Days Of Future Past

PITTSBURGH - Watched the Steelers' playoff game against the New Jersey Jets yesterday. Met up with Rick Rosenberger and his wife Terry. The whole of Pittsburgh was rooting for their Steelers. It was wild...and might I say that I almost had a coronary...and I'm not speaking only for myself. It was really an intense game, where even one of the referees had to be replaced due to a torn hamstring.

It’s often said that it’s better to be lucky than good, and the Steelers embodied that yesterday.
After putting together the best regular season in franchise history, and just the fourth NFL team ever to finish 15-1, the Steelers won their divisional playoff game against the New York Jets only because of two missed field goals by the Jests in the final 122 seconds of regulation time.

But then in overtime, the Steelers did what the Jets couldn't do -- make a game-winning field goal -- and the Steelers somehow beat the Jets, 20-17, in a game where the Pittsburgh defense played tight while the offense sputtered in the cold.

Ben Roethlisberger, the rookie quarterback, entered the playoffs with a perfect 13-0 record as a starter, and he seemed to relish putting together performances that belied his status as a rookie. But Roethlisberger did actually play like the rookie that he is. He threw two interceptions, one seemingly more costly than the other, and each had appeared to be the play that was to end the Steelers’ season. It almost seemed like the much loved rookie quarterback, turned star -- restaurants even had sandwiches named after him-- did everything he could to lose the game.

The first interception came in the third quarter when the ball was underthrown, intercepted, and the Jets returned for an 86-yard touchdown that gave the Jets a 17-10 lead. The second came with 1:58 to play in the finl quarter, in a tie game from the Steelers 37-yard line. But just when it appeared he was to wear the goat’s horns, Roethlisberger bounced back to quarterback that decisive overtime drive that began at the Pittsburgh 13-yard line, and it ended with the game winning field goal that allowed the Steelers to advance to the AFC Championship Game at 6:30 p.m. next Sunday at Heinz Field. The Steelers will play the winner of the Indianapolis-New England game. If they win this, the Steelers will enter the SuperBowl.

"Here we go STEELERS, here we go!!" Hey, what can I say? Taking in the culture of Pittsburgh literally means only ONE thing, and that is to embrace the Steelers as your own.

posted by HanQiang @ 5:08 am