Pittsburgh Steelers' Jerome Bettis hoists the Vince Lombardi Super Bowl trophy as Pittsburgh coach Bill Cowher, right, and MVP Hines Ward, left, look on as they celebrate their 21-10 win of the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl XL football game, Sunday, Feb. 5, 2006, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
September 9th, 2007
For today’s NFL season opener, the Browns are giving away orange towels. The idea must be to try and offset the impact of Steelers fans waving Terrible Towels. (And judging from the cars with Pennsylvania license plates passing me on the Ohio Turnpike this morning, there are many in Cleveland today). What a lame […]
September 3rd, 2007
Ask any baseball fan which ballpark not in Cleveland or Pittsburgh that he/she most would like to visit and chances are you’ll get an immediate answer. For some, it would be seeing the Green Monster in Boston’s Fenway Park. For others, it would be Yankee Stadium in the Bronx or Wrigley Field on Chicago’s North […]
Tue, Feb 7, 2006
DETROIT — At 23, Ben Roethlisberger is the youngest quarterback to win a Super Bowl.
But his quarterback rating of 22.6 (on a scale where 158.3 is perfect) is the lowest recorded by a winning quarterback in the NFL championship game.
Those numbers explain as well as anything why the Pittsburgh Steelers' Super Bowl victory after a 7-5 start was nothing short of a brilliant team effort.
As Roethlisberger struggled to find any consistency against the Seahawks on Sunday, he made one excellent play to put the Steelers ahead right before halftime....
Tue, Feb 7, 2006
By TOM WILLIAMS
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....
Sun, Feb 5, 2006
DETROIT — Two weeks ago, after the Steelers routed the Broncos to win their second AFC championship in 11 seasons, there was no doubt that the Steelers would not only win Super Bowl XL but roll like a luxury Cadillac off a Motown assembly line.
How could the Steelers be beaten? They were riding the high of becoming the first NFL team to eliminate a conference's top three seeds in the postseason.
The biggest win of all came three weeks ago today when the Steelers, thanks to a game-saving tackle by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger), hung on to upset the Colts, 21-18.
Face it, back in December most fans thought that the Colts, who started 13-0, would be playing in the Super Bowl....
Sun, Feb 5, 2006
Tonight's game boils down to which team's offense
can find early success.
...
Sat, Feb 4, 2006
By TOM WILLIAMS
DETROIT — Even though the Steelers have been surviving the past two months with a sense or urgency, Coach Bill Cowher doesn't regret the two-week break between the AFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl.
In his final press conference before Sunday's showdown against the Seattle Seahawks for the NFL title, Cowher said his team has benefited from the break....
Sat, Feb 4, 2006
He's already held it once and wants to do it again.
By TOM WILLIAMS
DETROIT — Unlike professional ice hockey players (citing bad luck) who won't touch the Stanley Cup until they win it, NFL coaches have no such superstition about the Lombardi Trophy that goes to the Super Bowl champion....
Sat, Feb 4, 2006
Cowher was guarded in discussing injuries.
By TOM WILLIAMS
DETROIT — Steelers Nation breathed a huge sigh of relief Friday when coach Bill Cowher said safety Troy Polamalu's sore ankle shouldn't prevent him from playing in Sunday's Super Bowl XL....
Fri, Feb 3, 2006
The seven-year linebacker said it's time to get down to business.
By TOM WILLIAMS
PONTIAC, Mich. — Joey Porter has no regrets that he broke his vow to not speak his mind during the week before the Super Bowl....
Fri, Feb 3, 2006
By TOM WILLIAMS
DETROIT — If Chaney High graduate Brad Smith's future in the NFL is playing wide receiver, if there any better team for him to excel with than the Steelers?
In April, the University of Missouri quarterback is expected to be taken in as high as the second round of the NFL Draft, perhaps as a receiver or tight end. If the pros determine that Smith's size and athletic gifts would be better served catching footballs rather than throwing them, there are role models in Pittsburgh....
Fri, Feb 3, 2006
The Steelers safety is like 'a cyclone' on the field but is soft spoken when he's off.
By TOM WILLIAMS
DETROIT — Outside of Jerome Bettis' wide smile, the most recognizable Steeler has to be Troy Polamalu....
Fri, Feb 3, 2006
The center grew up idolizing fellow St. Henry High graduate Jim Lachey.
By TOM WILLIAMS
DETROIT — If anyone can appreciate football players from small Ohio towns achieving success at major college programs and in the NFL, it's fans in the Mahoning Valley....
Fri, Feb 3, 2006
Shaving: After the Super Bowl, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger says he will shave the beard he began to grow in December. "I'm just going to get rid of it, keep the goatee like I had before all this started."
Say what? Roethlisberger had this to say about Joey Porter's outburst on Wednesday: "That's just Joey being Joey — he backs it up so I'm not worried about it — he can give them all the billboard material he wants." Billboard?
Let's get ready to rumble: Porter had nothing nice to say about Seahawks tight end Jerramy Stevens' physical skills. "If this were a prize fight, it wouldn't be much of a fight. He doesn't belong in the same room as me."
Pittsburgh west: Steelers wide receiver Antwaan Randle El has noticed plenty of Black and Gold support in Michigan. "Walking around Detroit, you'd think we were in Pittsburgh. There's not a team in sports, not just football, that has the fan base that we have. They are everywhere we go. It's kind of second nature to us, knowing that they are going to be there."...
Fri, Feb 3, 2006
Coach Mike Holmgren said that Jerramy Stevens won't say anything more about it.
By TOM WILLIAMS
DEARBORN, Mich. — Controversy? What controversy?...
Fri, Feb 3, 2006
The 'Queen of Soul' will sing the national anthem.
By TOM WILLIAMS
DETROIT — The Super Bowl has another showdown to add to the lore of Bud vs. Bud Lite....
Thu, Feb 2, 2006
Controversial Steelers linebacker Joey Porter has stopped playing nice.
By TOM WILLIAMS
DETROIT — To the dismay of the 2,000 media members gathered here for Sunday's Super Bowl XL, trash talk has been all but non-existent between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Seattle Seahawks....
Thu, Feb 2, 2006
Six Seattle players have been in the Super Bowl.
By TOM WILLIAMS
DETROIT — Although oddsmakers say the Seahawks are four-point underdogs, Seattle's team has at least one edge against the Steelers in Super Bowl XL: big-game experience....
Wed, Feb 1, 2006
DETROIT — During Tuesday's Super Bowl Media Day, Steelers coach Bill Cowher was asked what the best thing is about coaching the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The thoughts of the native of Crafton, Pa., turned to family.
"My parents had the chance to watch [my] kids grow up," said Cowher, the Steelers' 14-year head coach.
Cowher and his wife, Kaye, have three daughters: Meagan, Lauren and Lindsay....
Wed, Feb 1, 2006
By TOM WILLIAMS
DETROIT — At least one member of the Seattle Seahawks has had his fill of Jerome Bettis' Homecoming celebration.
"That's all we're hearing about," said wide receiver Darrell Jackson during Tuesday's mostly tame Super Bowl Media Day at Ford Field....
Tue, Jan 31, 2006
Pittsburgh has been the underdog in its last three playoff games.
DETROIT (AP) — They're favored, not the underdogs they were in Denver and Indianapolis. They're not at home, but given Pittsburgh's proximity to Detroit, the Motor City may look more like the Steel City by this weekend.
And that let's-drive-the-Bus back to his hometown campaign that's motivated them for weeks? Numerous Steelers players wore throwback Jerome Bettis Notre Dame jerseys on Monday, a tribute to the star running back who returned for the chance to close his brilliant career in a hometown Super Bowl — and will do exactly that.
But now that the Pittsburgh Steelers have successfully completed that seven wins-in-seven weeks streak that was the only way to get them and Bettis to the NFL's championship game, the question is how they will adapt to their now-changed role....
Mon, Jan 30, 2006
The Steelers will fly into Detroit today to get ready for the big game.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — While the Seattle Seahawks were flying into Detroit on Sunday, checking into their hotel and holding an evening news conference a week before the Super Bowl, the Pittsburgh Steelers were ...
Doing nothing.
Staying at home. Relaxing with friends and family. Remaining far away from the fuss of the Super Bowl, at least for one more day....
Sun, Jan 29, 2006
By TOM WILLIAMS
PITTSBURGH — Eight weeks ago today, at about 4 p.m., the Steelers' chances of making it to the Super Bowl were looking pretty dim.
In a game they had to win to have any realistic hopes of playing at home in the postseason, the Steelers choked, losing to the Cincinnati Bengals, 38-31, at Heinz Field....
Sat, Jan 28, 2006
They spent the first three days this week taking care of distractions.
By TOM WILLIAMS
PITTSBURGH — The downside of playing in the Super Bowl can be family feuds that spring up....
Thu, Jan 26, 2006
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Steelers sense something special is going on here, the kind of season that is remembered and replayed not only for a few years but for generations.
A season in which a team has to try harder and travel a far more difficult road to win football's biggest game.
After a month virtually unrivaled in NFL playoff history, the Steelers are one victory away from a Super Bowl championship that, by degree of difficulty, might eclipse any of the four they won during the 1974-79 seasons.
The improbable three-game road sweep in the AFC playoffs. A game and a season saved by an improbable tackle — by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, of all people. Eliminating Super Bowl favorite Indianapolis a few weeks after the Colts seemed poised to go undefeated....
Wed, Jan 25, 2006
Coach Bill Cowher says if the game's not at Heinz Field it's an away game.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — To coach Bill Cowher, the Pittsburgh Steelers simply look right in white.
The Steelers will buck years of tradition and wear their white away uniforms in the Super Bowl against Seattle, even though they are designated by the NFL as the home team and could wear their more imposing black jersey tops.
The black jerseys and gold pants are the Steelers' traditional look, and numerous sports teams have switched to black uniforms in recent years because they believe it creates a more intimidating presence....
Tue, Jan 24, 2006
The team's 48-year-old coach is one of those cogs.
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
DENVER — As happy as the Pittsburgh Steelers were to clinch their franchise's sixth Super Bowl trip on Sunday, the joy was greater for the NFL veterans who have been chasing an elusive ring for years....
Tue, Jan 24, 2006
DENVER — The second youngest quarterback to start a Super Bowl woke up Sunday morning in the opponent's city and decided to make a Chamber of Commerce moment.
Hours before the Pittsburgh Steelers were to play the Broncos at Invesco Field at Mile High, Ben Roethlisberger, 23, decided to take a walk around the lake near the Steelers hotel.
Asked what he was thinking about on the crisp January morning, Roethlisberger replied, "How beautiful Colorado is, looking at the mountains, saying 'I could live here.' Just clearing my mind."
Asked if he always takes a nature walk before a game, Roethlisberger made the jammed-filled interview room laugh when he replied: "No, because we don't always play in a state as beautiful as Colorado. I mean, the lake was right there, the mountain behind you....
Mon, Jan 23, 2006
Denver turned the ball over four times in the AFC title game with Pittsburgh.
By TOM WILLIAMS
DENVER — Trailing for all but the first 10 minutes, 49 seconds, the second-seeded Denver Broncos had several opportunities to rally....
Sun, Jan 22, 2006
DENVER — The Pittsburgh Steelers are the first NFL playoff team to knock off a number three seed and a number one seed in the same postseason.
Today, they hope to complete the trifecta with another road win, this one against the second-seeded Broncos, who are 9-0 at home.
Coach Bill Cowher has led the Steelers to playoff road victories over the No. 3 Bengals and No. 1 Colts. Today Pittsburgh plays at Invesco Field at Mile High, where the Broncos last weekend knocked off the Patriots, 27-13, ending their 10-game postseason winning streak.
"We are traveling a path right now that no one else has been on," Cowher said. "We certainly aren't going to let history dictate our journey."...
Sat, Jan 21, 2006
Last year's 15-1 record didn't get it done; this year's 13-5 has — so far.
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
PITTSBURGH — Despite taking a vastly different road to this year's AFC Championship Game, there's a feeling in the Steelers locker room that this year's team is an upgrade over last year's 15-1 model....
Thu, Jan 19, 2006
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDIcaTOR SPORTS STAFF
PITTSBURGH — As the AFC's sixth seed, the Steelers have been wearing their underdog badges with pride.
But after upsetting the top-seeded Colts 21-18 in Indianapolis to earn a berth in Sunday's AFC Championship Game in Denver, not everyone is convinced that the Steelers still deserve to be given little hope against the second-seeded Broncos (14-3)....
Wed, Jan 18, 2006
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Following a trying weekend filled with reversals, replays and reprimands, NFL officials got a strong show of support from an unlikely source: Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher.
Cowher not only refused to criticize the officials for reversing upon review a possible game-clinching interception by Steelers safety Troy Polamalu against the Colts — the NFL later said the reversal was wrong — he gave them a vote of confidence on Tuesday.
"Our officials are doing the very best that they can do. Obviously, at times, there's going to be mistakes made," Cowher said. "To me, those guys are human like the rest of us, and we're moving on."
Cowher also dismissed linebacker Joey Porter's angry comments that the officials were determined to get Indianapolis into the AFC championship game, calling them "ridiculous."...
Wed, Jan 18, 2006
DENVER (AP) — Every so often over the past 15 years or so, hard-hitting Broncos safety John Lynch has had to gird up for a confrontation — a rite of passage is more like it — that almost every defender must face at some point in his career.
Tackling Jerome Bettis.
"They're all memorable when they're against him," Lynch said of the hits and punishment he and Bettis have dished to each other over the years, both in college and the pros. "You've just got to bring a lot because you know he's carrying a lot."
Denver defensive lineman Gerard Warren, who faced Bettis twice a year during his seasons in Cleveland, describes Pittsburgh's big fella as "a bowling ball rolling down hill."...
Wed, Jan 18, 2006
The Steelers' passing attack has become a major points producer.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — They are the NFL's prototypical grind-it-out offense, a slow-motion version of the West Coast system. After all, don't the Pittsburgh Steelers usually travel by Bus and not through the air?
But something got into the Steelers when they lost three in a row late in the season to jeopardize their playoff chances, and they haven't been the same team since.
Without warning to the rest of the NFL, the Steelers have become a risk-taking, high-rolling team, led by a quarterback who plays to win and not to lose — and hardly loses at all — and driven by a mindset that they will make the opposing team adjust to them and not the other way around....
Tue, Jan 17, 2006
Adversity may be Pittsburgh's biggest ally.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — They overcame a bungled call and a fumbled ball, and now the Pittsburgh Steelers are headed to their sixth and least-anticipated trip to the AFC championship game in a dozen years under coach Bill Cowher.
The difference this time is the road they're taking, a route they've never traveled in their 73-year history but one that is bringing out the best in a team that in recent years has played its worst in mid-January.
To reach Sunday's AFC championship game in Denver, the Steelers withstood a late-season three-game losing streak that left them without a home playoff game — and the biggest breakdown The Bus has ever had....
Mon, Jan 16, 2006
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
INDIANAPOLIS — After the Steelers gave the Colts one last chance to save their remarkable season, wide receiver Hines Ward was looking for help.
"I truly believe that the Man Above had something to do with it — he didn't want Jerome [Bettis] to go out like that," said Ward after the Steelers escaped the RCA Dome with a 21-18 playoff victory Sunday....
Mon, Jan 16, 2006
STEELERS 21, COLTS 18 IS LABEL
Indy-scribable is the main head
It was anybody's game in the last few minutes as Pittsburgh escaped possible defeat.
By TOM WILLIAMS...
Mon, Jan 16, 2006
The Colts had chances, just not the best execution.
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
INDIANAPOLIS — Aching after one of the most heartbreaking losses of his successful NFL career, Colts coach Tony Dungy chose to praise the Steelers for jumping out to a 21-3 lead....
Sat, Jan 14, 2006
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Colts defense was almost an oxymoron. The words just didn't go together.
In the past, that's what made Peyton Manning's prolific offense so vital for the Colts to have even a chance to win. Decent regular-season records seemed to evaporate into disappointment once the competition toughened in the playoffs.
No more.
Manning is still putting up big numbers; the offense still dominates....
Sat, Jan 14, 2006
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jerome Bettis slammed the ball to the turf to celebrate his 5-yard touchdown run that put the Steelers ahead for good in their 31-17 playoff victory in Cincinnati on Sunday, then looked to hug someone. Within a moment, he realized he had committed a major gaffe.
The touchdown was his. The souvenir ball wasn't.
Immediately, Bettis scurried to recover the ball, which he proudly toted off the field and later stuffed into his travel bag as he rushed to leave the stadium.
Did Bettis realize the ball might be the last he carries across an NFL goal line, and thus wanted to make sure it didn't get lost in some Bengals ball bag?...
Fri, Jan 13, 2006
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher was talking to reporters when one mentioned his team scored a season-low seven points in its previous game against the Colts.
"Thanks for reminding me. Please don't stop now," Cowher said of that 26-7 loss on Nov. 28.
And the touchdown came with a short field created by an interception.
"Another great point," Cowher said....
Fri, Jan 13, 2006
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Hines Ward didn't enjoy being Chad Johnson, not even for one day.
Ward, often the Pittsburgh Steelers' most talkative player, spoke to reporters again Thursday after apparently being under an unofficial, Johnson-like gag order from the coaching staff Wednesday.
"There's a lot of story behind that," said Ward, the Steelers' co-MVP and four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver.
Was it something between him and a coach?...
Fri, Jan 13, 2006
The Steelers linebacker motivated Indianapolis to a 26-7 win in November.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Joey Porter can talk all he wants, but the Indianapolis Colts aren't about to get into a shouting match with the Pittsburgh linebacker.
On Wednesday, Porter criticized the Colts for playing "soft" in their first meeting this season and challenged them to play smash-mouth football in Sunday's divisional playoff game.
On Thursday, Colts players responded quietly, letting the usually stoic Tony Dungy handle it....
Thu, Jan 12, 2006
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Ben Roethlisberger made a candid admission for the quarterback of a team that has won 28 of its last 35 games and considers itself to be among the NFL's elite.
Even if his Pittsburgh Steelers play as well as possible in Sunday's AFC divisional playoff game, Roethlisberger suggested Wednesday, they won't win if the Indianapolis Colts play equally as well.
"This team is an unbelievable football team," Roethlisberger said of the Colts, who won their first 13 games before dropping two of their final three. "They're as good as it gets in the NFL. It's going to take our A-plus game to go out and beat their B-minus game."
Nobody picking Steelers...
Thu, Jan 12, 2006
Pittsburgh played almost all nickel defense against the Colts in November.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Steelers' defense figures to be a lot bigger Sunday in Indianapolis than it was there seven weeks ago.
Look for a lot more of 325-pound nose tackle Casey Hampton on the field and a lot less of him on the sideline.
To try to slow the Colts' fast-paced offense, the Steelers relied on their nickel defense — which uses five defensive backs rather than the usual four — almost exclusively in their 26-7 loss in the RCA Dome on Nov. 28. The Steelers have lost only one of six games since....
Tue, Jan 10, 2006
Pittsburgh struggled with crowd noise in an earlier loss to Indianapolis.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Steelers have already played and lost this season in Indianapolis' noise-factory RCA Dome, and they don't plan on making the same mistakes in Sunday's divisional playoff game that they made during that 26-7 loss to the Colts on Nov. 28.
That means it will be very loud when the Steelers practice this week in their indoor building — so loud, it might seem to each player like he's wearing an iPod turned up to the maximum volume. The Steelers blamed the louder-than-loud conditions inside the dome for their five false-start penalties during that Monday night loss in Indianapolis.
How loud was it? Ben Roethlisberger had never been in a game where the center couldn't hear a play call he was shouting into his ear from a few inches away....
Mon, Jan 9, 2006
Pittsburgh overcame a slow start to earn a second-round date with the top-seeded Colts.
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
CINCINNATI — Huffing and puffing Sunday after surrendering 17 points on the Bengals' first three possessions, the Steelers found their second wind against a playoff-inexperienced team and responded like postseason veterans by scoring 24 unanswered points to earn a playoff date in Indianapolis....
Mon, Jan 9, 2006
Pittsburgh didn't panic after falling behind 10-0.
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
CINCINNATI — Day and night accurately describes how opposite the playoff-tested Steelers performed in Sunday's wild-card victory, 31-17, at Paul Brown Stadium....
