By Teresa Varley
Steelers.com

 

The playoffs are not on the line for the Steelers on Sunday. There is no pressure to win for the sake of getting a bye, or home field advantage, or any of those wonderful things you play for this time of year.

 

But there is something big on the line for each and every Steelers player. And that is pride.

 

"You always want to win every game, but when the season is ending without the playoffs you especially want to end the season on a winning note," said cornerback Deshea Townsend. "You want to go out there and play hard. It's important to all of the guys on the team. The pride to play hard is there."

 

To a man, the Steelers do not want to finish the season on a losing note. It's already been a disappointing season for them and they don't want any further disappointment.  

"You want to end on a good note," said linebacker Larry Foote. "Finishing 7-9 is ugly. Finishing 8-8 is still ugly, but better. That's not our expectation, but there is a difference."

 

Fullback Dan Kreider understands the importance of a strong finish. In 2000, his rookie season, the Steelers finished 9-7 and missed the playoffs, but won four of their last five games, including the final game of the season at San Diego. The next year the team finished 13-3 and went on to the AFC Championship.

 

"You find out what this team is made of," said Kreider. "I think we are made up of guys who want to go out on a good note. It carries on to the next season. I think back to my rookie year when we were 9-7 and just missed the playoffs. It carried in to the next year and we had a good year after that. I think that's the way guys have to look at it. It's a divisional game and we owe these guys and have to get after it."

 

There is something other than pride that has the Steelers motivated for Sunday, and that is the fact that they do feel like they owe the Bengals something. The Bengals defeated the Steelers 28-20 earlier this season at Heinz Field in a game marred by turnovers and miscues. They lost twice to the Ravens this season, and don't want to have another division foe sweep them this year.

 

"The first time we played Cincinnati we were up in that game and unfortunately a few plays went the other way and we lost," said Kreider. "It's a tough place to play, but you want to go down there focused on winning."

 

The Bengals still have chance at the playoffs, having to win on Sunday and a combination of other things must happen. There is one main thing that stands in their way and that is the Steelers. And you can be sure that they are going to do their best to keep them out of the post-season.

 

"That is my motivation," said Foote of playing the spoiler. "I was rooting for Miami to win the other night just so Cincinnati would be in a must-win situation. Now they need a little help. But we definitely want to beat them just in case."

 

If the Steelers do win on Sunday, the Bengals will join them as a 2005 playoff time that didn't make the post-season this year.

 

"It's like Coach (Bill) Cowher said, misery loves company," said Kreider. "We are going to try to bring them into our misery of not making the playoffs. That is what we are hoping to do."