The Pittsburgh Steelers started out the pre-season with a 3-1 record, with victories over the Eagles, Dolphins, and Panthers, yet losing to the Redskins 17-10. Pittsburgh kicked off the regular season with a win against the Tennessee Titans 37-7, but head coach Bill Cowher felt that it wasn’t the best game the Steelers could have played.
Following the game against the Titans, the Steelers claimed victory over the Texans, but victory wasn’t for long as they journeyed toward New England, to suffer a loss to the Patriots in a close game, ending at 23-20 Patriots. The injury list began to stack up for the Steelers; but at this point, only Jerome Bettis, with an injured calf, was said to be doubtful in playing against the Chargers in the next game.
After a bye week, the Steelers kicked off against the Chargers, winning by two points at 24-22. In spite of the injures beginning to affect more players, the Steelers struggled against the Jaguars, losing 23-17, now with both Ricardo Colclough, shoulder injury, and Clark Haggans, injured groin, out.
The first trip of the season to Cincinnati was a success for the Steelers, overcoming the long-time rival with a 27-13 victory. After an exciting victory, the Steelers barely squeezed by with a win against the Ravens with a score of 20-19.
The next two games went a little easier for the Steelers, winning against both the Packers and the Browns. But victory didn’t last long, as the Steelers went from a four game winning streak to losing the next three games. The Steelers first game against the Colts was lost 26-7, while both the Ravens (16-13) and the Bengals (38-31) got revenge on the Steelers.
With this in mind, the Steelers needed to step it up in order to go into to the play-offs Super bowl bound. The Steelers claimed victory over the next four games versus the Bears (21-9), the Vikings (18-3), the Browns (41-0), and the Lions (35-21).
Then it was play-off time! The first game of the post season was against the Cincinnati Bengals, injuring both Bengal players Carson Palmer and Chris Henry within the First Quarter. The game ended with a 31-17 Steeler victory.
Week Two of the play-offs heated up as the Steelers traveled to Indianapolis to take on the Colts. Competition between the two teams was even closer than in game one against the Bengals. An almost fatal fumble by Jerome Bettis gave Colts a chance to run the ball and possibly score a game winning touchdown.
Heath Miller described Ben Roethlisberger’s quick reaction: “But hats off to Ben. He made a game-saving play at that point and then our defense came out and did what they were doing all day.” The close game ended with a Steeler victory 23-20.
Final stop before Super Bowl XL: The Pittsburgh Steelers versus the Denver Broncos. This game was much more calm than the previous two play-off games, as Pittsburgh scored a majority of their 34 points in the second quarter, with 21 points.
At half time the score was 24-3 Pittsburg, making the Bronco fans wonder if there was any chance of even coming close to a victory against the Steelers.
In the Third Quarter, the Broncos stepped it up scoring seven points, while the Steelers scored zero in the third. Competition was a more exciting in the Fourth while the Steelers scored another ten points and the Bronco’s managed to score another seven points, ending the game at 34-17, Steelers going to the Super Bowl to face the Seattle Seahawks.