Steelers Ruin Colts’ Dream Season, Advance to AFC Championship
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INDIANAPOLIS – The Pittsburgh Steelers gave the Colts every opportunity to steal their playoff game yesterday.
In the final moments of one of the most thrilling playoff games anyone can remember, Indy couldn’t figure out how to take it.
So the Steelers survived a goal-line fumble by Jerome Bettis and one of the most mysterious replay reversals in NFL history to shatter the Colts’ dream sea son with a 21-18 win. Pittsburgh became the first sixth seed to make a conference championship game and will journey to Denver next Sunday for a shot at the Super Bowl.
They will do so breathlessly. Both benches seesawed between elation and agony with every possession as the game hung in the balance, stirring the crowd into waves of deafening sound.
“It was a unique game. It ranks up there. It was crazy,” Jerome Bettis said.
“It went from an all-time high to an all-time low back to an all-time high,” Hines Ward added.
This victory should have been so much easier. The Steelers dominated the Colts until a fourth quarter with almost unimaginable twists and turns that ended when Mike Vanderjagt missed his first field goal at home, wide right from 46 yards. Vanderjagt then slammed his helmet to the turf, obviously forgetting how fortunate he was to have the chance.
After Pittsburgh’s ferocious defense sacked a befuddled Peyton Manning twice, taking the ball on downs at the Colts 2 with just more than a minute left, Bettis fumbled when hit by Gary Brackett. Nick Harper, whose knee was cut with a knife Saturday in an apparent domestic dispute with his wife, grabbed the ball and headed toward the end zone.
But Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, brilliant all game with his arm and head, tumbled, reached out a hand and made a saving tackle at the Indy 42.
Given life, Manning passed the Colts into field goal range, but Vanderjagt missed.
“It’s extreme disbelief,” Vanderjagt said. “From the Polamalu interception reversal to Jerome’s fumble, everything seemed to be lined up in our favor. I guess the Lord forgot about the football team.”