Steelers at Broncos - Talking points
AFC Championship Game
Pittsburgh Steelers at Denver Broncos
Invesco Field at Mile High
Sunday, 22 January
1500 EST on Fox / 2000 GMT on Sky Sports Xtra
Before this season, the last playoff game the Broncos had won was the 1998 Super Bowl, the last game of legendary quarterback John Elway's career. Coach Mike Shanahan, whose arrival in Denver sparked an Indian summer for Elway, was beginning to grow tired with the continual questioning over what the team were doing wrong as they suffered heavy defeats to the Colts in the opening playoff round in the last two years. This season, the Colts are out of the way, and the Broncos' sights are clearly on a trip to Detroit for Super Bowl XL.
They looked dire in the first week of the season but have not looked back after the run of nine victories in the 10 games that followed, finishing the regular season with the second-most successful running game in the league (behind Atlanta), producing an average of 158.7 yards per game. Had Tatum Bell avoided injury and managed 79 more, the Broncs would have been the only side able to boast two 1,000-yard rushers this year. Mike Anderson ran for 1,014 as just the latest unheralded back to enjoy success in Denver. The Broncos offensive line enjoy their low profile - they have refused to give media interviews for years - but their speed and Shanahan's schemes mean any runner can be successful.
Anderson's success has helped make fans forget one of the most controversial acts of the Shanahan regime, trading top rusher Clinton Portis to the Redskins two years ago. The player Denver traded for, corner Champ Bailey, has also fulfilled his promise after a struggling start, his 100-yard return of a Tom Brady interception icing victory over New England last weekend.
Pittsburgh, one of the most successful teams of the modern era, just don't do playoff races like this. In the last 35 years, they have reached the AFC Championship Game 12 times (winning five) but have only managed three playoff victories – in any round – away from home. In 12 seasons under coach Bill Cowher, with whom they have reached this stage six times but won just once, they had never been victorious on the road in the playoffs. This season, by contrast, has ended with a barnstorming tour across the USA, with wins in Minneapolis and Cleveland as part of a four-game streak that saw them scrape into the post-season by the skins of their teeth, then successful playoff visits to Cincinnati and, in one of the most rollercoaster finishes of all time, Indianapolis.
Quarterback Ben Roethisburger's game-saving tackle on Colt Nick Harper has been dubbed "The Immaculate Tackle", a more prosaic version of "The Immaculate Reception" by Franco Harris in 1972, and the season now has a feel of destiny about it. They were rated one of the best sides in the league until Roethisburger's mid-season knee injury, which saw the team struggle even when he returned from surgery. In by far the stronger conference, they could have been left at home for January, but their season rumbles on.
With it rumbles the career of Jerome Bettis, the 255lb (ish) running back whose 13th season is likely to be his last. Bettis, who is still as likely to dance around a defender as bulldoze him into the turf, is likely to be voted into the Hall of Fame at the first ballot in five years time but his career would have been remembered for a goal-line fumble against the Colts were it not for Roethisburger's grasping tackle and a missed Colts field goal. Bettis has never been to a Super Bowl before but is now just a game away from retiring on the ultimate stage.
What the fans' blogs say
According to Thin Air, Pittsburgh are just like Denver in that they "don't get no respect".
One for the Thumb compares the showing by Pittsburgh's rookie quarterback at this time last season to his maturing showing against Indianapolis.
NFLBriefing.com
Pittsburgh Steelers at Denver Broncos
Invesco Field at Mile High
Sunday, 22 January
1500 EST on Fox / 2000 GMT on Sky Sports Xtra
Before this season, the last playoff game the Broncos had won was the 1998 Super Bowl, the last game of legendary quarterback John Elway's career. Coach Mike Shanahan, whose arrival in Denver sparked an Indian summer for Elway, was beginning to grow tired with the continual questioning over what the team were doing wrong as they suffered heavy defeats to the Colts in the opening playoff round in the last two years. This season, the Colts are out of the way, and the Broncos' sights are clearly on a trip to Detroit for Super Bowl XL.
They looked dire in the first week of the season but have not looked back after the run of nine victories in the 10 games that followed, finishing the regular season with the second-most successful running game in the league (behind Atlanta), producing an average of 158.7 yards per game. Had Tatum Bell avoided injury and managed 79 more, the Broncs would have been the only side able to boast two 1,000-yard rushers this year. Mike Anderson ran for 1,014 as just the latest unheralded back to enjoy success in Denver. The Broncos offensive line enjoy their low profile - they have refused to give media interviews for years - but their speed and Shanahan's schemes mean any runner can be successful.
Anderson's success has helped make fans forget one of the most controversial acts of the Shanahan regime, trading top rusher Clinton Portis to the Redskins two years ago. The player Denver traded for, corner Champ Bailey, has also fulfilled his promise after a struggling start, his 100-yard return of a Tom Brady interception icing victory over New England last weekend.
Pittsburgh, one of the most successful teams of the modern era, just don't do playoff races like this. In the last 35 years, they have reached the AFC Championship Game 12 times (winning five) but have only managed three playoff victories – in any round – away from home. In 12 seasons under coach Bill Cowher, with whom they have reached this stage six times but won just once, they had never been victorious on the road in the playoffs. This season, by contrast, has ended with a barnstorming tour across the USA, with wins in Minneapolis and Cleveland as part of a four-game streak that saw them scrape into the post-season by the skins of their teeth, then successful playoff visits to Cincinnati and, in one of the most rollercoaster finishes of all time, Indianapolis.
Quarterback Ben Roethisburger's game-saving tackle on Colt Nick Harper has been dubbed "The Immaculate Tackle", a more prosaic version of "The Immaculate Reception" by Franco Harris in 1972, and the season now has a feel of destiny about it. They were rated one of the best sides in the league until Roethisburger's mid-season knee injury, which saw the team struggle even when he returned from surgery. In by far the stronger conference, they could have been left at home for January, but their season rumbles on.
With it rumbles the career of Jerome Bettis, the 255lb (ish) running back whose 13th season is likely to be his last. Bettis, who is still as likely to dance around a defender as bulldoze him into the turf, is likely to be voted into the Hall of Fame at the first ballot in five years time but his career would have been remembered for a goal-line fumble against the Colts were it not for Roethisburger's grasping tackle and a missed Colts field goal. Bettis has never been to a Super Bowl before but is now just a game away from retiring on the ultimate stage.
What the fans' blogs say
According to Thin Air, Pittsburgh are just like Denver in that they "don't get no respect".
The Steelers are very much like the Broncos. Their dedication to the running game is arguably as devout as is the Broncos. They have been written off by the media just like the Broncos, and they have an “us against the world” attitude just like the Broncos. These are two teams who have been overlooked almost completely. It’s karmic justice that they’re both still alive.
One for the Thumb compares the showing by Pittsburgh's rookie quarterback at this time last season to his maturing showing against Indianapolis.
Before our very eyes we are all watching Ben Roethlisberger take over the football world. He has gone from a nervous rookie in the playoffs, to a savvy veteran who realizes when to throw in away and when to take a sack. He has made the Steelers offense very effective, and his passes over the past few weeks have been amazing. Let’s hope he takes that same fire with him to Denver this weekend to face the Broncos.
NFLBriefing.com
posted by MG at
11:18 AM
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