Dec 30, 2002 By Commentary Mike Ciarochi 5 min read

PITTSBURGH – Jerry Garcia of Grateful Dead fame said it first, but the magical phrase perfectly describes the journey that led the Pittsburgh Steelers to a 10-5-1 regular-season record and the No. 3 seed in the upcoming NFL playoffs. “What a long, strange trip it’s been.”

Back in August, the Steelers, fresh off a 13-3 season a home loss in another AFC championship game, were highly touted as the AFC’s team to beat this season. But Pittsburgh opened with ugly losses at New England and at home to the Oakland Raiders.

Those losses took away all of the talk, not only of being an AFC favorite, but also of even making the playoffs.

After a bye week, the Steelers were looking smack at an 0-3 start when coach Bill Cowher replaced an ineffective Kordell Stewart with Tommy Maddox at quarterback.

Maddox engineered a comeback win over the Browns, who will visit Heinz Field next weekend in an AFC playoff game, but even that game had its ups and downs. On his way to the throne, Maddox threw an overtime interception that Pittsburgh overcame when Kimo von Oelhoffen’s helmet got in the way of a Phil Dawson field goal.

The Steelers eventually won it on Todd Peterson’s second try at a game-winning field goal. Remember Peterson? Yeah, he had a role in this up-and-down season. He only got his second chance because his first attempt was blocked, but didn’t cross the line of scrimmage. All of that for the elusive first win for Pittsburgh.

A week later, New Orleans flat-out spanked the Steelers and made the defense look silly in the process. Through the first two games of the season, the Steelers couldn’t stop the pass. Against the Saints, they couldn’t stop Deuce McAllister on the ground.

So, the Steelers sat at 1-3 after a month, having surrendered at least 30 points in each of their losses. The only saving grace seemed to be a soft spot in the schedule. The Steelers won four in a row, including three road games against division opponents.

Things were starting to look up for Pittsburgh. Maddox was establishing himself as the leader of the offense and the defense was rallying behind Pro Bowl linebacker Joey Porter.

Then came the Atlanta game.

Pittsburgh played tremendously well early on, but Michael Vick exploited the defense in leading the Falcons back from a 31-17 deficit to forge a 34-34 tie that felt and looked and smelled more like a loss than a tie to the Steelers.

A week later, Maddox went down with spinal and cerebral concussions in a loss at Tennessee and things again started to look bleak for the Steelers. At 5-4-1 and with Kordell Stewart back at quarterback, nobody could have predicted a turnaround for the Steelers.

Yet Stewart led Pittsburgh to wins over Cincinnati at Jacksonville before giving way to Maddox in what looked like an easy win at home against the expansion Houston Texans. The Steelers outgained the Texans by almost 400 yards, but couldn’t outscore them. Maddox had two interceptions returned for touchdowns and a lost fumble became a Kris Brown field goal.

Again, the Steelers were left for dead. Again, they picked themselves back and won out, beating Carolina and Baltimore at home around their biggest win of the season, a Monday night win at Tampa that clinched the AFC North Division title.

Now, they enter the playoffs on a three-game winning streak and having won five of their last six games. Even Cowher was at a loss in trying to put this wacky season into perspective.

“The one thing I would say is that we have won some games against some good teams,” Cowher said. “We have won some games differently. We are playing with a high level of confidence going into the playoffs.

“I don’t know what is going to unfold, but when you look at the last six games, the only game we did not play well in was the Houston game. It was a bizarre game. It was a weird game. If you really look at the way we played the last six weeks, it’s been solid.”

Cowher noted that the way the season played out made Sunday’s win significant.

“We just could not get on a streak,” he said. “We’d win one and lose two. Even at the end, when we won four out of five, the one that still sat out there was the Houston game. I thought this game was important with the way the game unfolded and the way those guys came back at the end.

“There is no give up on this team and there is a lot to be said about that mentality.”

That mentality could carry this team far into the playoffs. From the start, everybody, Cowher and his players included, expected lots more of this team. But now that they have been through what they have been through, maybe they are better because of it.

Only time will tell.

Sports editor Mike Ciarochi may be reached at mciarochi@heraldstandard.com.