Steelers Crash Jets, Head to Dallas!

And the stairway to seven continues!  The Steelers got the job done last night and beat the Jets 24-19 to win their 8th conference championship of all time and get their shot at winning their 7th Super Bowl title!  It started off with a bang as the Steelers jumped out to an early 7-0 lead on a 9 minute dive that ended with a Mendenhall TD.  A field goal, a Big Ben 2 yard run and a William Gay fumble return for a TD put the Steelers up 24-0 right before half. The Jets were able to add a field goal to make it 24-3 at half and subsequently scored the only 16 points of the second half to make the final score 24-19 but all that matters is the Steelers survivied and are moving on to play the Packers in the Super Bowl. How’d they beat the Jets?  Well, it was a game of power as Mendenhall managed to run for 121 yards and the defense stuffed the Jets as they held them to 289 total yards, only 70 on the ground.  The linebackers led the way again as they combined for 29 tackles, 10 of them by their season leader and game leader, Timmons.  The defense is always stellar and this is what we have all come to expect but we’ve also come to expect huge numbers from Big Ben each and every game and last night’s numbers were pedestrian but he was still the emotional leader of the team and made great decisions on just about every play. Despite going just 10 of 19 for 133 yards and 2 interceptions, he had a rushing TD, he had an improvisation on a wishbone pitch to Mendenhall that was career highlight worthy and he made the decisive throw to Antonio Brown on 3rd and 6 to end the game and sen dthe black and gold back to the big game.  It’s certainly nice to see Ben and the team trusting the rookies Brown and Emmanuel Sanders and seeing those guys prove they are trustworthy. Two weeks in a row Brown caught the decisive pass, we love seeing that! 

The boys now have two weeks to get ready for Aaron Rodgers and the Packers. We certainly like the fact that a lot of the Steelers have been a part of the last two titles and have that experience. They’ll need it when they play that potent air attack that Green Bay sports.

A couple of notes, the Steelers kept the penalties to a minimum, only committing four for 25 yards, we’ve been asking for that all year and finally got it!  No word yet on Pouncey but he’s a must play in the Super Bowl for the Steelers to truly be succesful. Legursky did an admirable job but Pouncey is in the Pro Bowl for a reason and we need him!

When it was all said and done the Jets had nothing to do but pick their noses and wipe them clean: 

Conference Champs, up next: Green Bay in the Super Bowl!