Steelers PATs: Have Bell, others played their final game in Pittsburgh?

After losing in the AFC Championship at New England a year ago, the Steelers made a big deal of the continuity of the lineup they were bringing back in 2017 as, with the exception of inside linebacker Lawrence Timmons, they entered training camp with largely the same cast of characters with some key additions expected to be the reason the team would get past the Patriots this season.

But after a stunning 45-42 loss Sunday to the Jaguars in an AFC Divisional Playoff game Sunday at Heinz Field, even the players admit all bets are off on keeping this roster intact for another season.

Ben Roethlisberger said after throwing for a team-playoff record 469 yards and five touchdowns with one interception that he'll likely be back for another season, putting to rest one big issue. As for the rest of it, that will be up to general manager Kevin Colbert and president Art Rooney II to decide.

"I don't know what's going on with other people's contracts," Roethlisberger said after the loss. "I don't know how many years guys have left, other than the guys up front. ... Obviously, a lot is made of Le'Veon (Bell), so you know that."

Yes, in fact, you do.

And we know more about it because Bell said late last week that he would consider holding out for a second year in a row or even retire if the Steelers place the franchise tag on him again in 2018 to keep him from hitting the open market. Bell held out for the entire offseason and training camp in 2017 after the Steelers placed the franchise tag on him, paying him $12.1 million.

Bell reportedly turned down a four-year extension that could have been worth as much as $60 million. What was not known was how much guaranteed money was involved in that deal. If the Steelers do place the franchise tag on Bell again, he would be guaranteed $14.55 million in 2018.

"I haven't really thought about it like that," Bell said when asked if he had considered Sunday's loss possibly being his last game with the Steelers. "I haven't thought about it. Tomorrow when I wake up, it might cross my mind, but I haven't thought about it like that."

Bell did Tweet this late Sunday night:

I love my guys!!! my brothers kept fightin, we’ll be back ? pic.twitter.com/TqEbHC1Jjm

— Le'Veon Bell (@L_Bell26) January 14, 2018

Bell had 16 carries for 67 yards and a touchdown and also caught nine passes for 88 yards and a score, giving him 154 total yards in the game. It capped off a season in which he finished third in the NFL in rushing with 1,291 yards and led all NFL running backs with 85 receptions for 655 yards. He scored 11 touchdowns to lead the team.

But Bell is hardly the only high-profile player who might have played his final game with the Steelers.

Offensive lineman Chris Hubbard and linebackers Arthur Moats and Sean Spence lead the team's list of unrestricted free agents, as well, while fullback Roosevelt Nix, punter Jordan Berry, receiver Eli Rogers -- who was on crutches following the game after suffering a fourth-quarter leg injury -- and outside linebacker Anthony Chickillo all will be restricted free agents.

Moats' wife seems to suggest she knows her husband won't be back.

#SteelerNation: these past 4 years have been some of the very best! Thank you for welcoming us with open arms! The Moats family are Steelers for life! Looking forward to what the future holds! ?

— Shonda Moats (@mrsmoats52) January 14, 2018

Hubbard, who started nine games at right tackle and was forced to fill in there again Sunday when Marcus Gilbert left with a concussion, will likely draw the most interest of that group and is unlikely to return.

Others, such as free safety Mike Mitchell and veteran cornerback William Gay, could be released. Mitchell is scheduled to count $8.1 million in 2018, while Gay is $2.36 million.

"It's tough," said guard David DeCastro. "You know that there's always change. That's the tough part of the game."

BROWN'S RETURN A GOOD ONE

After he missed practice on Friday because of an illness, Antonio Brown's return to the Steelers' lineup came into question.

Brown, however, returned from a two-game hiatus because of a calf injury suffered Dec. 17 in a loss to New England and again showed why he's the NFL's best receiver.

Working against Pro Bowl cornerbacks Jalen Ramsey and A.J. Bouye, Brown caught seven passes for 132 yards and two touchdowns, including this grab in which Bouye was called for pass interference on a fourth-down play.

Before that, Bouye hadn't allowed a touchdown in coverage all season.

Despite his efforts, Brown, who played with his injured calf heavily wrapped, was extremely disappointed.

"Really disheartening," he said of the loss. "Every year we get so close. We cannot seem to get the job done. That's what's so sad about the journey. You come so close. You have a bunch of men committed to a great cause putting in a lot of hard work and you fall short."

Brown wasn't the only Pittsburgh receiver to have a big game. Tight end Vance McDonald, who had 14 catches for 188 yards and one touchdown in his first season with the Steelers after coming over in a trade from San Francisco just before the start of the regular season, recorded 10 catches for 112 yards, setting a team postseason record for tight ends in both categories.

They were the first Pittsburgh duo to both have 100 receiving yards in a playoff game since Hines Ward and Plaxico Burress did so against Cleveland on Jan. 5, 2003.

NOT SACKS-ONBURGH

The Steelers finished the regular season with 56 sacks, leading the NFL and setting a franchise record, but they barely laid a finger on the Jaguars' Blake Bortles. He wasn't sacked once, and he was hurried only four times. Before some passes, he'd have 4-5 seconds to survey the field and find a free target.

"They were huge," Bortles said of his offensive line. "I think Pittsburgh led the league in sacks, and we didn't allow one. That's awesome. We took some shots down the field where I had to stand back there for a little bit. For us to dominate the line of scrimmage was huge."

It also helped that Bortles and Jacksonville's running and screen game prompted Keith Butler to call off the blitzes in the second half. That basically left the Steelers with a pass rush of three or four men at times.

Cam Heyward, held to one tackle and no other numbers of note, declined to use that as an excuse:

TEN DATA POINTS

• Pittsburgh had a team postseason-record 545 total yards in the game to 378 for the Jaguars.

• The two teams combined to go 8 for 8 in red-zone trips. Jacksonville converted all five, the Steelers all three.

• The 87 total points were the most in a postseason game in the Steelers' history, topping the 73 scored in a 45-28 loss in the 1984 AFC Championship against Miami.

• The Steelers fell to 12-3 all-time in home games in the Divisional Round of the playoffs. They are 16-10 overall in the Divisional Round and are now 4-1 at Heinz Field.

• Ben Roethlisberger set franchise single-game playoff records for passing attempts (58), pass completions (37), passing yards (469) and touchdown passes (5).

• Roethlisberger's 469 passing yards are the second-most in a game in NFL playoff history to Bernie Kosar's 489 against the Jets in 1987.

• The Jaguars went 8 of 14 on third downs in the game. The Steelers were 7 of 16.

• Roethlisberger also reached 5,000 career passing yards in the postseason – joining Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Brett Favre and Joe Montana as the only NFL quarterbacks to reach the milestone in playoff history.

• Bell became the first player in Steelers playoff history to score a rushing and receiving touchdown in the same game.

• Sean Davis led the Steelers with 12 tackles. Telvin Smith had a game-high 16 tackles for Jacksonville.

MATT SUNDAY GALLERY