Right guard Trai Turner has more playoff experience than the rest of the Pittsburgh Steelers starting offensive linemen combined.
Only backup guard/tackle Joe Haeg can match Turner’s six games of playoff experience. Haeg earned a Super Bowl ring with Tampa Bay last year while Turner lost his Super Bowl appearance after the 2015 season with the Carolina Panthers.
Right tackle Chuks Okorafor is the only other member of the Steelers line to start a playoff game, and it came last January against Cleveland. J.C. Hassenauer didn’t play in that playoff loss last year, left guard John Leglue has made five NFL starts and left tackle Dan Moore Jr. is a rookie, as is center Kendrick Green, who has taken a backseat to Hassenauer in recent weeks.
Turner, an eight-year veteran, thinks the Steelers linemen can use that inexperience to their advantage.
“You know what they say, ignorance is bliss,” Turner said. “Sometimes you’re better not knowing and going in and doing what you do rather than making it bigger than it is. I see it from that side.”
Related: Ben Roethlisberger on Steelers’ playoff chances: ‘Have fun and see what happens’
In 2014, his rookie season, Turner was part of a Carolina Panthers team that finished 7-8-1 yet hosted a playoff game and defeated Arizona, 27-16, in the wild-card round before losing to eventual NFC champion Seattle.
The next year, Carolina went 15-1 and defeated Arizona and Seattle in the playoffs before losing in the Super Bowl to Denver.
“We kept winning games, kept winning games and ended up in the big one,” he said. “It’s one of those things that you have to realize whether you view it as big, small, huge or indifferent, just know that there is a lot at stake for everybody.”
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