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Eight teams will compete this weekend for a shot to advance to the conference championships. Some teams will have to do so without some key players.
Pittsburgh Steelers at Denver Broncos
On Friday, the Steelers officially ruled out star receiver Antonio Brown. Brown suffered a concussion after an illegal hit from Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict.
The team will also be without running back DeAngelo Williams who is still dealing with a foot injury.
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is expected to start after being listed as questionable earlier this week. Roethlisberger suffered a sprained AC joint and ligament damage to his throwing shoulder after taking a hit from Burfict.
The Broncos expect to have Brock Osweiler as their backup quarterback this weekend. The regular season starter missed Thursday’s practice because of a right knee injury he suffered in the regular-season finale against the San Diego Chargers.
Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots
Rob Gronkowski missed his second practice of the week on Thursday. NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport reported that the Patriots tight end has missed practice due to his knee injury. Rapoport does, however, think that Gronk should be good for Saturday’s match up.
The Patriots are also expected to have wide receivers Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola healthy and back on the field.
The Chiefs listed several players as questionable for this weekend, including: LB Tamba Hali (knee, thumb), LB Justin Houston (knee), WR Jeremy Maclin (ankle), RB Spencer Ware (ankle) and WR Albert Wilson (hamstring). Houston and Maclin will most likely be game-time decisions.
Starting offensive linemen for the Chiefs, Mitch Morse and Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, are out with concussions.
Seattle Seahawks at Carolina Panthers
The Panthers will have a key player back with Ted Ginn Jr. active for Sunday. The wide receiver missed the team’s final regular season game with a knee injury and was listed as questionable earlier this week.
Marshawn Lynch was officially listed active Sunday morning. Seahawks coach Pete Carroll told NFL Media’s Albert Breer that the team will be monitoring their running back’s abdomen injury closely. Lynch will take the field after missing eight weeks due to abdominal surgery.
Backup running back Fozzy Whittaker was ruled out earlier this week with an ankle injury.
Green Bay Packers at Arizona Cardinals
The knee injury that Packers wide receiver Davante Adams suffered in in the wild card round will keep him out this weekend’s contest.
Packers cornerback Sam Shields is listed as questionable as he continues to recover from a concussion, while left tackle David Bakhtiari is probable after missing three games with an ankle injury.
Be sure to check back for updates.
[…] Pittsburgh Steelers are really beat up. Both DeAngelo Williams and Antonio Brown will miss this game with injuries and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is expected to play injured. Roethlisberger […]