Woodley says loss to Broncos still bothers Steelers

LaMarr Woodley says the Pittsburgh Steelers are still stinging and motivated by their wild-card playoff loss to the Denver Broncos last season.

The Broncos shocked the heavily favored Steelers when Tim Tebow connected with Demaryius Thomas for an 80-yard touchdown in overtime to lift Denver to the victory and on to the divisional round where they were pounded by the New England Patriots, 45-10.

"What gives you motivation is not playing in the Super Bowl, getting eliminated in the first round, losing to a team we had no business losing to,” Woodley told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “It’s a team we should have easily beat. That’s motivation, watching teams play the week after us.”

The Steelers have done plenty of retooling this off-season on the offensive line and on defense, as well as the retirement of Hines Ward. It will be interesting to see how quickly things come together in Pittsburgh where the Super Bowl is generally the only measure of success.

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Terry McCormick covers the Titans for TitanInsider.com