Pittsburgh – Tom Brady and Peyton Manning aren’t the only people around the NFL wondering what if.
Do you think Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme is thanking his lucky stars that, with Pro Bowl wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad leaving for Chicago, Steve Smith was able to come all the way back from a broken leg that cost him virtually the entire 2004 season?
The Seattle Seahawks were coming off a shocking 20-17 overtime loss to Washington when NFC West division rival St. Louis returned the opening kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown the following week. Do their players wonder how their season would have unfolded had they been unable to rally for a 37-31 win?
Or do you think Mike Shana- han has never pondered where the Broncos might be if Champ Bailey hadn’t picked off San Diego’s Drew Brees early in the second half of their Week 2 victory?
For the teams playing in today’s NFL conference championship games, the road to Super Bowl XL in Detroit has taken a great many twists and turns. But it could be argued none is more grateful or has come as far as the Pittsburgh Steelers team that will face Denver today at Invesco Field at Mile High.
Granted, Pittsburgh is making a second consecutive appearance in the AFC title match, following a 15-1 regular season in 2004. But this year’s team wasn’t a top seed; at No. 6, it was the last to make it to postseason play and, to get to Denver, the Steelers had to win on the road versus Cincinnati and Indianapolis.
There are any number of players who say this forced journey, just the latest step in a season-long trek, is a big reason the Steelers have the chance to become just the second team in NFL history to reach the Super Bowl by winning three times away from home.
“I’m sure nobody is giving us a chance against Denver. Nobody gave us a chance at Indianapolis either,” receiver Hines Ward said. “We’ve only got the guys in this locker room, but that’s OK because this may be the closest team I’ve ever been on.
“We’ve been through a lot together over the last two years, from missing the playoffs going into 2004 to going 15-1 but not getting to the Super Bowl to all we’ve experienced this year. To get to this point, we’ve had to be real close.”
Ward was perhaps the biggest variable in Pittsburgh’s fortunes. A Pro Bowler the last four years, Ward held out in a contract dispute. This after the other starting wideout, Plaxico Burress, signed a free-agent contract with the New York Giants.
Ward missed the opening two weeks of training camp, a story that generated more news than the previous high-water mark – quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s penchant for riding around on his motorcycle, sans helmet. Eventually Ward reported, inking an extension that included a $9 million signing bonus. Although he didn’t make the Pro Bowl this year, Ward was still a star, averaging just more than 14 yards a catch with 11 touchdowns and being named the team’s most valuable player.
“To come from a holdout to being one game from the Super Bowl, to have the year that I had, I guess I’m very blessed,” Ward said. “Everything worked out for the best.”
For the Steelers, that has been the case for most of the season. Running back Willie Parker, who finished 2004 with 186 yards rushing and was inactive for the postseason, started the 2005 season opener against Tennessee only because Jerome Bettis and Duce Staley were injured. He carried 22 times for 161 yards in a 34-7 win and remained a starter, finishing the season with 1,202 yards.
Roethlisberger never cracked his head, but he did miss three games in November with a knee injury. The Steelers lost the last of those three games, then stumbled against Indianapolis and Cincinnati as Roethlisberger struggled to get his timing back.
Pittsburgh hasn’t lost since, a six-game run that includes the thriller over the Colts – a win decided when Mike Vanderjagt, the most accurate kicker in NFL history, missed a game-tying field goal in the final minute.
At any point over these last six weeks, one loss could have led to an offseason version of “what if” for Pittsburgh. But the Steelers are still standing.
“This is a great opportunity,” linebacker Joey Porter said. “We’ve put ourselves in the position where we could go out and fight the last two weeks. Now we get to do it all over again. We know it’s on the road, but we look forward to another challenge.”
Anthony Cotton can be reached at 303-820-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com.
