CLEVELAND - For the Pittsburgh Steelers, it's "Tebow Time.''
The Steelers beat the Cleveland Browns, 13-9, Sunday at Cleveland Browns Stadium, but they ended up not earning a first-round bye in the playoffs. The Baltimore Ravens won the AFC North Division title, relegating the 12-4 Steelers to a wild-card team.
The Steelers open the postseason in Denver against the 8-8 Broncos at 4:30 p.m. next Sunday. The Broncos, led by much-publicized quarterback Tim Tebow, won the AFC West Division title and earned the No. 4 seed for the AFC playoffs.
"Now we push off,'' Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. "We've got our marching orders. We're on our way to Denver.''
The Steelers needed the Cincinnati Bengals to defeat the Ravens to earn the division title and a bye in the playoffs. When Cincinnati lost, 24-16, the Steelers knew they were the fifth seed before their game with Cleveland ended.
"I was peeking up there at the scores on the scoreboard,'' Steelers nose tackle Casey Hampton said. "We knew Baltimore had won.''
The Steelers could be without running back Rashard Mendenhall, who sustained a knee injury in Sunday's game, against Denver. Also, safety Ryan Clark's status is up in the air due to his having a sickle cell trait that could cause health problems for him in Denver's high altitude.
The Steelers will try to earn a Super Bowl berth by playing its playoff games away from Pittsburgh.
"It's going to be a tough task, no question about that,'' Steelers receiver Hines Ward said. "We [won the Super Bowl] back in 2005 as the sixth seed. You would like to have it your way and play at home, but playing on the road makes it a tougher task.''
