More than a fairy tale

By TOM WILLIAMS

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

DETROIT — At first glance, the Pittsburgh Steelers' world championship claimed on Sunday seems quite improbable when you consider how far from a crown they were in early December.

Back then, the Steelers were 7-5 and with four games remaining trailed the Cincinnati Bengals by two plus the tiebreaker.

In other words, playing a home playoff game was impossible because the AFC North Division title was going to Cincinnati.

But even the wild-card race was an uncertainty because the Steelers trailed the San Diego Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs in the race for the AFC's sixth seed.

After losing to the Bengals 38-31 on Dec. 4, the Steelers knew they needed four wins plus help just to make the playoffs.

Quite a fairy tale, right?

Not exactly.

For at about the time the Steelers (15-5) began their four-game winning streak (over the Bears, Vikings, Browns and Lions), they became as healthy as just about any NFL team can hope to be in December.

And a healthy Pittsburgh team was a dangerous squad no one wanted to face in January because that's when the Steelers most resembled the 15-1 team of 2004.

Had 14 straight wins

Remember that bunch? Led by a rookie quarterback, the Steelers earned home-field advantage throughout the playoffs with 14 consecutive wins.

Not that playing at Heinz Field helped as much as anticipated because the Steelers struggled to beat the New York Jets in overtime (20-17) then were blown out by the New England Patriots (41-27) in the AFC Championship Game.

What made the Steelers a much better team than their 7-5 record indicated was the return to health of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and left tackle Marvel Smith.

Twice this season, Roethlisberger suffered knee injuries. The second one caused him to miss three games in November. Backup Charlie Batch led the Steelers wins over the Packers and Browns, but suffered a broken bone in his hand in the latter game.

Tommy Maddox, whose poor play cost the Steelers a crucial overtime game in October against the Jaguars, played on Nov. 20 when the Steelers lost in overtime to the Ravens.

Roethlisberger returned the following week for the Monday night game in Indianapolis, but was rusty as the Colts romped, 26-7. His right thumb also was giving his pain.

The following week, the Bengals won a shoot-out at Heinz Field, 38-31.

Roethlisberger improved

As gloomy as things appeared, Roethlisberger was getting better. And Smith was again protecting his left side after struggling with an ankle injury.

Once the Steelers were reloaded, they became unstoppable, winning playoff games at Cincinnati (31-17), Indianapolis (21-18) and Denver (34-17) to become Super Bowl favorites.

And in Sunday's 21-10 victory over the Seattle Seahawks, the Steelers started shaky but settled down to win their fifth Super Bowl in 32 seasons.

"We wiped the slate clean," Steelers coach Bill Cowher said after winning his first championship in 14 seasons as head coach.

Pittsburgh became the first NFL team to win three road playoff games plus the Super Bowl.

Citing the mantra of "one game at a time," Cowher said that approach helped the team "gain some confidence and we started to have a pretty good team.

"That last win at Indy probably helped us more than anything else because it allowed us to prepare for the noise we had to deal with on the road in the playoffs," Cowher said.

On Jan. 15, the Steelers jumped on the AFC's top-seeded Colts for a 14-0 lead and hung on after the Colts (14-3) rallied to score 15 points in the fourth quarter.

The following Sunday against the second-seeded Broncos, the Steelers grabbed a 24-3 halftime lead to win Cowher's second AFC title.

His arm the difference

The difference in both games was Roethlisberger's arm as his superb passing caught the Colts and Broncos flatfooted.

"We really didn't run the ball that good this postseason," Cowher said. "But our quarterback played well and we had great balance in the postseason.

"We were playing the best football at the right time of the year — at the end of the season."

Sunday, Roethlisberger played his worst game in a long time and it didn't matter because the Steelers defense kept the Seahawks off the scoreboard while two big plays not involving the quarterback gave the Steelers enough points to win.

Running back Willie Parker's 75-yard touchdown run and wide receiver Antwaan Randle El's 43-yard touchdown pass to Hines Ward were the catalysts to Sunday's victory.

Improbable? Maybe.

Then again, maybe not. When healthy, the Steelers play well.

williams@vindy.com