Roethlisberger inspirational as Steelers stun Indianapolis
Ben Roethlisberger threw two touchdown passes and made a game-saving tackle after a Jerome Bettis fumble in the final seconds as Pittsburgh won 21-18 at Indianapolis, ousting the heavily favoured Colts from the play-offs.
“Once in a blue moon Jerome is going to make that fumble and once in a blue moon I’m going to make that tackle,” Roethlisberger said. “Luckily for us they happened on the same play.”
After a 13-0 start that sparked talk of an unbeaten championship run, the Colts went an NFL-best 14-2 but lost three of their last four games to squander the home-field play-off edge.
“It’s disappointing to have a regular season like we had and put yourself in position and not finish it off,” Colts coach Tony Dungy said. “We just couldn’t get going. We didn’t give up. We have to use this as motivation for next year.”
Jake Delhomme completed 24-of-33 passes for 319 yards and three touchdowns in Carolina’s 29-21 victory at Chicago. Steve Smith caught 12 passes for 218 yards and two touchdowns against the NFL’s top scoring defence.
“Smithy just put on the burners and took off. He just takes off and guys have to dig in to try to catch him,” Delhomme said. “We answered. That’s the biggest thing we did. Every time they scored, we answered. That was huge.”
The first sixth seeds to reach conference finals will need another road victory next Sunday to book a date in Super Bowl 40 on February 5.
Pittsburgh will visit Denver in the American Conference final while Seattle hosts Carolina for the National Conference crown.
Mike Vanderjagt, the most accurate kicker in NFL history, missed a 36-yard field goal attempt with 17 seconds remaining that would have pulled Indy level.
“There are no excuses. I just missed it,” Vanderjagt said. “I wasn’t worried about that kick at all. I’m somewhat in shock that I’m standing here after a missed field goal. I never thought in a million years I would have missed it.”
The Colts should not have had that last-gasp opportunity after Pittsburgh’s Joey Porter sacked Peyton Manning at the Indy two-yard line with 80 seconds remaining.
But Indy’s Gary Brackett knocked the ball out of Bettis’ hands and Colts defensive back Nick Harper recovered. Harper’s wife was charged with inflicting knife wounds on Saturday on his knee that required three stitches.
Harper raced for the end zone but Roethlisberger managed to grab his leg and bring him down.
“That was the craziest game I’ve ever been in,” Porter said. “I thought the game was over after the sack... Ben made a great play. That was the play of the game. If he doesn’t make that play, then we don’t keep the game alive.”
Bettis, who might retire after the season, was relieved that the defence held and Vanderjagt missed his kick so his mistake did not cost his team the game.
“My defence bailed me out,” Bettis said. “I can leave here with my head up high.”
Manning, pressured often by defenders, sealed his reputation as a talented passer who cannot win the big game, falling to 3-6 in the playoffs despite completing 22-of-38 passes for 290 yards.
“I’m going to be a good teammate here. We had a few protection problems,” Manning said. “It will be more disappointing tomorrow. It certainly takes time to move on from a game like this.”
The Bears had similar feelings after Carolina, beaten 13-3 at Chicago in November, denied them their first playoff victory since 1995 and first conference final since 1989.
“Give Carolina credit. They wanted it more than we did,” Bears coach Lovie Smith said. “We tried to keep Steve Smith contained. We were unable to do that. He made a couple of big plays.”
Delhomme rose to 5-1 in play-off games, his lone loss coming when Carolina fell to New England in the 2004 Super Bowl.
Carolina running back DeShaun Foster suffered a broken right ankle. The Panthers had already lost Stephen Davis with a knee injury.
“We’re all disappointed,” Delhomme said. “DeShaun was doing so well. But he will be back.”
Jason McKie’s three-yard touchdown run with 12:23 remaining pulled the Bears within two points at 23-21 but Carolina answered on Kris Mangum’s one-yard touchdown catch from Delhomme.
John Kasay missed the conversion kick but the Bears could not take advantage, twice denied a potential tying touchdown in the closing minutes.
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