history with Metcalf. When the star receiver was still a member of the Seattle Seahawks, he played several times against the Lions over the years. On at least one occasion, Metcalf reported Kennedy to team security.

It has not been confirmed what Kennedy said to set Metcalf off. According to former NFL receiver Chad Johnson, Metcalf claimed Kennedy used a racial slur. Kennedy has denied that claim.

Whatever the case may be, Rodgers believed the incident was a textbook example of why the NFL should implement a stricter conduct policy for fans.

“I think there’s a mindset that you pay for a ticket, you can say whatever the hell you want,” Rodgers said. “I think there should be some code of conduct. Obviously that was intentional, and I think there was some celebration afterwards on his part. Obviously don’t condone what DK did, but I understand. There’s been a lot of crazy comments said my way over the years, and the truth is that, that would never happen face-to-face.”

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The post Aaron Rodgers Comes to Defense of Teammate Suspended for Hitting Fan: They Think ‘You Can Say Whatever the Hell You Want’ first appeared on Mediaite.

Mike Tomlin and Mike McCarthy are two of the most successful NFL head coaches of this century. Both won a Super Bowl, while Tomlin has 200 career wins and counting and McCarthy has 185.

McCarthy even won his Super Bowl at Tomlin’s expense in early 2011, with his Green Bay Packers edging the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25 in Super Bowl XLV as Aaron Rodgers outdueled Ben Roethlisberger.

Neither team has been back to the Super Bowl since, although Rodgers and Tomlin have a chance to get there this year in a wide-open AFC.

With Tomlin notching his 200th career win last week and extending his historic streak of seasons without a losing record to 19, McCarthy praised his former rival on Wednesday’s episode of “The Pat McAfee Show.”

“I’m so happy to see Mike get the recognition and love that he deserves,” McCarthy said. “This, to me, is the reality of who he is as a coach. To do that for 19 seasons is incredible. You want that in your leader…He’s a Hall of Famer in my view, and I’m just really happy for him to see him recognized properly.”

Tomlin has received a good amount of praise and respect over the last few days just weeks after many fans and media members were calling for the Steelers to fire him. Such is life in the NFL.

The veteran coach has helped turn his team around and get them back on track after a midseason swoon that nearly derailed their playoff hopes. They’ve won three straight games, playing their best football during the biggest games of the year.

If Pittsburgh keeps it up, Tomlin has a good chance to earn his first playoff win in nearly a decade next month.

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When the Pittsburgh Steelers signed veteran running back Kenneth Gainwell to a one-year, $1.79 million contract in March, nobody would have guessed that it would turn out to be one of the best signings of the entire offseason.

Despite reaching two Super Bowls and winning one during his four seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, Gainwell played a complementary role as their backup running back. That was especially true during the Eagles’ title run last year, when he took a clear backseat to Saquon Barkley.

It looked like Gainwell would have a similar role with the Steelers as Jaylen Warren’s backup, which he held for much of the season. That’s changed lately, however, as he’s become a dominant force in Pittsburgh’s backfield down the stretch.

The Steelers have had one of the NFL’s worst offenses and rushing attacks for most of the season, but that hasn’t been the case recently. They’ve turned things around with at least 27 points in five of their last six games, and Gainwell’s a major reason why.

The 26-year-old back has topped 100 scrimmage yards four times and scored four touchdowns during that span, giving Pittsburgh’s scuffling offense a major boost and helping the team go 4-2. He’s done much of his damage through the air with 33 catches and 287 receiving yards during that time, emerging as one of Aaron Rodgers’ preferred targets and forming a dynamic duo with Warren.

Gainwell already has career highs in rushing yards, scrimmage yards and touchdowns, so he’ll look to end the season on a high note and help push the first-place Steelers into the playoffs.

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Former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Justin Fields won’t be seeing another snap for the Jets this season. New York’s head coach, Aaron Glenn announced on Tuesday that Fields will be placed on injured reserve because of a knee issue.

“We’re going to put Justin on IR,” Glenn said. “It wasn’t getting better, as we would like it. We want to make sure we get a focus on that, make sure we get him better.”

Fields experienced a challenging season, putting up 1,259 passing yards and tossing seven touchdowns against just one interception over the course of nine games.

The Jets benched Fields on Nov. 17, and now his future in New York is up in the air.

New York signed Fields to a two-year, $40 million contract during the offseason. The Jets have the option to release Fields as a post-June 1 cut this offseason, which would enable New York to spread the guaranteed $22 million owed to him over the next two seasons.

The Jets will likely try to draft a rookie quarterback in 2026 after Fields couldn’t be their savior, let alone a bridge.

New York will take on the New England Patriots this Sunday, with rookie quarterback Brady Cook expected to start his third consecutive game.

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PITTSBURGH (WKBN) — The National Football League upheld Steelers star wide receiver DK Metcalf two-game suspension after a confrontation with a fan on Sunday in Detroit.

Metcalf will miss two games without pay for physically confronting a Lions fan during after his appeal was denied by the league. The Steelers leading receiver will also lose over $500k in game salary and voids up to $45 million in future guarantees.

He will miss the upcoming game against the Cleveland Browns and the regular season finale against the Baltimore Ravens.

Through 15 games, Metcalf leads the Steelers with 59 catches for 850 yards and six touchdowns.

Pittsburgh currently holds a two-game lead over the Ravens for the AFC North crown with two games remaining.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com.

The Pittsburgh Steelers will face the Browns this Sunday, and Cleveland has announced its decision on quarterback Deshaun Watson’s status.

Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski announced on Tuesday that Cleveland will not activate Watson from the physically unable to perform list, effectively ending his season.

“He’s done a great job with everything that’s been asked of him,” Stefanski said on Watson, via ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi. “I’ve gotten to see him work so hard, whether it’s in the training room, by himself in the indoor with the trainers, on the practice field now for the last bit. Just felt like this was the right decision for him and for us. His focus will continue to be to help this football team and continue to get healthy and get stronger and all those types of things.”

Watson has been out of action since last season after tearing his Achilles tendon midway through the year. He faced a setback when he re-tore his Achilles at the beginning of 2025, delaying his recovery.

It always felt unlikely that Watson would see the field this season, especially after the Browns selected two quarterbacks, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders, in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Sanders has stepped into a nice role for Cleveland over the last five games and could be the Browns’ starting quarterback in 2026.

Watson is still under contract through 2026, so if the Browns decide to keep him, there could be a quarterback competition to determine who will be starting next season.

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The 2026 Pro Bowl Games rosters were revealed on Tuesday morning, with a pair of Pittsburgh Steelers earning the honor.

Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt was voted to his eighth straight Pro Bowl, while safety Jalen Ramsey secured his eighth Pro Bowl nod as well, but his first since 2023.

Both Watt and Ramsey were voted in as starters.

Watt made his first Pro Bowl during his second NFL season in 2018, has earned four First Team All-Pro recognitions and was the 2021 AP Defensive Player of the Year as well. The Wisconsin product leads Pittsburgh in quarterback hits (18) and sacks (7.0) this season, but is currently on the shelf, recovering from a partially collapsed lung.

It was reported on Saturday night that Watt’s potential return to action “remains murky and uncertain.”

Ramsey made seven straight Pro Bowls from 2017 to 2023 while playing for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Rams and Miami Dolphin, earning three First Team All-Pro nods as well.

The Florida State product was traded to the Steelers in June and has posted 77 tackles, seven passes defended, four quarterback hits and a career-high 3.0 sacks this season.

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DK Metcalf’s first season not for Seattle just took an ugly turn.

The NFL suspended the Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver for two games without pay Monday, for “conduct detrimental to the NFL.”

Sunday, the former Seahawks two-time Pro Bowl star Seattle traded to Pittsburgh last spring grabbed then took a swing at a fan that missed his head during the Steelers’ win at the Detroit Lions.

The fan was standing in the first row of seats behind the Steelers bench when Metcalf, who turned 28 last week, went over to him during an injury time out.

DK Metcalf is likely going to get suspended. Throwing a punch toward the head of a fan during a game is wild.
The NFL absolutely is going to react to that. pic.twitter.com/ke9qdeJ74O

— Gregg Bell (@gbellseattle) December 21, 2025

The league wrote in a statement it was suspending Metcalf for “initiating a physical confrontation with a fan.”

The league wrote: “Metcalf’s actions violate league policy, which specifies that ‘players may not enter the stands or otherwise confront fans at any time on game day and…if a player makes unnecessary physical contact with a fan in any way that constitutes unsportsmanlike conduct or presents crowd-control issues and/or risk of injury, he will be held accountable.’” Metcalf, Seattle’s second-round draft choice in 2019, has the right to appeal his suspension under the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement with its players. The league said “a prompt hearing will be held by the commissioner or his designee.”

According to the Detroit Free Press, the fan said Sunday the exchange escalated after he called Metcalf by his full given name, DeKaylin Zecharius Metcalf.

On his “Nightcap” podcast Sunday, former NFL wide receiver Chad Johnson said it was more than that.

“I got word -- obviously, I’m not condoning putting your hands on a fan or punching a fan -- but he did call him a racial slur,” Johnson said. “He called him the N-word and he did call his mom (a derogatory term). I think, with those words being exchanged and the fan saying that, I think that’s where the action occurred.

“That’s a bad combination... and it caused DK to react. I’m sure he will have to deal with some type of discipline. You know how the NFL is. No matter what’s said, they want you to be able to control yourself in that situation. But I understand.”

The fan responded to that with a statement through a Michigan law firm. The lawyers said their client “categorically denies using the ‘n-word,’ the (derogatory term about his mother) or any racial, misogynistic, or hate-based language during the incident.”

“These allegations are completely false,” the statement by Shawn Head and Sean Murphy of Head Murphy Law Firm continued.

An ESPN story Monday said that when Metcalf played for Seattle he reported the fan involved in the incident Sunday to Seahawks security personnel previously. Seattle played at Detroit in the 2022, ‘23 and ‘24 seasons.

Metcalf stands to lose $555,555.56. Those are two of his weekly in-season game checks from his $5 million base salary for 2025.

He signed a $132 million contract with Pittsburgh in March soon after the Seahawks traded him for a second-round draft choice and a swap of other picks. Metcalf will have a $25 million salary for the 2026 season.

Metcalf had been scheduled to enter 2025 in the final year of his three-year, $72 million contract extension with the Seahawks. The 6-foot-4, 235-pound wide receiver with a 10-second 100-meter dash and vertical leap of more than 42 inches had been set to earn $18 million this year with Seattle, before the trade and his new Steelers deal.

Seahawks general manager John Schneider and coach Mike Macdonald decided to trade him and give Seattle’s top-receiver role to Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

That’s worked out OK for Smith-Njigba and Seattle.

Despite constant attention from opposing defenses, Smith-Njigba leads the NFL with 1,637 yards. He has broken his and Tyler Lockett’s Seahawks record of 100 catches in a season. Smith-Njigba has 104 receptions through 15 games, with 10 touchdown catches.

Metcalf has 64 catches on 99 targets from Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, with 850 yards and six touchdowns through 15 games. He’s been getting double-covered by defenses most games.

Metcalf stands to miss Pittsburgh’s final two games of the regular season, though they may not matter. The Steelers (9-6) lead the AFC North by two games. They can clinch the division title Sunday by beating Cleveland, or by Baltimore (7-8) losing Saturday night at Green Bay, or by the Steelers beating the Ravens in week 18.

He will be eligible to return to the Steelers’ active roster on Monday, Jan. 5, which would be the week leading to their first playoff game.

Former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens could emerge as a significant player in the free agent market this offseason.

If the Dallas Cowboys choose not to re-sign Pickens or place the franchise tag on him, several teams will likely pursue him aggressively.

Bleacher Report’s Moe Moton suggested that the Baltimore Ravens, a key rival of the Steelers, might be a good match for Pickens.

“If Pickens enters the open market, the Baltimore Ravens are a realistic landing spot that makes sense for both sides,” Moton wrote on Monday. “In 2024, quarterback Lamar Jackson set career highs across several passing categories, marking the evolution of the Ravens’ aerial attack under offensive coordinator Todd Monken.

“This year, Jackson has battled injuries and seen a drop-off in completion rate. As a dynamic signal-caller who uses his legs, he has a history of missing a handful of games in a season, and running back Derrick Henry will turn 32 in January.”

Pickens is enjoying an outstanding season, showcasing his talent with 88 receptions for an impressive total of 1,342 yards and nine touchdowns across 15 games.

It would be crazy to see Pickens’ lineup for the Ravens next season after the Steelers traded him away, knowing they still needed a No. 2 receiver.

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