In a shocker, but one that comes to the happiness for Steeler fans, the AFC road to the Super Bowl will now go through Pittsburgh after the Patriots lost at home 28-21 to the New York Jets.
The Jets topped the Steelers 22-17 on December 19th, but the Steelers didn’t have safety Troy Polamalu, and it was the only loss for the Steelers out of their last 8 games if you count the Saturday playoff win over the Ravens 31-24.
The Steelers outgained the Jets 378 to 276 in the game, and led at two different times 10-7 and 17-10. The Jets got a big safety with 2:38 to go from Jason Taylor to make it 22-17, but the Steelers marched all the way down the field, but a pass intended to Matt Spaeth was incomplete in the end zone.
Now the Steelers get a shot at revenge. They open as 3-point favorites to beat the Jets and make it to Super Bowl XLV in Dallas.
“Maybe everybody else never believed, but we believed,” Jets coach Rex Ryan said. “We’re moving on. Same old Jets, back to the AFC championship. The only difference is this time we plan on winning.”
Not if the black and gold has anything to say about it.
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The Tony
January 16, 2011 at 11:06 pm
That was a very emotional and physical win for the Jets. I have to believe that the Jets are going to be drained from going through the Colts and now the Patriots. The Steelers are going to prove to be far more physical than any team the Jets have come across this season, especially now that we got Troy back on the field.
DrGeorge
January 17, 2011 at 12:32 pm
I had the same thought. The Jets expended a lot of emotional energy beating Indy and the Pats. It isn’t easy to beat three good teams in a row. It can be done, but generally your need one of the teams to self-destruct to do it. Last week, I anticipated fourth quarter fatigue in the Ravens on a short week. I don’t know if fatigue was the factor I expected, but the Ravens did make a lot of mistakes late. I expect to see something similar with the Jets on Sunday.
I also noticed what seems to me a glaring weakness in Sanchez; he is a much more accurate passer when he can roll out of the pocket. In the pocket, he is too short to see well over his own offensive line. For the same reason, he throws screens and short outs a lot. If the Steelers D can contain him in the pocket and tighten the pass coverage short, the Jets are going to find the day very long indeed. On the other hand, if the Steelers cannot apply pressure and allow Sanchez time to go through his reads, he will find an open receiver, and all of his receivers are good.
Finally, the Steelers demonstrated that they can come back from a 21-7 deficit to win. The Jets don’t look like a team that can do that. Let’s hope we get up on the Jets early and then tighten the screws. If we can do that, we should win convincingly. If we can’t do that, the game will turn into a shoot out, because neither team runs the ball well enough to control the clock or the game.
KeIth DeMare
January 17, 2011 at 7:29 am
Someone needs to make giant feet, like the packers cheese heads, to wear on their heads for Rex Ryan !!!
mark
January 17, 2011 at 8:35 am
Trash talking has already begun! Braylon Edwards said ” Big Ben is next”
The Tony
January 17, 2011 at 9:49 am
This is going to be a looooong week of hearing the incoherent bantering of the Jets classless players.
Question for Steelers Nation: Who would you rather walk down a dark alley with, James Harrison or Joey Porter?
George H
January 17, 2011 at 11:07 am
Well you know whenever you team up with Porter theres a good chance of getting shot in the ass
Mike
January 18, 2011 at 7:21 pm
Funny shit, George!! Go Steelers!!!
Jeff
January 17, 2011 at 11:09 am
I’m having a blast up here in MASS listening to Boston sports radio this morning and last night…they’re even starting to turn on Belichick as they should…out coached again. Most Pats fans had them in Dallas already….I’m hitting them on the message boards, particularly on boston.com, with the continuing theme of this stat…Brady 10 and 0 in playoff games during Spygate era…now below 500, at 4 and 5 post Spygate…Pats fans still won’t admit this is all too coincidental
Ronnie
January 17, 2011 at 2:13 pm
I think that this years NY Jets team is destiny’s team. They’ve been away from the Big show for too long. And if anyone decides to turn their bravado into a morality game, Big Ben’s atrocious behavior will come under even greater scrutiny. And keep in mind that the Jet’s defense will not be denied at this point. The NY Giants went through the same grueling schedule in 2007 and prevailed.