Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger (shoulder) said he will not need surgery on his right shoulder in the offseason. He will take some time off in the next few weeks to let the injury heal. ‘From what I’ve been told by Doc (James) Bradley, no surgery,’ Roethlisberger said. ‘The ligaments will scar up and heal on their own. The only thing he could foresee possibly down the road is cleaning out the arthritis and scars. I don’t foresee any surgeries anytime soon.’ He also said he took a painkilling shot Friday, Jan. 15, and probably wouldn’t have gotten through the divisional round without it.

Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo plans to play at least four more seasons despite turning 36 this year.

Carolina Panthers QB Cam Newton completed 59% of his passes for 8.2 yards per attempt against the blitz this season, and he had a 6.3 touchdown-to-interception rate after a 1.9 touchdown-to-interception rate against the blitz last year. Newton was sacked 6.7% of the time against the blitz this year as opposed to 9.2% last season. The Arizona Cardinals blitzed more than any other team in 2015 (45% of dropbacks).

Footballguys View: Newton is cool under fire, and it’s showing in his play this season. The Cardinals are going to try and get after him, but Newton has the smarts and ability to avoid the rush and beat a defense with his legs or arms. This should be a great game coming up on Sunday, and it might be the best remaining game of the postseason.

Former Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz has agreed to a deal to become the Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Tuesday, Jan. 19. The deal is not officially signed, but an agreement is in place.

Footballguys View: Schwartz will bring a swarming defense to the Eagles while Doug Pederson works to get the offense back on track. He was not in the league last season, but Schwartz has a history and reputation of building an aggressive 4-3 defense.

Arizona Cardinals QB Carson Palmer (finger) was conservative while picking plays for the early part of the divisional round game against the Green Bay Packers, but head coach Bruce Arians said the Cardinals will get back to being themselves in the NFC Championship. ‘He picked a lot of shorter completions early instead of going for them like we normally do,’ Arians said. ‘I think that was part of ‘I don’t want to screw this up.” Arians also reiterated that Palmer’s right finger injury is not a problem.

Footballguys View: The Cardinals are going to live and die by the sword. They’re super aggressive, and that’s the way that Arians wants them to be. The Panthers have a tough defense, but you can move the ball against them. We expect the Cardinals to attack vertically and test the Panthers safeties…perhaps the weakest part of the Carolina defense.

The Denver Broncos had 31 dropped passes in the regular season, which was around two per game. WR Demaryius Thomas had a career-high 17 drops this season. Thomas had five drops in the first meeting with the New England Patriots.

Denver Broncos S Omar Bolden (knee) was placed on the Reserve/Injured list with a knee injury Tuesday, Jan. 19.

Denver Broncos CB Chris Harris Jr. (shoulder) was limited by a deep bone bruise in his left shoulder in the divisional round against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and he was replaced by CB Bradley Roby in the base defense. Harris expects a similar plan against the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship, and CB Kayvon Webster could also step in and play.

Denver Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak said he never considered benching QB Peyton Manning in favor of QB Brock Osweiler in the second half of the divisional round win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. ‘No,’ Kubiak said. ‘We were struggling because we didn’t catch the ball. We would have had a really big first half. There was 100 yards of plays we left out there. We just need to keep plugging away.’

New England Patriots QB Tom Brady is 2-6 in his career in games played in Denver against the Broncos. ‘It’s a great football environment. They’ve had some good teams when we’ve played out there,’ Brady said. ‘I didn’t realize we were 2-6, but the crowd gets into it. … We’ve had a lot of close games there. I think it always comes down to something at the end.’