Prediction: Steelers 21 - Jets 13
Actual: Steelers 24 - Jets 19
The Pittsburgh Steelers are going to their 8th Super Bowl in their history. They are currently 6-1 in the Super Bowl with wins in Super Bowl IX (1974), X (1975), XIII (1978), XIV (1979), XL (2005), and XLIII (2008). The Steelers led the league in Super Bowl wins with 6 and will be shooting for 7 in 2 weeks. With a win in my opinion Ben Roethlisberger would immediately have to be thrown in to the discussion for one of the best QB's of all time.
Coming in to this game you had two of the best defenses in the league and the #1 (Steelers) and #3 (Jets) run defense in the league. If the Steelers were to pull off a win it would have to be on the arm of Ben Roethlisberger....THATS WHY THEY PLAY THE GAME! The Steelers came out and ran the ball right at the Jets, the Jets looked tired and unprepared on defense as Mendenhall broke tackle after tackle on the first drive. Drive Stats: 15 plays, 66 yards, 9 minutes of offense. The Steelers had the ball for 27 real-time minutes before the Jets touched the ball again. Great start to the game for the Steelers who came out and showed the Jets they are going to beat them physically.
The Jets first half offense: 23 plays, 60 yards, 1 turnover, 3 points. The 3 points came right before the half. The Steelers on the other hand owned the first half offensively and defensively. There second drive ended in a Ben Roethlisberger interception. The Steelers defense held tough and got the ball back to Big Ben who was able to lead two more scoring drives, 17-0 Steelers. The biggest play of the game came with 1:13 remaining in the half, Mark Sanchez dropped back, Ike Taylor blitzed from the outside, as Sanchez started to throw Taylor hit him, FUMBLE!!! William Gay was able to recover it and return it 19 yards for the score, 24-0. After the fumble, Sanchez was in a lot of pain and looked as if he might have to come out of the game, but unlike Jay Cutler was able to convince his coaches he could continue to play. The Jets got the ball back with 1:08 remaining in the half and Sanchez started to get hot, 7 plays 44 yards to lead them to a big field goal before the half. 24-3
The Jets got the ball first and on their 5th play Sanchez threw a 45 yard bomb to former Steeler Santonio Holmes in under 3 minutes 24-10 and we now have a game. The Steelers second half offense mimicked the Jets offense: 26 plays, 75 yards, 1 turnover, and 1 safety. The Jets were driving down the field on their 3rd drive of the half 17 plays, 80 yards, and 8:12 off the clock. They got down within the Red Zone and the Steelers showed why they were ranked as the #1 defense stopping the Jets at the 1 yard line on fourth down. On the Steelers first play on the drive Ben Roethlisberger could not handle the snap but was able to get on top of the ball in the end zone to avoid giving the Jets a touchdown. The score was 24-12 now. Sanchez again drove his offense down the field but this time was able to punch them in with a Jerricho Cotchery 4 yard touchdown catch. The score was now 24-19 with 3:06 remaining.
Big Ben has been known as one of the most clutch QB's in the league for the past few years and in this game he proved it. When you look at the box score it looks like Big Ben had a really bad game, but what the stats don't show you are the amount of clutch throws he made this game, 2 of them coming on this game sealing drive. The Steelers had a 5 point lead with 2:56 remaining after the kickoff. Roethlisberger was able to hit Heath Miller for a 14 yard gain for a necessary first down, Jets timeout. The Jets forced the Steelers in to a 3rd down play with not much time remaining, the Steelers had run the previous 2 plays and everyone was predicting that you run the ball and run 40 second off the clock as the Jets were out of timeouts. All the sudden the Steelers came out of the huddle with Ben Roethlisberger in the shotgun and 5 WR's on the outside. I personally was shocked when I saw such a gutsy call when you have a defense like the Steelers. Big Ben called hike, stood in the pocket for a few seconds felt the pressure scrambled to his right and found rookie Antonio Brown for a 14 yard gain to seal the win.
Player of the game: Rashard Mendenhall 27 carries, 121 yards, 1 TD, 2 catches for 32 yards.
This win was very emotional for Ben Roethlisberger who after the game was seen kneeling on the ground with an AFCCG shirt in his face. After what he went through earlier this season, a season that began with a four-game suspension is one win away from giving him a third Super Bowl victory.
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