Steelers still reeling after OT loss

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PITTSBURGH -- Normally reserved Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is still coming to grips Monday with his team's stunning overtime loss to Denver on Sunday night.

Tomlin acknowledged "there can be only one this year, and it's not us" after the Steelers lost 29-23 on Tim Tebow's 80-yard touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas on the first play of the extra period.

The play sent the defending AFC champions into the offseason sooner than they expected, though it's uncertain how healthy the team would have been if it had somehow advanced.

Tomlin said Monday left tackle Max Starks and nose tackle Casey Hampton are both dealing with knee injuries, while center Doug Legursky's left shoulder is also an issue. Defensive end Brett Keisel aggravated a groin injury that Tomlin called "significant."

Tomlin said Hampton, Starks and Keisel all are candidates for surgery, as is center Maurkice Pouncey, who didn't play in the game due to a high ankle sprain.

The first playoff game in which the league's revised overtime rules came into effect was designed to provide the Steelers with at least one shot in the extra session -- but only if the Broncos kicked a field goal after winning the coin toss and getting the ball. It never happened after Demaryius Thomas slipped past cornerback Ike Taylor then outraced Taylor and backup safety Ryan Mundy to the end zone.

Just like that, Pittsburgh's hopes for a ninth Super Bowl trip were gone.

Tomlin had no problems with the defensive play call, an inverted zone that called for Mundy and Polamalu to crowd the line of scrimmage to stop the run.

The odds certainly seemed to be in Pittsburgh's favor. The Broncos ran the ball on 23 of their previous 24 first downs. Not this time, providing wild-card weekend with a wild finish for the ages.

Taylor was nearly inconsolable afterward, the backbone of the league's best pass defense fighting back tears while taking sole responsibility for the loss.

Tomlin and Taylor's teammates, however, would have none of it.

"Such is life," Tomlin said. "We've got a great deal of respect for Ike and what he's willing to do for us."

Taylor will get a chance at redemption next season after signing a four-year contract in the preseason. So will Polamalu and Woodley, who both agreed to extensions before the regular season kicked off.

They're among the few certainties on a still formidable but aging defense that started seven players in their 30s on Sunday.

Tomlin allowed that "change is a part of this thing" but the Steelers will do what they can to keep the core group together.

There are fewer questions on offense, though the unit underperformed at times, finishing 22nd in the league in points per game. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger played through thumb and foot injuries behind an offensive line that didn't find any cohesion until the second half of the season.

"We feel like we really have great potential to be a really good offense," Roethlisberger said. "I told a lot of guys that. We can be great, we just have to put in the work in the offseason. A lot of that's going to fall on me. We're young."

Almost.

Veteran wide receiver Hines Ward will turn 36 in the offseason and though he's under contract for two more years, he's coming off a season in which made just 46 receptions, the fewest since his rookie year in 1998. He shot down speculation he may retire and won't address anything until the shock wears off.

"To end it like that in overtime, to go 12-4 and have it come down to an overtime loss the way it did is sad," he said. "This will stick with (us) a lot as one of the worst games we ever lost."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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