Home Steelers 2018 Season 2017 Steelers Postseason Experience

2017 Steelers Postseason Experience

by Ian
Steelers

The Steelers heading back to the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. Each season has built upon the prior year of making it one step further. After losing to the Ravens in the Wild Card round in 2014, they beat the Bengals then lost to the Broncos in the Divisional Round the following year. Last season, they beat the Dolphins in the Wild Card round and won in Kansas City in the Divisional Round before falling in New England in the AFC Championship Game. This is the Steelers third division title in the last four years and the first time they have earned a bye week since 2010. An NFL roster is a constantly changing makeup of long-term veterans, role players and recent draft picks and the Steelers have seen their share of turnover in the last 5 seasons with aged veterans retiring and emerging stars cashing in elsewhere in free agency. Given the Steelers recent run of regular season success, they enter the playoffs with the second-most playoff experience of the remaining teams, trailing only New England.

Here’s a breakdown of the Steelers 53-man roster as we head into the playoffs:

0 Playoff Games (13)

  • Brian Allen
  • Tyson Alualu
  • Kameron Canaday
  • Joshua Dobbs
  • Matt Feiler
  • BJ Finney
  • Joe Haden
  • Mike Hilton
  • Jerald Hawkins
  • Justin Hunter
  • JuJu Smith-Schuster
  • Cameron Sutton
  • TJ Watt

0 Playoff Wins (1)

  • Coty Sensabaugh (including 2016 with NYG)

0 Conference Championship Games (5)

  • Martavis Bryant (suspended during the 2017 season)
  • LJ Fort (on the roster but inactive against New England in 2016 AFC Championship)
  • Cameron Heyward (on injured reserve during 2017 playoffs)
  • Sean Spence
  • JJ Wilcox (including 2014 and 2016 with DAL)

0 Super Bowl Appearances (29)

  • Le’Veon Bell
  • Jordan Berry
  • Chris Boswell
  • Artie Burns
  • Anthony Chickillo
  • Sean Davis
  • David DeCastro
  • Bud Dupree
  • Marcus Gilbert
  • Robert Golden
  • Xavier Grimble
  • Javon Hargrave
  • Darrius Heyward-Bey
  • Chris Hubbard
  • Jesse James
  • Landry Jones
  • Tyler Matakevich
  • Daniel McCullers
  • Vance McDonald (reached 2014 NFC Championship Game with San Francisco)
  • Mike Mitchell
  • Arthur Moats
  • Roosevelt Nix
  • Maurkice Pouncey (injured in 2010 AFC Championship Game and did not play in Super Bowl XLV)
  • Eli Rogers
  • Fitzgerald Toussaint
  • Stephon Tuitt
  • Alejandro Villanueva
  • LT Walton
  • Vince Williams

0 Super Bowl Wins (3)

  • Antonio Brown
  • Ramon Foster
  • Stevan Ridley (was on injured reserve in 2011 when the Patriots won Super Bowl XLIX)

1 Super Bowl Win (1)

  • William Gay

2 Super Bowl Wins (1)

  • Ben Roethlisberger

The name that stands out the most on this list is Joe Haden, who will be appearing in the playoffs for the first time after languishing in Cleveland for 7 years. With Greg Warren’s retirement in the off-season and James Harrison’s release last week, only Ben Roethlisberger remains from the 2005 Super Bowl team. Ben and William Gay are the only players on the roster that have hoisted a Lombardi Trophy. With the Steelers reaching the Conference Championship last year, a vast majority of the roster shifted from the “No Conference Championship Games” category to the “No Super Bowl Appearances” category. Only 13 of the 53 players (about 25%) on the roster have never appeared in a playoff game. The good news for this Steelers team is that a vast majority of their roster has experienced playoff victories and have played in a conference championship game. These guys know what it takes to get the job done in the post season and need to lead the way this year.

You may also like

1 comment

Behind the Numbers: Steelers-Jaguars Playoff Edition - Steel City Blitz January 10, 2018 - 3:28 am

[…] and have been held under 10 points in 7 of their 13 losses to the Jaguars. This is a Steelers team loaded with playoff experience while the Jaguars are making their first playoff appearance since 2007. The Steelers are 3-3 in the […]

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.