It’s getting hot and awkward in here.

What We Learned in Wild Card Weekend in the NFL:

• Todd Haley yet to agree to interview with Cardinals
• The Bungles playoff win drought continues
• Adrian Peterson cannot replicate the magic against Packers
• Ray Ray’s last dance successful for Ratbirds
• RGIII not so great on one leg

Wild Card Weekend and the Divisional Weekend are two of the best weekends of the year for a football fan.  Unfortunately, for a Steeler fan this year it was tough getting into the games without a little bit of bitterness creeping in.  The weekend was not uneventful for Steeler Nation, or maybe it was considering reports surfaced Thursday morning that the Arizona Cardinals had requested permission to speak to Steelers OC Todd Haley in regards to their vacant head coaching position and the rumor mill started cranking.  The questions of will/should Haley go and who could/would replace him spread over Steeler Nation like wild fire.  So far it’s all turned out to be moot because as of Monday morning Haley has yet to even agree to be interviewed.  Apparently Haley wants Arizona to show their cards a bit more in respect to what exactly they might be offering him as he views just an interview for the head coaching position not worth his current situation which apparently he enjoys.  Who knew?

One thing we all knew was that no matter how “hot” the Bungles were heading into the post season after winning 4 of their last 5 regular season games that they were destined for an early exit.  It looked like they might have had a shot with Matt Schaub throwing a pick 6 to Leon Hall in a very similar spot where Hall picked Roethlisberger off win Week 16 for the first touchdown of the game.  It looked for a while as though the Texans weren’t going to get into the endzone as they didn’t score a touchdown until Arian Foster, who rushed for 140 yards, ran it in from the 1 yard line in the 3^rd quarter.  That proved to be just enough as the Houston Texans walked away with at 19-13 victory and will head to New England next week to take on the Pats in the divisional round.  The last time the Bengals won a playoff game Wilson Philips was popular and Home Alone was all the rage in the movie theaters.  To put it even more in perspective, the Pirates have won a playoff game more recently than the Cincinnati Bengals.  Suck on that Bungles.

During the Cincy @ Houston game reports started surfacing out of Green Bay that Viking’s QB Christian Ponder was going to be unable to start and will be replaced by Joe Webb for their Wild Card matchup.  Not that Ponder was going to play a huge role in the game as most of the Vikings hopes for an upset would rely on Adrian Peterson’s amazing comeback season continuing with running success over the Green Bay Packers defense.  Now in spite of how many commercials Clay Matthews does where he states he will “eat” perfect strangers, the Packers have never been considered a defensive juggernaut as of late.  Their basic defensive strategy has been to let Aaron Rodgers try to outscore the other team.  Unfortunately for Minnesota, with Joe Webb under center they looked a lot like a top ten defense.  Webb was sacked three times and was off target the entire night as Peterson was held to 99 rushing yards and was a non-factor in the game.

Sunday morning up until kickoff there was a national love-fest for Ray Lewis on every network available as he was gearing up for his final home game and his final interpretive dance out of the tunnel of M & T Bank Stadium.  Lewis announced earlier in the week that this would be his “last ride” mostly to try to steal the emotional momentum the Colts have been riding on all season long as well as because Lewis is one of the biggest media whores in the league.  The anticipation to Lewis’ dance out of the tunnel was more than ridiculous and just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse the dance started with Nelly’s “Hot in Here” blasting in the stadium (I’m not even kidding) and Ray rubbing a part of a patch of grass over himself and then starting his final stabby shuffle.  After the “what in the hell did I just watch?” moment was over, the game began with what looked like a defensive battle that neither team was able to score until Anquan Boldin was unable to not catch anything that was thrown his way.  Seriously, someone needs to check his gloves for stick’em.  Boldin caught five passes for 145 yards and a touchdown in a 24-9 Ratbirds victory.  The purple ones will now travel to Denver to await their playoff destiny at the hands of Peyton Manning and a much superior defense to their own.  Looks like we’re in for yet another week of “this will be the last time you see Ray Lewis____” crap all over the various sports news outlets.  Awesome.

The weekend started with three rookie quarterbacks starting with a chance to advance their team in the playoffs and it ended with only one of them moving on to the next round.  The one moving on is the last one picked in the bunch, the tiny Russell Wilson took his Seahawks on the road and outplayed a one-legged Robert Griffin III for a chance to play Atlanta next week.  RGIII entered the game with a knee injury that appeared to be reaggravated in the second quarter.  He never looked right the rest of the game and eventually in the fourth quarter took a bad snap, lost his footing on the sloppy field and the whole world saw his knee buckle and you could almost hear the ligaments snap into a million pieces.  First off, what kind of playoff field was that?  That turf looked worse than Heinz Field did after Bane blew it up.  Second, the controversy over whether or not it was right to keep RGIII in the game and whose ultimate call it was to allow him to continue to play will be debated over and over again but this is just another example of the hypocrisy over injuries in the NFL.  Players who take themselves off of the field when injured are almost always called “soft” while players who play visibly hurt are always lauded as “heroes” or “warriors”.  Nevertheless the Seattle Seahawks played a great game and will definitely give the Falcons a tough matchup next week.  Bring it on Divisional Round!

Follow me on Twitter @Kimmy_KimKimM and follow all of NPC’s posts @NicePickCowherC

And so, the time has come at last…

For the past two weeks, you’ve no doubt heard an endless parade of “experts” analyze the match-up between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers from any number of angles.  From Ron Jaworski and his 172 hours of tape study to Shannon Sharpe mumbling something in his mush-mouth assassination of the English language, everybody has an opinion.  It’s paralysis of analysis to the nth degree.  When it comes time to determining the deciding factor in Super Bowl XLV, it comes down to one simple thing.

Slippery balls.

No, I’m not speaking of Ben Roethlisberger‘s unbreakable pair.  I’m referring to John Clayton’s assertion that Super Bowl balls are slippier than regular game balls because they have extra logos painted on them.  The Professor, you see, believes Aaron Rodgers‘ inexperience with gripping the special Super Bowl edition may lead to an unfortunate accident or two.  Makes sense as that tends to happen when squeezing strange and unfamiliar balls.

STEELERS DEFENSE vs. PACKERS OFFENSE

GM Ted Thompson looks like a genius for jettisoning Brett Favre in favor of Aaron Rodgers.  He’s the modern-day gunslinger without the phony drama, overpriced Wranglers, and pictures of his junk floating around the internet.  Rodgers has the rifle-arm and quick release to be a clear heir apparent to the Brady/Manning duo as best pure passing quarterback in the league.  Working without benefit of a running game, Rodgers was a one-man show most of the season and rose to the challenge time and time again.

When he was healthy that is.  See, the story the media has sadly missed out on because they were too busy analyzing videos of Big Ben singing “Piano Man” is that it is very likely Rodgers suffered a concussion in the NFC Championship game.  If you watched his performance, there was a clear drop off in his timing and accuracy after the helmet-to-helmet hit by Julius Peppers.  Being the man he is, and not a rifle-armed vagina like Jay Cutler, I have no doubt he told whatever lie he had to tell in order to stay in the game.

Rodgers has been concussed before.  Twice this season alone to be exact.  If he did indeed suffer a third in less than six months, well, I wouldn’t expect to see him at Mensa meetings during the off-season.  And Steeler Nation no doubt remembers how poorly Ben played post-motorcycle accident when it was whispered the head trauma left him in a perpetual fog.

James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley must hit Rodgers early and often.  I’m not advocating anything dirty nor would I expect anything of that nature seeing as the Steelers play a clean but hard-hitting brand of football everybody but the Ginger Dictator loves.   But the Steelers D have long boasted the reputation of the biggest baddest bullies on the block.  On Sunday, the bullies have to rough up that goofy looking beanpole at every opportunity.

Rookie running back James Starks is a nice story but the Steelers historically dominant run defense shut down All-Pro caliber backs with ease so if they run, he’ll be the bug and they’ll be the windshield.  The game comes down to Rodgers and his cadre of excellent receivers against Dick LeBeau‘s creative blitz schemes and suspect secondary.  One factor in Blitzburgh’s favor is the shaky line of the Pack.  They surrendered 38 sacks a year after giving up a league leading 51 and now play a team who can bring pressure from unexpected places.

On the flip side, this will be the best passing attack the Steelers have faced all year.  The Patriots have a great quarterback but sub-par receivers.  The Ravens have great receivers but a sub-par quarterback.  The Pack have great talent on both ends of the equation.  Donald Driver is the dependable veteran.  Greg Jennings is a big play threat.  Slot men James Jones and Jordy Nelson cause all kind of match-up problems in four-wide sets.

Bryant McFadden practiced this week and appears to be ready to play his regular role after seeing limited action in our previous two playoff games.  A nickel of him, Ike Taylor, and Willie Gay is much preferable to seeing Anthony Madison or Ryan Mundy out there.  Troy Polamalu also practiced a lot more than usual this week which is a positive sign he may return to being the sideline to sideline demon which won him Defensive Player of the Year.  In last year’s Steelers-Packers shootout, the defense got to Rodgers five times without bringing him down.   Convert those opportunities to sacks and I like our chances.

STEELERS OFFENSE vs. PACKERS DEFENSE

What more can be said about Ben Roethlisberger?  The man is simply the best big game quarterback in football.  His numbers haven’t been spectacular this post-season but he has an uncanny knack for making a play when one needs to be made.  There is a fire which burns inside him, an indomitable desire to win, which transcends any statistical measure of greatness.

He’s going to need every ounce of his legendary courage when facing a swarming defense coached by former Steelers defensive coordinator Dom Capers.  Capers has built a defense in Green Bay that is almost the mirror image of what we have here in Pittsburgh although their unit averages only 27 years of age.  NT B.J. Raji is a load in the middle much like our Big Snack.  OLB Clay Matthews is a relentless pass-rusher who can also drop back into coverage not unlike our Silverback.  Last year’s DPOY CB Charles Woodson is the rover, the piece who must be accounted for on every play because you never know where he’ll line up.  Doesn’t have the magnificent flowing locks, though.

Unlike the Steelers, the Packers strength would seem to be in the secondary.  In addition to Woodson, CB Tramon Williams is having a fantastic playoffs.  He’s the best cover corner on the team.  Rookie corner Sam Shields is the unit’s unsung hero, a speedster who can run with anybody.  Altogether, they make up the 5th best pass defense in football.

However, the unit is not without their weaknesses.  The outside linebackers opposite Matthews have combined for only three sacks.  Woodson, while crafty with a nose for the ball, no longer has elite speed at 34 years of age.  And while Raji has emerged in the playoffs, the Pack has been inconsistent against the run.  They finished 18th in run defense allowing 115 yards per game.

When the Steelers won their last Super Bowl, they did so without much of a running game.  Willie Parker was nearing the end of his usefulness as a featured back and the offensive line was mediocre at all positions.  Enter Rashard Mendenhall.  His performance in the AFC Championship game was a defining moment in his young career.

Maurkice Pouncey is a no-go for Sunday.  He gave it a shot but Mike Tomlin wasn’t happy with what he saw.  It’s a major blow without a doubt.   But remember Mendy rushed for almost all of his 100 first half yards with Doug Legursky at center two weeks ago.  Legursky is a natural center with a mauler mentality suited to running the ball.  Pouncey’s mobility in pass protection and ability to recognize defensive shifts and make the appropriate line calls cannot be replaced.  Their ability to run should not be as adversely affected.

Some people are predicting a shootout similar to the epic 2009 meeting.  With these two elite quarterbacks who can blame them?  While I believe the Steelers would be well-served to employ a ground and pound game plan similar to what they used against the Jets, Ben will have to air it out eventually.  That’s when things get interesting.  Hines Ward and Heath Miller have had better statistical seasons but they remain Ben’s go-to guys.   Mike Wallace has been quiet during the postseason although all it takes is isolating him on Woodson one time and he’s off to the races.  Then we have the rooks, Antonio Brown and Manny Sanders, who continue to impress on a weekly basis and have seemingly saved their best football for the biggest games of the year.

Despite the good-natured ribbing between Pittsburgh and Green Bay these past couple weeks, I believe there is a genuine respect between both teams and both fanbases.  And why shouldn’t there be?  This is truly a clash of the titans.  Number two overall defense versus number five.  Best big game quarterback in the league versus brightest up-and-coming young quarterback.  Terrible Towels versus Cheeseheads.  The City of Champions versus Titletown USA.

To quote a certain maniacal clown from The Dark Knight Returns, “And here we go…”

For the second time in three seasons, a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers has won the coveted AP Defensive Player of the Year award.  It should come as a shock to no one that Troy Polamalu has finally added that honor to his already Hall of Fame worthy resume.  The only question was by what margin would he emerge victorious?

Don’t get me wrong, there are a number of good players out there.  But nobody is capable of taking over a game the way Troy does.  Polamalu was almost single-handedly responsible for the Steelers winning at least three games this season.  His interception in the season opener allowed the team to eventually win in overtime.  Against the Bengals, his Pick Six completely changed the momentum of the game.  And who can forget his karate chop on Joe Flacco in week 13, setting up the game-winning touchdown?  That play was undoubtedly the biggest play of the season, setting up the monumental run the Black and Gold currently find themselves on.

Clay Matthews is a decent enough player.  But his numbers aren’t even as good as James Harrison‘s (who finished third, by the way).    Silverback had almost twice as many tackles (100 vs 60), twice as many picks (2 vs 1) and forced three times as many fumbles (6 vs 2).  In fact, LaMarr Woodley, who got no votes, had numbers that were nearly identical to the Cheesehead Fabio.  The Steelers failure to sweep at least the top two spots is a direct result of the Ginger Dictator’s persecution of the Steelers which unfairly branded James as a dirty player.  Had the commish not been so blatant in his campaign against the Black and Gold, Dick LeBeau‘s defense could’ve been looking at an unprecedented showing.

However, we’ll have to be satisfied with what we did get.  Troy Polamalu is a Christian gentleman of the highest order and his winning this award despite missing a number of games due to injury is testament to his heart and will to succeed.   The last time the Steelers had an AP Defensive Player of the Year, he only pulled off the greatest defensive play in Super Bowl history.  Let’s hope history repeats itself on Sunday in more ways than one.

A quick reminder: NPC and Hatchette Book Group are giving away two copies of Merril Hoge‘s fantastic autobiography, “Find A Way.” Check out the post below for details on how to enter.

Last week, I noticed a bunch of sites doing mid-season reviews. Great except week eight isn’t really the mid-way point any more. With the bye, most teams don’t play their eighth game until week nine. Since I’ve always been a stickler for details, here are my Pittsburgh Steelers Mid-Season Awards, which we’ll call The Chinnys.

Chinny For Most Pleasant Surprise of the Year:  Maurkice Pouncey

From Mike Webster to Dermontti Dawson to Jeff Hartings, the Steelers have a tradition of excellence at center. Since Hartings sudden retirement in 2006, the position has been in disarray. And as the center has floundered, so has the entire offensive line. If the O-line is the brick wall which protects the fortress, then the center is the keystone which holds the whole thing together.

Yes, Pouncey was a first-rounder. Yes, he was the eighteenth pick in the entire draft. But expecting a rookie to start, let alone play at an All-Pro level, was asking a lot. The center has to recognize the defense and change protection schemes accordingly. It’s a lot of responsibility beyond simply snapping the ball and blocking your man. Pouncey has handled it all and then some.

Chinny For Most Unpleasant Surprise of the Year:  Bryant McFadden

I live-blogged the draft this past April and other than Pouncey in the first round, the biggest buzz from Steeler Nation was over the trade bringing B-Mac back from Pittsburgh West Arizona.  With good reason as William Gay plays corner about as well as he raps.

Unfortunately, the expected improvement hasn’t materialized.  In fact, it’s gotten worse.  The Steelers are currently ranked 24th against the pass as opposed to last year when the much-criticized secondary finished 16th.   B-Mac played well during the Super Bowl run of 2008 but that is looking more and more like an anomaly as time goes on.

The Steelers should have made a play for Antonio Cromartie, a legit shutdown corner who the Jets stole for a lousy 3rd round draft pick.  I mean, let’s not pretend like the Steelers really give a crap about character any more.  Cro hasn’t committed any crimes except banging groupies while riding bareback, anyway.   Think what an unbelievable defense we could’ve had for a middling draft choice and a box crate of Trojan Ultra-Thins.

Chinny for Coach Of the Year (Steelers staff only):  Sean Kugler

When your previous O-line coach’s biggest claim to fame is sending links to Japanese bukkake videos to Dan Rooney, your bar is pretty low.  And having a superstar rookie like Maurkice Pouncey doesn’t hurt.  But when a line which gave up 50 sacks last year cuts that number to 16 half way through this season, the offensive line coach must be doing something right.  Especially considering all the injuries Kugler has had to deal with.

Willie Colon was lost during OTAs.  Flozell Adams was brought in and switched positions.  Trai Essex has missed significant time with an ankle.  Kemo has battled injury.  And I’m sure you’ve all heard Max Starks was placed on injured reserve yesterday, ending his season.

The line has been absolutely decimated to the point Matt Spaeth was practicing his blocking technique last Monday in case they needed him to come in and play tackle.  And yet no matter who shuffles in and who shuffles out, the line play has remained pretty steady.

Chidi Awouma Memorial Special Teams Chinny:  Jeff Reed

Chidi was a special teams ace who seldom failed to deliver.  I was going to go positive with this award, giving it to Emmanuel Sanders for averaging 26 yards yards per kick return and causing that pivotal fumble on Monday’s opening kickoff.  However, Stefan Logan, now with the Lions, is averaging 30 yards per return and has a 105 yard TD to his credit so I can’t really say we upgraded in that area.

Therefore, I’m going negative and giving the Chidi Chinny to Jeff Reed as his farewell present.  I suppose he may be back next season but I wouldn’t count on it.   Skippy was tagged as the team’s Franchise Player during the off-season, then whined about wanting to be one of the game’s highest paid kickers, then whined some more when the season started and he didn’t receive a long-term contract.  He’s only hit 70% of his FGs this season, a career low, while missing clutch kicks in the Baltimore, New Orleans, and Cincy games.

Chinny For Anti-MVP:  Troy Polmalu

I love Troy.  He’s a great player and a true gentleman.  However, something has gone terribly awry with him this season.  After the Titans game where he made that incredible flying tackle on Kerry Collins at the goal line, I was ready to start a Troy4MVP campaign on Facebook.  Where has he been since then?

He’s been a non-factor.  Troy’s made a career fooling QBs into thinking he was doing one thing when he was doing another.  He’s not fooling anybody this year.   In fact, his guessing in the New Orleans game left guys wide open on several big plays.   You know how many sacks he has this year?   NONE.  ZERO.  ZIP.  BUPKISS.

But the crowning moment of suck was Monday when he got his ass hair handed to him by Peko on that goal line stand.  I hope Head & Shoulders gets tire tracks out ’cause he got trucked.

Once upon a time, you could count on Troy making one or two big game-changing plays every week.  This season, I can’t think of any since the second game of the year.  I grant you part of it is offenses staying away from him and part of it is him dropping into coverage a lot more to help our crappy secondary.  But we spent an entire off-season thinking, “If we only had Troy, we wouldn’t give up fourth quarter leads.”  Troy’s back and guess what?  We’re still struggling in the fourth quarter.  This defense is very good but for it to be great, we need Troy to be Troy.

Chinny For MVP:  Lawrence Timmons

NPC readers picked Timmons and I wholeheartedly agree.   It’s funny, last season many of us were discussing if Timmons could be considered a bust.   He certainly had a rough first year as a starter.  When the Steelers re-signed Larry Foote, many (including myself and the legendary Stan Savran) felt Foote should start in the base defense with Timmons playing on passing downs.

This year, Timmons has been an absolute beast.   He leads the team with 58 tackles, including 3 sacks and a forced fumble.   In addition, he has 2 INTs and 6 passes defensed, thus proving he’s as valuable dropping back as rushing the passer.  He’s been stout against the run and is so fast that he’s capable of covering tight ends and slot receivers.   Clay Matthews, who most feel is the front-runner for Defensive Player of Year, is a fantastic player but compare their stats.  Matthews racked up 10.5 sacks but only has 28 tackles and 2 passes defensed.

There isn’t a linebacker in the league who can do what Timmons does.  In a way, Timmons is almost the new Troy Polamalu.   Troy used to be the guy who played all over the field and you never knew where he was going to attack from.   Now it’s Timmons who lines up like he’s going to blitz but falls back into coverage or moves like he’s been fired from a cannon in running a RB down from behind.  When someone as dense as Peter King acknowledges that LT is the best linebacker on a team filled with great linebackers, you know he’s something special.

On Sunday, the NFL’s fourth best defense faced off against the league’s number two rated unit.   So naturally what resulted was a crazy wide-open game where both teams combined for a shade under 1,000 yards of total offense.   Defense?  We don’t need no stinkin’ defense.   And when the smoke cleared, the Pittsburgh Steelers had ended their five game losing streak with a heartstopping 37-36 victory over the Green Bay Packers.

The tone was set early.  On the Steelers very first play from scrimmage, Ben Roethlisberger rolled right and unleashed a 60 yard TD bomb to rookie Mike Wallace.  The pass was slightly underthrown but DB Jarrett Bush never looked back for the ball allowing Wallace to make a great catch.  I’m sure nobody was happier than offensive coordinator Bruce Arians, who has been doggedly trying to hit this play all year.   By the way, Bush is apparently GB’s version of Will.i.am Gay because the Steelers tortured him all day.

Of course, the thrill of that play was bittersweet.   Once Arians got a taste of passing success, the Flying Circus was off and running.   On our next drive, Ben followed a 28 yarder to Heath Miller with three consecutive misfires.   Green Bay took the ball at their 17 and provided some fireworks of their own.   Aaron Rodgers fired a gorgeous pass over the middle to Donald Driver, who broke free of a feeble tackling attempt by useless Tyrone Carter and outran the rest of our secondary for an 83 yard TD.

The Steelers answered right back with a nice drive mixing Rashard Mendenhall runs with short play action passing.   They were also aided by Green Bay’s sloppy play, as the most penalized team in the NFL got flagged twice on this drive.  A 12 yard catch-and-run by Santonio Holmes set them up with a 1st and goal from the 2.  Mendenhall scored a Bettis-esque  TD by bouncing off hits and bulling over four different Packers to put the Black and Gold up 14-7.

On their next possession, the Steelers caught a huge break.  Rookie LB Clay Matthews blew by LT Max Starks and crashed into Ben just as he was preparing to throw.  Everybody from the Fox commentators to Ben himself seemed to think it was a fumble.   I don’t usually agree with Aikman and Buck since their hatred of the Steelers is ridiculously obvious but even I thought it was a fumble.  However, the only opinion that matters is the ref’s and he called it an incomplete pass.

Starks was horrific yesterday.  Matthews ran right around him like a $10 million human pylon.  I don’t like when people jump down his throat because LT is a very difficult position and he’s been a solid performer but this is the second straight game where he’s crapped the bed.  This week he was beaten for at least two of GB’s five sacks, contributed to a couple others, allowed all kinds of QB pressure, and was penalized three times for good measure.

Anyway, the non-fumble non-sack still forced a punt.  Rodgers zipped yet another pass down the middle for a 49 yard gain.  I would like to blame somebody for this travesty but I don’t have my copy of the playbook handy and lord knows I don’t want to blame Ryan Clark for something he wasn’t responsible for.   Let’s just say both Carter and Clark whiffed on making a tackle and were bailed out by, I can’t believe I’m typing this, Willie Gay.  Gay’s hustle was very important because GB sputtered and then Mason Crosby shanked his FG attempt wide right.

Things quieted down for a couple series until a sack of Ben and a good punt return set GB up at mid-field.  Rodgers completed a bunch of short passes over to Gay’s side which brought them to the Steelers 14.   From shotgun, GB spread the defense across the field which allowed Rodgers to scramble untouched into the end zone.  The Steelers answered right back when Ben hit Heath for another 28 yarder then followed with a pass to Santonio for 33 more.  Once again, a sack set the Steelers back in the red zone.   But they still managed to score on a nice looking screen pass to underutilized Mewelde Moore.

And this was just halftime!

The third quarter was relatively quiet.  The Steelers had the only notable drive thanks to a pair of screens to Mendy, who was awesome catching the ball out the backfield to the tune of 6 catches for 75 yards.   Where has this been all year, Arians?!?!   Mendy followed a 25 yarder with an apparent 14 yard TD.  However, the Football Gods got revenge for the non-fumble non-sack by flagging Miller for a bogus offensive pass interference penalty which negated the score.   The Steelers settled for a Skippy Reed FG which sent them into the fourth quarter up 24-14.

Ugh.  A fourth quarter lead.   I remember once upon a time when a fourth quarter lead was money in the bank.   Then again, half the banks in this country failed this year so maybe that’s still an appropriate comparison.  In any case, I hate fourth quarter leads nowadays because all they do is give the Origami Curtain an opportunity to torture Steeler Nation in new and unexpected ways.

It started with a 13 play 70 yard TD drive where GB converted on FIVE third downs.  Once again, not to assign blame or point fingers but the TE scored over the middle when Clark got all turned around and couldn’t make a play.  The Steelers answered with some Ben to Hines love.   A 29 yard catch-and-run set up a 34 yard FG.  The Pack answered by unleashing a photon torpedo to Jordy LaForge Nelson for 27 yards.  On the next play, GB, who only ran the ball 8 times ALL GAME (and we thought Arians was bad), gashed the defense for a 24 yard rushing TD from Ryan Grant.  I don’t know what happened there but it looked like a Black Hole opened up in the middle of the field.  More Ben-Hines love in the form of a 54 yard bomb resulted in a 43 yard Skippy boot.  That’s not a gimme at Heinz Field, folks.  That kick pulled the Steelers back ahead 30-28.

At this point, Mike Tomlin made one of the most boneheaded coaching decisions in Steelers history.   Channeling his Inner Belichick, he called for an ONSIDE KICK up by two with four minutes left against one of the best offenses in the league.  Is he daring the Steelers to fire him?   Why not just grab Pam Oliver’s mic and shout, “My defense sucks!” while you’re at it?

Predictably, the attempt failed when Ike Taylor didn’t let it roll the necessary ten yards.  Green Bay took advantage of the short field to take a 34-30 lead on a 24 yard TD pass.   Rookie Joe Burnett, who rotated with Ike and Gay regularly all game, slipped making a cut and James Jones walked in for the score.   The Packers then converted a 2 point conversion (somebody must’ve had money on the game) to take a six point lead with two minutes left.

And that’s when Big Ben turned back the clock to the glory days of 2008.  In a comeback for the ages, Ben coolly led the team down the field.  He was aided by some fantastic catches by his receivers.  Heath caught a 22 yarder along the sidelines while Santonio had a huge 32 yard reception on fourth down.  The Steelers got a break when a pick was erased by a GB penalty.

Still, this was the Ben Roethlisberger Show and Big Ben did not disappoint.  In his finest game ever, he completed 29/46 passes for 503 yards.   Most impressively, he tossed three TDs against zero INTS.   This was a new Steeler record for passing yardage and one of the best performances by any NFL QB in the past decade.  With this game, Ben has silenced all his doubters and established that he belongs right up there with Drew Brees and Tom Brady among the league’s best signal callers.

Anyway, a frantic last minute drive, aided by numerous GB penalties, ended up with the Steelers on the Packer 19.  Two incomplete passes wound the clock down to 3 seconds left in the game.   In a play that looked eerily similar to the one which brought Pittsburgh their sixth Lombardi Trophy, Roethlisberger threw a pinpoint accurate pass to Mike Wallace, who dragged his toes while falling out of bounds.  An extra point later and the Steelers pulled off a Chrismukkah miracle.

Now, I’m as excited by this win as anybody but let’s keep our emotions realistic when using the p-word (playoffs).  It feels great to see the team play like champions but there were a lot of breakdowns yesterday.  They managed to overcome them because they finally showed some heart and intensity for a change.  It was a great win, albeit one where Big Ben almost superhumanly took the team and single-handedly saved them from the embarassment of another blown lead and a sixth consecutive loss (not to mention saving Tomlin from a riot).   But a win is a win and that may be the best Christmas present any of us could have asked for.