Jan 16, 2005 4 min read

PITTSBURGH – The New York Jets did their best to flap Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger Saturday evening at Heinz Field. And for the better part of the proceedings, the Jets succeeded.

Finally, with everything on the line, Roethlisberger came through, just like he has throughout this remarkable season.

“The one thing I like about Ben is that he is unflappable,” Steelers coach Bill Cowher said in the moments after the Steelers had beaten the Jets, 20-17, in an overtime thriller that had “Jets win” written all over it until the final minutes.

“He displays a calmness about him to move on to the next play. Even after the interception return for a touchdown, he had confidence.”

Luckily for the Steelers, because had Roethlisberger dwelled on how poorly he was playing, the Steelers were doomed to lose.

Instead, some in the locker room began referring to themselves as destiny’s child.

“After what we went through today, I can feel nothing but it’s our time,” linebacker Joey Porter said. “All of the circumstances we went through. Nothing was given to us. They capitalized on every one of our mistakes. How close we are as a team, that showed today.

“It was meant to be.”

Cowher wouldn’t go quite so far as to invoke destiny, but he acknowledged that when the chips were down, his team made the plays it needed to make.

“Our football team is a resilient bunch,” Cowher said. “We always seem to be able to focus on the next play. We overcame two returns for touchdowns and a couple of missed field goals that could have won the game for them.”

“It was a rough day for everybody today,” linebacker James Farrior said. “Nobody played their best. We all struggled a little bit on both sides of the ball, but overall we hung in there. That’s the make-up of our team. We never give up.”

Even when the Steelers moved out to an early 10-0 lead, it was evident they were not truly on top of their game. Roethlisberger, in particular, looked shaky. He completed only four of 12 passes in the first half and, when the Jets battled back to tie the score, 10-10, you knew the Steelers were in a tussle.

Late in the third quarter, when Roethlisberger underthrew a wide-open Antwaan Randle El for what should have gone for a touchdown, you knew they were in some trouble. Reggie Tongue picked it cleanly and returned it 86 yards for a touchdown to tie the game.

All of a sudden, the prized rookie looked like a rookie again. He had won his first 13 games as a starter, many of them via the comeback.

But this was different. This was the playoffs. Rookies just don’t overcome mistakes like Roethlisberger made in this game.

Yet, he did it. And the legend grows.

He was not alone, not by a long shot. He had Jerome Bettis and Hines Ward on his side, plus the five big guys in front of him paving the way. Plus the defense, which limited the Jets to a field goal, yet had to hang on for dear life as Jets kicker Doug Brien missed not one, but two field goal tries in the waning moments of the fourth quarter.

“I knew he’d miss the second one,” defensive end Aaron Smith said. “I just had a feeling that he would miss that one.”

Does that make this destiny’s team.

“Not destiny,” Smith said. “This team is special, but I don’t believe in destiny. I believe in hard work.”

“We’ve had several games like this, where we needed plays made at the end to pull out wins,” Smith added. “The Dallas game, Ben drove us to a win late in the game and the New York (Giants) game was another one.”

Kimo von Oelhoffen is another non-believer in destiny, but he is a firm believer in this team.

“What is destiny? How can you define destiny?” von Oelhoffen wanted to know. “It wasn’t meant to be. I had my job to do and so did every other player in this locker room.

“People talk about building character, you just saw that out there. We could’ve lost, but we’re going to do what we do every time.”

This season, that’s been good enough for 16 wins in 17 tries.

This one may have been as much survival as it was winning, but the Steelers persevered and got the job done.

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