Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell said last week that he’s prepared to sit out a season, or even retire, if he is hit with the franchise tag for the second consecutive year. The 25-year-old Bell played on a $12.1 million franchise tag in 2017, and that number is projected to increase to around $14.5 million for next season.

From the wild-card round through Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis, ESPN.com has the playoffs covered.

• Schedule, coverage, more »
• Resetting the NFL playoff bracket »

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  From Le’Veon Bell skipping camp to Ryan Shazier’s spinal injury, the Steelers overcame plenty of physical and emotional hurdles to win the AFC North.

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  The All-Pro running back said the Steelers have the right players to make a playoff run next year, but didn’t say if that group included himself.

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  Running back Le’Veon Bell told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler that he’s prepared to sit out a season, or even retire, if the Steelers use the franchise tag on him for the second consecutive year.

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Matthew Berry, senior fantasy analyst: Pittsburgh Steelers, but … Under the age old adage of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” staying with the Steelers is the ideal spot. It’s a team and offense that know him and his skill set well and will use him in a variety of ways to take full advantage of his talents. He has become one of the best — if not the best — running backs in the league there, and with Roethlisberger announcing his intention to return, it makes the most sense. If that doesn’t work, he should go to a team with a good offense that only lacks a true franchise back. Taking money out of it and just looking at the best fit, how about the Detroit Lions? They have a great quarterback in Matthew Stafford and an improving defense, but the issue for years has been their inability to run the ball. Ameer Abdullah has struggled with inconsistency and injuries, and Theo Riddick is a nice change-of-pace player but not a true three-down back. Adding a franchise back like Bell, especially with his pass-catching abilities, to a Stafford-led offense would greatly improve the Lions as they look to get back to the playoffs with a new head coach in a tough division.

Mike Clay, NFL writer: New England Patriots. Though a return to Pittsburgh is the most logical and likely outcome, there are plenty of terrific fits for Bell across the league. The one that stands out most to me (cover your ears, Steelers fans) is in New England. Bill Belichick has been guilty of “tipping” pass or run based on personnel in recent years (85 percent of James White’s snaps have been passes, compared to 29 percent for Mike Gillislee this season, for example), so he could look to become less predictable by bringing in the super-versatile back. Bell has racked up at least 261 carries and 75 catches during each of the past three seasons in which he has played in at least 12 games. Tom Brady will be 41 when the 2018 season begins, and he could use the additional weapon. Considering Belichick’s committee-heavy history, it seems like a long shot that the Patriots would spend big on a running back, but Dion Lewis and Rex Burkhead are both unrestricted free agents, and Gillislee quickly fell out of favor after rushing for three touchdowns in Week 1.

Dan Graziano, NFL writer: Pittsburgh Steelers. They know they can run their offense through him, that they can use him as a runner and a receiver, that he coexists peacefully with their other stars and that they can win tons of games with him. For Bell, the comfort level of knowing all those things has to matter, too. Can he be sure he’d be used the same way elsewhere that the Steelers use him? Would he be happy if he went to a team that didn’t? The Steelers may still want to go year to year on Bell, given his history of injuries and suspensions. But he didn’t have any of those issues in 2017, and if they were looking for him to “prove it” on the franchise tag, he absolutely did. They should be able to work out something, unless one side’s demands proves too out of line with the market. So far, that has been Bell’s side.

Seattle Seahawks cornerback Jeremy Lane registered a blood-alcohol-content level well under the legal limit but admitted to having smoked marijuana before he was pulled over early Sunday morning, leading to his arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence, according to a Washington State Patrol incident report.

Lane was pulled over on Mercer Island just east of Seattle after his 2006 Dodge Charger was clocked traveling 80 mph in a 60 mph zone, according to the report, which was obtained by ESPN. The arresting patrolman said he observed the vehicle drifting and changing lanes without signaling. Lane’s vehicle also had its hazard lights on.

The patrolman wrote in the report that there “was a strong odor of burnt marijuana inside the vehicle” when Lane rolled down the window and that he could smell “a moderate odor of intoxicants emanating from Lane in the open air” once the cornerback stepped out of his vehicle. Lane said he hadn’t been drinking and that he had smoked marijuana about three hours earlier, according to the report.

The patrolman noted that Lane’s eyes were watery and bloodshot and that his speech was slow and slurred. Lane showed possible signs of impairment on all three of the field sobriety tests he underwent, according to the report. He agreed to take a breath test and registered a BAC of .039. The legal limit in Washington State is .08.

The patrolman wrote, “I explained to Lane several times throughout our contact that he was under arrest because of his driving ability, performance on the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests, and admission to smoking marijuana led me to believe that he was impaired by a combination of alcohol and marijuana.”

The report states Lane expressed concern over being arrested on suspicion of DUI and that he didn’t want people thinking he was drunk, with Lane quoted as saying, “This time I was more high than anything.”

After being taken to Overlake Hospital for a blood draw, Lane was booked into King County Jail and was released almost four hours later on his own recognizance, according to the report and jail records.

After news of Lane’s arrest broke Sunday morning, Lane tweeted, “A fail DUI is 0.08 right? I blew 0.03 why was still arrest!!! I’ll leave it at that.”

The Seahawks have not publicly commented on Lane’s arrest.

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — Adam Thielen was drained mentally, physically and emotionally.

Being on the field for one of the greatest plays in Minnesota Vikings history and seeing the replay hundreds of times of Case Keenum’s 61-yard pass to Stefon Diggs for the first walk-off touchdown in the fourth quarter of an NFL postseason game, the receiver needed more than just a moment to process what he had witnessed.

Not even 24 hours after the catch that catapulted the Vikings into the NFC Championship Game at the last possible second, the shock factor hadn’t completely worn off for Thielen and his teammates.

“That game took a lot out of me,” Thielen said. “I was just ready to go lay down and not move and hang out with the family. That’s what I did. I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep but laid in bed and thought about the game and all that.”

Read about Case Keenum from those who know him:

• Even at Case’s lowest point, Kliff Kingsbury saw potential »
• 2,500-plus virtual reality reps transformed Keenum’s game »
• A peace sign, a 9-TD game and Case’s record-setting Houston career »
• Disney adventure yields lifelong friendship for the QB and former center »

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  A day after his game-costing missed tackle, Saints rookie Marcus Williams thanked his supporters and vowed that he “won’t let one play define the type of MAN or PLAYER that I am or will be!”

“I don’t think it’s still really sunk in as far as like what something like that’s going to be,” guard Jeremiah Sirles said. “That’s the stuff that in 20 years, you turn on NFL Films and it’s going to be the 2018 NFL Classic. Something like that that you can’t take away from any player that’s in this room right now. We’ll always be a part of something that happened that was super special like that.”

MINNEAPOLIS — The “Minnesota Miracle” happened on a play called “Seven Heaven.” Why do the Minnesota Vikings use that name? Because if the quarterback hits the seven route, a deep corner in this case, well, something heavenly happens.

Stefon Diggs was running the seven route on Sunday night when he caught his miraculous 61-yard touchdown on a heave from Case Keenum that lifted the Vikings to a 29-24 victory over the New Orleans Saints and into the NFC Championship Game. It was third-and-10. The clock showed 10 seconds. The Vikings trailed by one point, had no timeouts remaining and just a 2.6 percent chance to win, according to ESPN’s win-probability model.

Here’s the story of what happened next — the first fourth-quarter, walk-off touchdown in NFL playoff history — as told by the people who lived it on the field:

Diggs, Vikings receiver: “Case said, as I was about to leave [the huddle], ‘I’m going to give somebody a chance.’ That somebody was me.”

Adam Thielen, Vikings receiver: “We knew we had some time on the clock. And we knew that all we needed was a field goal. Obviously, we knew it was going to be tough. All they had to do was stay back and not give up the big play.”

Sean Payton, Saints coach: “It was an outside zone [defense]. We were protecting the sidelines. Anything inside and you’re in a pretty good position when the game is over. It’s a situation we practice quite a bit.”

Linval Joseph, Vikings defensive lineman: “I was thinking that at best we were going to have to kick the longest field goal in NFL history to win this game.”

The Saints rushed four defensive linemen and had seven in coverage.

Cameron Jordan, Saints defensive end: “We had them exactly where we wanted them. As a defensive end and player of my caliber, I should have been able to eradicate that play all together. … Had I been a half-step faster, I would have been able to get off the tight end and tackle and completely take over that play.”

The first two reads were wide receiver Jarius Wright and tight end Kyle Rudolph.

Wright: “We are the guys who can actually catch the ball and run out of bounds on that play. We’re running more of an out route. Diggs was running a deep corner. He’s the big shot on that. We’re the catch-and-get-out-of-bounds guys.”

Keenum, Vikings quarterback: “I’m not going to say I picked out [Diggs] beforehand. But we needed a big chunk. Thielen was on the backside covered. I had to give a guy a chance. I don’t know what the percentage was. I was just trying to give a guy a chance.”

Wright: “We practice that play all the time. But the high seven never gets the ball. It has never been thrown to that route, as far as I can remember.”

Diggs: “I was thinking, ‘Catch it, get out of bounds and maybe kick a field goal.’ I took a picture before I turned around to catch the ball. There was only one guy there. If he slipped, then I was going to try to stay up and keep it going.”

Joseph: “[Diggs] caught the ball and the safety whiffed — he missed, whatever you want to call it. He didn’t get to the ball.”

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  After missing a tackle that allowed Vikings receiver Stefon Diggs to run free for a 61-yard, game-winning touchdown on Sunday, Saints safety Marcus Williams vowed to do all he can “to make sure nothing like this happens again to me.”

• 

  Sacksonville heads to Foxborough to face Tom Brady for the AFC title. Here’s an early look, plus what the Saints or Vikings could expect in Philly.

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That safety was Saints rookie Marcus Williams.

Williams: “It was just my play to make. The ball was in the air. I didn’t go attack it. And he came down and made a great play, and that’s just on me. I just got to be that guy and go up and get the ball. As a safety back there, you got to be the eraser. And that was my job.”

Keenum: “I saw [Diggs] go up, and I was like, ‘He’s got a chance to catch it.’ He caught it. Then, ‘Oh, he’s got a chance to get out of bounds. Get out of bounds!’ But he fell kind of back in bounds, away from [Williams], and then he almost fell over. I couldn’t believe what was happening. I really couldn’t.”

Mike Zimmer, Vikings coach: “That didn’t look like a curse out there to me. That looked like a Hail Mary.”

Diggs: “I was preparing for somebody to contact me so I could go out of bounds, but nobody contacted me. I kind of lost my footing a little bit. I just tried to gather myself with my hand. My hand never let me down. Just tried to gather myself, and the rest is history.”

Thielen: “For him to put his hand down and stay up, it was unbelievable.”

Payton: “Look, [Williams] jumped and went for the tackle. The call is what we wanted in that situation. The right call.”

Marshon Lattimore, Saints cornerback: “All we had to do to end this game if they catch it is tackle them inbounds. They didn’t have any timeout. I mean, things happen.”

Keenum: “Being a kid, growing up, that’s what you want to do in the backyard. There’s 30 seconds to go, you’re down by two, fourth quarter, playoffs. Drew Brees is the quarterback for the other team. That’s what you dream about.”