USA TODAY International Edition
Talented Steelers can push Patriots
The right team is headed to the AFC Championship Game, even if the journey there raised some doubts.
The Pittsburgh Steelers never did find the end zone in their 1816 victory against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night, settling for an NFL postseason- record six field goals after repeatedly stalling in the red zone. Antonio Brown had a quiet game — as quiet a game as a 100- yard receiver can have, that is.
And despite the defense frustrating the Chiefs to the point of stupidity — we’re talking to you, Travis Kelce — the Steelers were a two- point conversion away from the crapshoot of overtime.
“It was not good,” quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said of the oh- for- end zone night. “But it was enough.”
That “enough” is what will get the attention of Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots.
The AFC has not exactly been impressive in the playoffs, though some of that can be blamed on the Houston Texans playing in half of the games so far. But even the lowly Texans gave the Patriots a game Saturday, picking off Tom Brady twice before imploding in the second half.
Pittsburgh will do no such thing.
The Steelers showed Sunday, as they have all season, that they will fight, scratch and claw their way to the end. After Kansas City shredded Pittsburgh’s defense with surgical proficiency on a sixplay, 55- yard opening drive, the Steelers gave up 172 yards the rest of the night.
Roethlisberger wasn’t on his game against the Chiefs, finishing 20- for- 31 and getting picked off in the end zone by Eric Berry. But it didn’t matter because running back Le’Veon Bell was on his game. For a second consecutive game, Bell set the Steelers postseason rushing record, this time with 170 yards.
“I just want to go out there and win the game. I’m not worrying about the yards I get,” Bell said. “I’m going to continue to do whatever I can to move the ball and get yards.”
Just stopping Bell is a tall order for a defense. Kansas City knew exactly what he was going to do, and it didn’t matter. With Pittsburgh’s offensive line giving him holes and buying him time, he’s like a boulder rumbling downhill, smashing every cactus and road runner in his wake.
Now, get Roethlisberger and Brown playing the way they did during Pittsburgh’s seven- game winning streak to end the regular season, and the Patriots aren’t such a lock for the Super Bowl after all. “There’s a lot of things we’ve got to do to be successful against them,” Roethlisberger said. “They’re the best in the world for a reason.”
This was not Pittsburgh’s best effort, by any stretch. Maybe it was the weather, with rain falling throughout the game and fog shrouding the field. Maybe it was the late start, the kickoff pushed back seven hours because of an ice storm that wasn’t nearly as bad as advertised. Maybe it was the hostile environment, Arrowhead Stadium so loud that the Steelers players could barely hear themselves for much of the night.
For whatever reason, the game was a slog — made even more so in comparison with the thrilling end of the Green Bay PackersDallas Cowboys game earlier.
When Alex Smith’s pass to Demetrius Harris for what would have been a tying conversion was wiped out by a holding penalty, it was hard to tell if the cheers were from Steelers fans or everyone else watching who didn’t want to see this game go a minute longer than it had to.
“Obviously, there were some negatives,” Brown said. “We were able to weather the storm and find a way to get the job done. We’ve got to continue to find a way to get the job done.”
They have the talent and the grit to do it. Kansas City had the better record, home- field advantage and an extra week to prepare, and none of that mattered.
This whole season, Pittsburgh has been perhaps the league’s most intriguing team, flashing glimpses of a group that could make the Super Bowl.
Now it’s almost there, the right team in the right place.