STEELERS AT COLTS REVIEW

steelers at colts REVIEW
Score: Pittsburgh 21 - indianapolis 18

Indianapolis, IN - (MySportsbook.com) - Jerome Bettis fumbled the ball at the two-yard line as Pittsburgh was going in for the game-clinching touchdown, and Indianapolis eventually drove all the way down the field only to watch Mike Vanderjagt badly miss a tying 46-yard field goal attempt with 17 seconds remaining, as the Steelers held off a furious Colts rally to post a dramatic 21-18 win in an AFC divisional playoff game at the RCA Dome.

Ben Roethlisberger finished 14-of-24 for 197 yards with two touchdowns and an interception for Pittsburgh, which has won six straight games dating back to the regular season and also became the first No. 6 seed to reach a conference championship game.

The Steelers will now play in the conference title contest for the second time in three years and will look to reach the Super Bowl for the first time since the 1995 season, when the club lost to Dallas.

Pittsburgh will visit the Denver Broncos in next Sunday's AFC Championship Game, beginning at 3:00 p.m. (et).

Willie Parker rushed for 59 yards and Hines Ward caught three passes for 68 yards for the Steelers, who avenged a regular-season loss to Indianapolis by pulling off the stunning upset.

"We mixed it up and did a good job of dropping eight and bringing pressure and trying to disrupt them and get them out of their rhythm," said Steelers head coach Bill Cowher. "They hit some big plays there in the fourth quarter, and we were fortunate to get out of there with the win."

Peyton Manning was 22-of-38 for 290 yards with a touchdown, but again could not get over the playoff hump for the top-seeded Colts, who played their first meaningful game in over a month and clearly looked out of sorts for much of the game.

Indianapolis, which started the season in dominant fashion and became only the fourth team to begin a campaign with 13 straight wins, clinched homefield advantage throughout the AFC playoffs in Week 14, and as a result did not play many of its starters to close out the regular season.

"They deserved to win the game," said Colts head coach Tony Dungy. "We played hard and gave ourselves a chance but didn't make quite enough plays at the end. You know it's disappointing to have a regular season like we had and put yourself in position and not finish it off."

The Colts also had to suffer through a personal tragedy towards the end of the season, as Dungy's 18-year-old son James was found dead in his suburban Tampa apartment during the early morning hours of December 22.

After a lackluster start, Indianapolis trailed 21-18 late in the game and got the ball back at its own 18-yard line with 2:32 left. However, Manning could not engineer any late heroics as the Colts turned the ball over on downs after the All-Pro was sacked for the second time in four plays.

On the first play following the change of possession, though, Bettis took a handoff in hopes of driving into the end zone for the game-clinching score, but things quickly turned sour.

The veteran running back was popped by Gary Brackett's helmet and the ball flew out of Bettis' hands where Nick Harper, who had been stabbed in his right knee earlier in the week and briefly left this game with a left knee injury, picked it up and began racing up the field for what looked like a miraculous touchdown return. However, Roethlisberger was able to slow up the speedy cornerback before Harper was finally tackled at the Colts 42-yard line.

"We score there and the game's over and you certainly don't question that," said Cowher on his decision to run the ball instead of taking a knee.

Manning was able to move Indianapolis into scoring range with a 22-yard pass to Reggie Wayne and an eight-yard completion to Marvin Harrison, which brought the ball to the Steelers 28-yard line. Two straight incompletions then brought on Vanderjagt for a 46-yard kick to tie the game with 17 seconds left.

However, the most accurate kicker in NFL history badly missed the field goal as the ball sailed way off to the right side of the goalpost.

"He hasn't missed very many big kicks since I've been here," said Dungy. "I know he's very disappointed but I told the team we've got to rally around him. That wasn't the play that lost the game for us."

Vanderjagt had gone 6-of-6 in field goal tries at home in his playoff career.

Roethlisberger then took three knees to end the game and give Pittsburgh a shocking win over the heavily favored Colts.

Trailing 21-3, Indianapolis proved why it has one of the league's best offenses as it scored early in the fourth quarter. After appearing to be stopped on third down, Dungy sent the punting team on, but Manning waved the special teams unit back to the sideline and kept his offense on the field. The move turned out to be the right one as Manning found Brandon Stokley for 13 yards on 4th-and-2 to keep the drive alive. Then, two plays later, Manning hit Dallas Clark over the middle of the field and the tight end raced 50 yards for a touchdown, cutting the Steeler lead to 21-10 with 14:09 left.

Pittsburgh then took up nearly eight minutes off the clock, keyed by a pair of short fourth-down conversions, before punting the ball into the end zone.

The Colts' comeback then appeared to fall short as Manning threw a ball that clearly looked to be intercepted by Troy Polamalu. However, after an extensive video replay, the officials determined that the ball hit the ground and they reversed the original call of a Steeler interception.

"I had the defender catching the ball," said referee Pete Morelli on why the call was overturned. "Before (Polamalu) got up he hit it with his leg with his other leg still on the ground. Therefore, he did not complete the catch. And then he lost the ball."

Manning took advantage of the gift call as he marched his team down the field, courtesy of a 20-yard pass to Harrison and a 24-yard strike to Wayne, before Edgerrin James capped the series with a three-yard run. Indy then went for two points and converted when Manning hit Wayne in the back of the end zone to bring the Colts within 21-18 with 4:24 to go in the game, which set up the crazy ending.

James ended with 56 rushing yards and caught five passes for 26 yards. Wayne had seven catches for 97 yards.

Pittsburgh wasted no time taking the lead as it drove right down the field on the opening possession of the game. The Steelers moved 84 yards in 10 plays and capped the series on Roethlisberger's six-yard touchdown strike to Antwaan Randle El with 9:25 left in the first quarter. Roethlisberger went 6-of-7 for 76 yards, including 54 yards passing to Heath Miller, on the scoring drive.

Later in the first quarter, Pittsburgh struck again as Roethlisberger connected with Miller for a seven-yard score to make it 14-0 with 3:12 to go in the period. The big play on the 72-yard drive occurred on 3rd-and-10 when Ward was the recipient of a 45-yard catch that was also aided by a personal foul for a defensive facemask.

Miller finished with three receptions for 61 yards.

The Steelers completely dominated the opening 15 minutes as they outgained Indianapolis, 156-25. In addition, Roethlisberger ended the quarter by going 9-of-12 for 147 yards with two touchdowns, while the two-time MVP Manning was a dismal 2-of-6 for 37 yards and was sacked twice.

However, the Colts finally mustered a scoring drive midway through the second quarter, but they had to settle for a short field goal after failing to get in the end zone. Indianapolis drove 96 yards in 15 plays and appeared to score on a one-yard TD run by James Mungro, but the Colts were whistled for a false start and sent back five yards. The penalty proved especially costly as James was then stopped on a conservative 3rd-and-goal running play, which brought Vanderjagt on for a 20-yard kick to make it 14-3 late in the half.

Pittsburgh forced a punt on the first series of the third quarter and then put together a successful drive, but the march stalled at the Indianapolis 37-yard line and the Steelers were also forced to kick it away. However, the punt pinned the Colts deep in their own territory and they were eventually forced to punt from the end zone. Pittsburgh immediately took advantage of the field position battle as Randle El returned the kick 20 yards to put the Steelers at the 30-yard line.

Six plays later, Bettis found the end zone from one yard out to extend the cushion to 21-3 with 1:26 left in the third period. Bettis carried the ball on the final five plays of the drive and ran for 19 yards.

Game Notes

Bettis, who rushed for 46 yards, has a rushing touchdown in four straight playoff games...The Steelers were beaten by New England, 41-27, in last year's conference title game...Pittsburgh is 5-0 all-time versus the Colts in the playoffs...The Steelers are 13-0 this season, including playoffs, when outrushing their opponent...Clark caught four passes for 84 yards while Harrison was used sparingly throughout the game and had only three receptions for 52 yards...Manning is now 3-6 in his playoff career...Indianapolis last reached the AFC Championship game in the 2003 season before losing to the eventual Super Bowl champion Patriots...Since 2000, the Colts are 0-4 in the playoffs when they do not score in the first quarter...Pittsburgh leads the all-time series 18-5, which includes victories in 10 of the last 11 meetings. Indianapolis' only win during the streak came earlier this season in Week 12 when the Colts posted a 26-7 win...Cowher is 7-1 in his career versus Indy.

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