Steelers Win the Way They’ve Always Won

By JUDY BATTISTA
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
January 23, 2011

PITTSBURGH, PA - JANUARY 23: Rashard Mendenhall #34 of the Pittsburgh Steelers runs down field against the New York Jets during the 2011 AFC Championship game at Heinz Field on January 23, 2011 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Steelers defeated the Jets 24 to 19. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)

PITTSBURGH — Back in September, Pittsburgh Steelers Coach Mike Tomlin had just arrived home from a road game when he contemplated the importance of the quarterback to his team. Ben Roethlisberger had been in league-mandated exile — the reclamation project for his reputation just beginning — and both of his primary backups were injured, yet the Steelers started 3-0 anyway.

Tomlin said then that he would not disrespect the quarterbacks whom he had cobbled together to take the snaps. But the Steelers had forged the foundation of their season on familiar building blocks — a running game whose importance had diminished last season, and a defense that has been the cornerstone of all six Steelers Super Bowl championships.

They weathered Roethlisberger’s absence, and in two weeks, the Steelers will play for a seventh title because they beat up the Jets with a style of play as familiar as a Terrible Towel.

As the Steelers made their way to their locker room, new championship hats on their heads, safety Ryan Clark screamed, “Can’t wait to get on that jet!” It was a jab at the catchphrase Jets linebacker Bart Scott made famous last week.

“They weren’t pretty respectable until about Friday,” Clark said later. “You can’t talk before you play.”

Still, the Steelers’ 24-19 victory in Sunday’s A.F.C. championship game was not a vintage Steelers performance. Their defense came dangerously close to becoming an embarrassing historical footnote when they almost blew a 24-point lead, which would have been the biggest deficit a team had recovered from, topping the 18-point hole the Colts recovered from against the Patriots in the A.F.C. title game in the 2006 season.

The cornerbacks, long Pittsburgh’s weak spot, looked particularly vulnerable when the pass rush could not reach quarterback Mark Sanchez, something Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers surely noted.

“The way the second half went, I forgot we played good,” Clark said. “We’ve got to get better. We weren’t tired at all. We didn’t execute. They dinked and dunked us down the field.”

PITTSBURGH, PA - JANUARY 23: William Gay #22 of the Pittsburgh Steelers runs for a second quarter touchdown after Mark Sanchez #6 of the New York Jets fumbled the ball during the 2011 AFC Championship game at Heinz Field on January 23, 2011 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

But the Steelers have been nothing if not resourceful this season. They played seven offensive tackles and four quarterbacks, and when they needed it most, it was their quarterback, still trying to live down his personal behavior, who saved them.

With two minutes remaining, on third-and-6 from the Jets’ 40, Roethlisberger scrambled away from pressure to complete a 14-yard pass to the rookie Antonio Brown, a play originally designed to go to Hines Ward. It was a redemptive moment for Roethlisberger. He thrust his hand to the sky as the final seconds ticked off, giving the N.F.L. a comeback story and the Steelers their third trip to the Super Bowl since 2005.

“That first 30 minutes was conference-champion worthy,” Tomlin said. “We kind of limped home. It’s kind of been our story this year. All of these journeys are like that. They are adversity filled, collective and personal. We have a lot of components in there that make navigating the waters possible.”

Last year, the Steelers’ offense had gone out of balance, with a reliance on the passing game (4,148 yards passing to 1,793 yards rushing) that the Steelers wanted to correct. They did this season, out of necessity. And Sunday, they reverted to form, with a powerful running attack and a swarming defense putting the Jets in a hole from which they could not recover.

The Steelers play the smash-mouth style the Jets want to assume as their own. In the first half, with their brilliant rookie center, Maurkice Pouncey, out with an ankle injury, the Steelers’ offensive line — a liability last year — blew back the Jets, producing 135 yards rushing, many of them on second efforts by Rashard Mendenhall. The long, clock-chewing drives left Sanchez sitting in the cold with little hope of stanching the damage.

“They can’t play us the way they played Tom Brady and Peyton Manning in nickel coverage,” Pittsburgh’s offensive coordinator, Bruce Arians, said. “We’ll run it down your throats.”

When he finally had the ball in his hands, Sanchez could do little early against a run defense that allowed few holes. Forced to throw near the end of the first half, Sanchez was sacked and he fumbled. The fumble was returned for a touchdown by William Gay, which put the Steelers up, 24-0.

Even when their passing defense flagged in the third quarter, and the Jets were able to thread passes into the secondary, that was simply too much for the Jets to overcome.

The Steelers’ offense struggled in the third quarter, but they were able to run enough to take time off the clock. Two drives that yielded no points still consumed 11 minutes. And when the Jets had three shots from the Steelers’ 1, they could not make it, falling victim to a goal-line stand that thrilled everyone wearing a throwback Jack Lambert jersey.

That was the kind of stand that has defined the Steelers franchise since the 1970s, and one that propels them now. James Farrior, the linebacker who is one of the team’s leaders, recalled a Tomlin truism that he uncorked in September after a win.

“The standard is the standard,” Tomlin said then, and Farrior repeated it Sunday night.

They meant that whoever played — Roethlisberger or Charlie Batch, Pouncey, who left the stadium on crutches with an ankle injury, or Doug Legursky — the expectations of the Steelers would not change. The six Lombardi Trophies already on display here attest to that. So did the subdued celebration in a quickly clearing locker room. The Steelers have been here before, repeatedly, and they have more work to do.

“You don’t feel close to the 1970s, but you feel a part of that,” Ward said. “Expectations are high in Pittsburgh.”