Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will have surgery on his right elbow and miss the remainder of the season.
Our NFL experts answer all of the lingering questions about what's next for the Steelers, including what to expect from new starter Mason Rudolph, fantasy spin for the rest of the team and what it all means for the 2019 season -- and beyond.
Can the Steelers still make the playoffs?
Jeremy Fowler, senior NFL writer: No. And that's not because of the quarterback situation. The Steelers blow assignments on defense, miss tackles, commit key penalties, average 3.9 yards per rush and struggle to sustain drives. This is hardly a Roethlisberger problem alone. This team just isn't playoff-caliber, at least not right now.
Kevin Seifert, senior NFL writer: Their season is over. They would likely need to win 10 of their remaining 14 games to get into the playoffs, and that's hard to do. Of the 268 teams to start 0-2 since 1990, only 30 have advanced to the postseason, per ESPN Stats & Information. I can't take those odds for a team that has demolished its previous identity, one led by Roethlisberger, Le'Veon Bell and Antonio Brown, but given us no indication of what it might look like moving forward.
