Steelers, Falcons have lots at stake today

Associated Press

ATLANTA

A loss is never a good thing.

Yet some are better than others.

Take the Atlanta Falcons, who showed plenty of fight at Lambeau Field before their second-half comeback came up just short against the Green Bay Packers.

The 43-37 setback didn’t bump the Falcons (5-8) out of first place in the woeful NFC South, and it actually gave them a positive outlook heading into today’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers (8-5).

“There’s no give-up,” Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan said. “There’s a belief that regardless of the situation, we can make things happen.”

The Falcons were embarrassed in the first half by the Packers, falling behind 31-7, but nearly pulled off an improbable rally on a night when Julio Jones set a franchise record with 259 yards receiving.

If the Falcons are feeling that positive about a loss, just imagine what kind of high the Steelers must be on. They’re coming off an impressive 42-21 victory at Cincinnati that pulled Pittsburgh within a half-game of division-leading Bengals in the jumbled AFC North.

“We just have a hungry bunch that wants to take advantage of the opportunity in front of us,” defensive end Cam Heyward said. “I think everybody knows we have to take advantage of this from here on out. The playoffs start now for us.”

The Steelers are eager to get back to the postseason after missing out the past two seasons. They haven’t endured a three-year playoff drought since 1998-2000.

While tough to figure out, Pittsburgh has already matched its win total from each of the past two seasons. Unfortunately for the Steelers, their division is the exact opposite of Atlanta’s, the only one in the NFL in which all four teams are above .500.

“I’m not going to reflect on the season right now or what’s beyond this game. It’s the here and now,” said Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.