The number one reason to love the Pittsburgh Steelers is they win. The second reason to love them is because they win without any frills. The Steelers have never claimed to be "America's Team" and yet they have fans all over America (and are hated by a lot less fans than the Dallas Cowboys). The Steelers don't call their town "Titletown," even though they've won more Super Bowl rings than any other team. The Steelers just win football games and after beating the New York Jets on Sunday they are one win away from winning their seventh Super Bowl.
Anyone that follows football should have known that what took place between the Steelers and Jets Sunday night was exactly what should have been expected. Anyone that paid attention all season should know that even the Jets running duo of LaDanian Tomlinson and Shonn Greene would not be able to run on the Steelers' defense. Anyone that watched the Steelers should have known that when Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie did their best job of shutting down the Steelers' passing that Rashard Mendenhall would run on the Jets instead.
Then of course there is Ben Roethlisberger. It shouldn't be a surprise that even after the Jets defense dominated Peyton Manning and Tom Brady that Roethlisberger would still scramble and make big run after big run. Nobody should be surpirsed that Roethlisberger was the hardest player to tackle the entire game. Finally, when the game was on the line and the Steelers needed one final play to seal the victory, Big Ben made the play like he always does.
The one surprise of the Steelers-Jets game was the play of Mark Sanchez. It was an ugly first half for sure but Sanchez made big plays in the second half and almost led the Jets to the biggest comeback in AFC Championship history. Sanchez made one of the biggest mistakes of the game when he fumbled and William Gay returned the fumble for a touchdown and in the process seemed to be injured. Instead of getting discouraged he recovered and threw a touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes. Maybe Jay Cutler should take a few notes from Sanchez.
Sanchez wasn't quite enough for the Jets to comeback though so the Steelers are off to Dallas to face the Green Bay Packers. This time around the result isn't quite as obvious. The Steelers weakness all season has been the offensive line. Roethlisberger and Mendenhall have managed to succeed without much of a line but the one main cog in the line has been Maurkice Pouncey. It looks like Pouncey, who rolled his ankle in the Jets game, could be done for the season. An injury to Pouncey could be a final nail in the coffin for the offensive line and that is bad news with B. J. Raji coming to town.
I've also pointed out several times during the season that the way to beat the Steelers defense is passing, not rushing. Drew Brees and the Saints and Tom Brady and the Patriots had the most convincing wins over the Steelers this season because they were able to pick apart the Pittsburgh pass defense. If Aaron Rodgers is on his game then he has the ability and the offensive weapons to take advantage of the Steelers' D. The only question is whether Rodgers possesses that gene to make big plays in the biggest pressure situation of his life. I think Rodgers does possess the pressure ability but if he doesn't then we know Roethlisberger does and that could be the difference in the game.
