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Steelers Daily Links: Tomlin Anniversary; Mendenhall Blasts Ben

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former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashad Mendenhall took a strange shot at Ben Roethlisberger on Twitter, and people remembered the anniversary of the hiring of head coach Mike Tomlin.

With dismantling the Buffalo Bills, 27-10, on Sunday, the Cincinnati Bengals will meet the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead in the AFC Championship Game for the second consecutive year. The San Francisco 49ers are also back in the NFC Championship Game for the second straight year as they defeated the Dallas Cowboys in a defensive slugfest, 19-12. San Francisco will travel to Philadelphia to take on the No. 1 seed Eagles.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones thought they really had a chance to win it all this year with Dak Prescott as their quarterback. “I thought this team with Dak at quarterback…I thought we had a chance to get to and compete at the top level in this tournament. I really did,” an emotional Jones said after the loss. 

The Cowboys had fourteen NFC Championship appearances from 1970-1995 (26 seasons). From 1996-2022 (27 seasons), they have zero NFC Championship appearances. The Cowboys are a league-worst 0-6 in the divisional round since 2000.

49ers quarterback Brock Purdy can join Ben Roethlisberger (2004), Joe Flacco (2008), Mark Sanchez (2009) and Shaun King (1999) as the only rookie quarterbacks to start a conference championship game since 1970.

The 49ers were the first team to lead a playoff game at halftime with no touchdowns since the 2016 AFC divisional playoffs, when the Steelers led the Chiefs 12-7 at halftime on four Chris Boswell field goals.The Steelers won 18-16 on six Boswell field goals.

Cowboys kicker Brett Maher missed five extra points over the last two playoff games, which is the second-most in a postseason career in NFL history. … The only player with more was former Steelers kicker Roy Gerela in the 1970s, who did so over the course of 15 games.

Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase joined Hall of Famer Randy Moss as the only players in NFL history to have 3,000+ receiving yards and 25+ receiving touchdowns in their first two seasons (including playoffs).

The Bengals have matched the Steelers postseason success since 2010 in just two seasons with five wins. The Steelers have not won a playoff game since the 2016 season and have just three playoff wins since 2011.

Out of nowhere, former Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall took a shot at Ben Roethlisberger. “If @_BigBen7 is the ‘leader’ you say he is, why hasn’t HE taken credit for the fall? 🤔 What manager of a company goes to HIDE in the shadows when the results come in? We win it’s him, lose it’s me… or Tomlin huh..,” Mendenhall tweeted along with a Steamin William Beamin clip from Any Given Sunday. It’s unclear what provoked Mendenhall, but he has criticized Roethlisberger’s leadership in the past.

In response to a high school players reaction to meeting Troy Polamalu, Emmanuel Sanders said he was also shook during his rookie year when he realized he was going to be teammates with the legendary strong safety. Mike Wallace agreed.

Connor Heyward celebrated his 24th birthday on Sunday.

Sunday marked the 16th anniversary of the Steelers hiring Mike Tomlin as their head coach.

Sunday was also the 17th anniversary of the Steelers’ 34-17 win over the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship Game. The Steelers would go on to win “One for the Thumb” by defeating the Seattle Seahawks, 21-10, in Super Bowl XL.

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AROUND THE NETWORK

Steelers Pittsburgh Sports Now York RB Juelz Goff became the third player to commit to Pitt in the Class of 2024

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 Bob Huggins is frustrated and feels like he’s let down West Virginia fans.

 Pine-Richland lineman Ryan Cory got an offer from Penn State at junior day.

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