It’s not much of a Sunday night game. Most of the fall TV season has concluded so we go with the holiday classics. In this case, it’s the annual Dick LeBeau reading of “The Night Before Christmas”. Say what you will about LeBeau’s defense this season, but he sells the hell out of that Santa laugh.
Antonio Brown steeping on the sideline en route to what would have been an incredible last-second touchdown to beat Miami means tonight has little significance for the Steelers beyond draft positions and avoiding the ignominy that is getting swept by the Bengals.
Cincinnati can take over the second seed in the AFC with two weeks to go with a victory tonight. The Bengals final two games are at home, which favors winning out, though the finale is against the Ravens, a team Cincinnati has struggled considerably against in recent years and already lost once to this season.
In the run-up the kickoff, Bob Costas is putting questions about the NFL’s head injuries issue on James Harrison, which is likely nothing he would ever press on Roger Goodell, so you can already tell this night will be fun.