The Pittsburgh Steelers‘ push for a playoff berth will go on without wide receiver Antonio Brown.The perennial Pro Bowler will sit out the season finale against the Cincinnati Bengals with a knee injury. Pittsburgh will also be without starting inside linebacker Vince Williams (toe) and safety Sean Davis White Jonathan Jones Jerseys , who is dealing with a quadriceps injury.Kicker Matt McCrane will make his debut for Pittsburgh after Chris Boswell was placed on injured reserve with a lower-body injury.The Steelers need to win and hope the Ravens lose to Cleveland to capture the AFC North. Pittsburgh clinches a playoff spot with a victory over the Bengals and a tie between Indianapolis and Tennessee on Sunday night.Cincinnati will play without linebacker Vontaze Burfict, who was diagnosed with a concussion last week. Hardy Nickerson will start in place of Burfict.Cody Core will start at wide receiver for the Bengals, with linebacker Vincent Rey at outside linebacker and Darqueze Dennard at cornerback.The Ravens will face the Browns without offensive lineman Alex Lewis, who will miss a fourth straight game with a shoulder injury.Lewis has been placed in the inactive list in a game the Ravens likely need to win to clinch the AFC North title.Lewis last started on Dec. 2 against Atlanta, when he helped the Ravens compiled 207 yards rushing in a 26-16 victory.Baltimore also placed running back Javorius Allen and quarterback Robert Griffin III on the inactive list.Cleveland’s inactives include quarterback Drew Stanton and defensive linemen Chad Thomas and Carl Davis.The Chiefs are missing running back Spencer Ware because of a hamstring injury and star safety Eric Berry because of a recurrence of his heel problem as they try to clinch the AFC West and home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs against Oakland.Damien Williams will get the start at running back for Kansas City. Darrel Williams, who also has been dealing with a hamstring issue, will back him up along with Charcandrick West.Top cornerback Kendall Fuller returned after missing the Chiefs’ previous game with a broken hand. He was still wearing a cast, but planned to start opposite Steven Nelson against the Raiders.Todd Gurley is skipping the Los Angeles Rams‘ last game of the regular season to rest his sore knee for the playoffs.Gurley entered the finale leading the NFL with 21 touchdowns, but he will miss the Rams’ final two games of the regular season. The Rams also faced San Francisco without starting safety Lamarcus Joyner.The 49ers wrapped up their fifth straight non-winning season without running back Matt Breida and receivers Dante Pettis and Marquise Goodwin. Breida and Pettis were placed on injured reserve.The Seahawks will be without starting safety Tedric Thompson for the second straight game because of a chest injury. The Seahawks are also down starting left guard J.R. Sweezy because of a sprained foot. Sweezy was injured last week against Kansas City, but is hoping to play in the opening round of the playoffs.Newly acquired safety D.J. Swearinger is inactive for Arizona, along with starting defensive end Markus Golden and backup Benson Mayowa. Swearinger was claimed off waivers this week after his release by Washington.With rookie running back Phillip Lindsay on IR after injuring his right wrist last week, eight Broncos who started multiple games on offense aren’t in uniform for the finale against the Chargers.For the third straight week, safety Su’a Cravens and outside linebacker Shane Ray are healthy scratches for Denver.Here are the inactives for Sunday’s games:CINCINNATI-PITTSBURGHBengals: WR Hunter Sharp, CB Tony McRae, LB Vontaze Burfict, OT Cedric Ogbuehi, TE Jordan Franks, RB Quinton Flowers Jonathan Jones Jerseys 2019 , OT Kent PerkinsSteelers:WR Antonio Brown (knee), LB Vince Williams (toe), S Sean Davis (quadriceps), QB Mason Rudolph, OT Zach Banner, DE L.T. Walton, OLB Ola Adeniyi (edited) After a quiet 2018 campaign, can Melifonwu turn his fortunes in New England around?" />Skip to main contentclockmenumore-arrownoyesHorizontal - WhitePats Pulpita New England Patriots communityLog In or Sign UpLog InSign UpPatriots NewsOpinion and AnalysisContribute!About the SiteTopicsPatriotsOddsShopStubHubMoreAll 322 blogs on Horizontal - WhitePatriots News Opinion and Analysis Contribute! FanPostsFanShotsAbout the Site List of Patriots Twitter AccountsWrite For Pats Pulpit!New User Welcome and Commenting GuideCommunity GuidelinesMastheadTopics Patriots Off-Season CoveragePatriots Opinion/AnalysisPatriots NewsPatriots Draft CoverageSportfolio ManagementFiled under:Patriots AnalysisPatriots Player ProfilesPatriots Offseason CoverageNew England Patriots 2019 roster breakdown: #22 SS Obi MelifonwuNew,26commentsAfter a quiet 2018 campaign, can Melifonwu turn his fortunes in New England around?EDTShareTweetShareShareNew England Patriots 2019 roster breakdown: #22 SS Obi MelifonwuMark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY SportsThe New England Patriots, who will be off until training camp starts in late July, currently have 90 players on their active roster. However, only 53 of them will be able to survive the cutdowns on August 31 and ultimately make the team. Over the course of the summer, we will take a look at the players fighting for those spots to find out who has the best chances of helping the Patriots defend their Super Bowl title.Today, the series continues with one of New England’s depth players in the secondary.Name: Obi MelifonwuPosition: Strong safetyJersey number: 22Age: 25Experience: 2Size: 6’4, 225 lbs.2018 review: Only 16 months after the Oakland Raiders made him a second-round draft pick, the team decided to expose Obi Melifonwu to the waiver wire: Oakland released Melifonwu, who ended his rookie campaign on injured reserve due to a hip issue White Ja’Whaun Bentley Jersey , with an injury designation. No team claimed the 56th selection of the 2017 draft, however, and the Connecticut product reverted to the Raiders’ injured reserve.Two months later, in late October, Oakland parted ways with Melifonwu for good and released him off its IR list. Despite his draft pedigree, he lasted on the open market for almost two weeks — at which point the Patriots decided to pick the defensive back up by signing him to a two-year, $1.4 million contract. The deal added Melifonwu to a crowded New England secondary, and his usage developed accordingly.All in all, he appeared in just three of a possible ten games for the Patriots. Melifonwu was on the field for a combined 20 defensive snaps against the New York Jets and the Minnesota Vikings in weeks twelve and thirteen of the regular season, respectively, and 25 more in the kicking game. Given his limited playing time, his statistical output — one tackle on defense, two more on special teams — was hardly surprising.The playoffs was more of the same for Melifonwu. He was active for only one game — the AFC Championship against the Kansas City Chiefs — and again was unable to regularly see the field. In fact, his three special teams snaps were all the postseason playing time he was given by the coaching staff. Nevertheless, the second-year man, who registered on tackle against the Chiefs, was part of the Super Bowl winning team. So his season can still be seen as a successful one in the grand scheme of things.2019 preview: Entering his second year in the Patriots’ system with a salary cap hit of $693,438 Ja’Whaun Bentley Jersey 2019 , Melifonwu is one of the players on the roster that is hardest to project. On the one hand, he did enter the draft with plenty of potential given his size and athletic abilities. On the other, however, he has had a quiet pro career up to this point and failed to establish a clear role in New England over the second half of the 2018 season.Anything seems possible, therefore: Melifonwu could establish himself as a valuable strong safety/linebacker hybrid in the mold of Patrick Chung and maybe even build the foundation for one day taking over for the veteran. Then again, the 25-year-old could also get lost in what is one of the deepest secondaries in all of football — one that added a similarly sized player in the second round of this year’s draft in cornerback Joejuan Williams.Melifonwu might find himself somewhere in the middle when the regular season comes around, though. He could very well become Chung’s primary backup, and see rotational playing time on defense but serving primarily as a special teamer. Given how his 2018 campaign went, such a development seems realistic and would also be a positive one for Melifonwu: he is not guaranteed a roster spot and needs a solid summer to justify the team keeping him.If that does not happen, however, seeing the Patriots part ways with him should be expected — and if only to get him to the practice squad. After all, you can only keep so many players in what is already a deep defensive backfield. And with de facto roster locks like Jonathan Jones or Duke Dawson Jr. also able of providing depth at safety, Melifonwu might be buried on the depth chart — and ultimately end up off the roster once cutdowns begin in late August.At the end of the day, Melifonwu is a virtual unknown heading into the season — and therefore one of the more interesting players to watch in training camp and the preseason.