Steelers win, earn a date with the Colts
CINCINNATI -- All you salivating Patriots fans eager for another crack at the Colts will just have to wait. The next order of business will be for Coach Bill to mess with Jake Plummer's head instead of Peyton Manning's.
So clear your social calendar Saturday night for an 8 o'clock date with the Broncos. For this you can thank/blame the Pittsburgh Steelers, whose convincing 31-17 triumph over the AFC North champion Cincinnati Bengals yesterday meant they will get to play the Colts Sunday afternoon.
Bengals boosters will always view this one as having an asterisk. After waiting more than 15 calendar years to see their team take the field in a playoff game -- easily more than double the wait of runner-up Arizona -- they were crushed within the first five minutes when Pro Bowl quarterback Carson Palmer departed via the motorized stretcher with a torn left anterior cruciate ligament following a grab-and-twist tackle by Pittsburgh defensive end Kimo von Oelhoffen a split-second after releasing what turned out to be a 66-yard completion to Chris Henry.
Veteran Jon Kitna directed the team to leads of 10-0 and 17-7, but the margin was down to 17-14 by the half and the second half was a study in near-total futility, as the Bengals amassed a skimpy six first downs and 115 yards in total offense following intermission.
Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis took the high road on the subject of Palmer's injury. ''I feel like we as a football team need to learn from this," he said. ''We came in here as a football team, and we need to leave here as a football team. We need to learn it is about working through the tough times."
After starting 11-3 and having a chance to get a first-round bye, the Bengals ended their season by losing three straight, two at home. This certainly qualifies as ''tough times."
While acknowledging the significance of Palmer's injury, the Steelers were not about to apologize for their victory. ''Yeah, it's unfortunate he went down," said wide receiver Hines Ward. ''But he doesn't play defense. We went out there offensively and did what we had to do."
Palmer would have needed his best stuff in order to keep pace with Ben Roethlisberger. The second-year quarterback, who has yet to fully recover from a damaged right thumb, was a craftsman, completing 14 of 19 passes for 208 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions. His quarterback rating was about seven kazillion (actually, it was 148.7, which is in the same neighborhood). Beyond the sheer numbers were the reads and decisions only his coaches and teammates would know, and, according to them, he was, shall we say, Brady-like in this one.
''Last year," said Ward, the recipient of a 5-yard laser of a touchown toss, ''everything was new to him. Now he's a leader out there."
The whole thing was an efficient piece of Steeler business. No one was rattled when Shayne Graham finished off Cincinnati's first drive with a 23-yard field goal, or when Rudi Johnson completed a seven-play, 76-yard drive with a nice run from the 20 with 1:09 remaining in the opening period. The Steelers seemed to sense a momentum change even before it happened, and when Willie Parker scored on a ridiculously easy 19-yard screen pass (the Steelers caught Cincinnati in a blitz and the convoy was almost superfluous) they had closed to 10-7.
The Bengals had only one more moment, that being a 7-yard touchdown pass from Kitna to T.J. Houshmandzadeh that capped a 14-play, 57-yard march punctuated by penalties inside the red zone. The Steelers' response was a six-play, 76-yard drive leading to the Roethlisberger-Ward collaboration. That made it 17-14 at the half, and it sent the Steelers off the field in a good frame of mind.
''We felt at halftime we had taken their best shot," said coach Bill Cowher, who never before had been on the winning side of a playoff road game.
''They gave us their best punches early, and we withstood it," agreed Ward.
Once they got their hands on the football, the Steelers were surgical in the second half. They did have to work a bit to get it, however, as the Bengals drove to the Steelers' 15 before opting for a field goal. But the snap was high, punter Kyle Larson was unable to handle it, and Graham fell on it. The Steelers took over on their 34, and powered their way into the end zone in eight plays, the last 5 yards provided by the venerable Jerome Bettis, who actually side-stepped one man before dragging a second into the end zone for the go-ahead score.
The Bus wound up as Pittsburgh's leading rusher (10 carries, 52 yards), slipping a time-capsule 25-yard ramble inside his usual short yardage blasts. ''When you're a closer," he explained, ''it's important to be a spark plug."
But the most-discussed play of the game was the final Pittsburgh touchdown, a slick bit of classic playoff trickeration. Facing third and 3 at the Cincinnati 43, offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt called ''Fake 38 Direct Throwback." Wide receiver (and former quarterback) Antwaan Randle El took a direct snap, threw it back on the left to Roethlisberger, and the quarterback launched it toward the end zone, where both Ward and Cedrick Wilson were open.
''Hines was medium and I was deep," said Wilson. ''He decided to throw it to me." It was touchdown, Steelers, and the bench erupted. The surest way to bring a smile to an entire football team is to pull off a trick play.
The Steelers are aware they may need an A-plus game, plus a few more ''Fake 38 Direct Throwbacks" against the Colts. ''Win in the playoffs, and you live to fight another day," said Cowher. ''That's what the playoffs are all about." 