HometownGal
01-24-2011, 07:00 AM
Resilient Steelers Look Like Team to Beat in Super Bowl XLV
By Kevin Blackistone
PITTSBURGH -- On what was the penultimate play of their opening touchdown drive Sunday evening at Heinz Field, the Steelers' rookie center Maurkice Pouncey (right) was left writhing in pain on the frozen ground. He was eventually helped to one foot on which he hoped off the field with the aide of two Steelers staffers.
Pouncey's second-year backup Doug Legursky jogged onto the field and into the huddle in Pouncey's stead. A moment later, he helped shove would-be Jets' tacklers out of the way so running back Rashard Mendenhall could plow into the end zone for the AFC championship game's first score. The Steelers never relinquished it en route to holding off the Jets, 24-19.
"We don't worry about other things going on," Steelers linebacker Lamarr Woodley remarked afterward. "Pouncey went down; we didn't lose a beat."
The Steelers, particularly this season's edition, never do.
It was resilience that got them off to a surprisingly strong start this year after losing the heart of their team, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who was suspended four games following accusations that he assaulted a teenaged female college student in a small Georgia town. It was resilience that Sunday closed out their third successful run to the Super Bowl in the past six seasons.
And as much of a cliché as it may sound when talking about the Steelers, it is that toughness that made them look on Sunday like the team to beat in the Super Bowl next month in Dallas.
Read more at: http://kevin-blackistone.fanhouse.com/2011/01/24/resilient-steelers-look-like-team-to-beat-in-super-bowl-xlv/?icid=main%7Chtmlws-main-n%7Cdl2%7Csec1_lnk3%7C196966
By Kevin Blackistone
PITTSBURGH -- On what was the penultimate play of their opening touchdown drive Sunday evening at Heinz Field, the Steelers' rookie center Maurkice Pouncey (right) was left writhing in pain on the frozen ground. He was eventually helped to one foot on which he hoped off the field with the aide of two Steelers staffers.
Pouncey's second-year backup Doug Legursky jogged onto the field and into the huddle in Pouncey's stead. A moment later, he helped shove would-be Jets' tacklers out of the way so running back Rashard Mendenhall could plow into the end zone for the AFC championship game's first score. The Steelers never relinquished it en route to holding off the Jets, 24-19.
"We don't worry about other things going on," Steelers linebacker Lamarr Woodley remarked afterward. "Pouncey went down; we didn't lose a beat."
The Steelers, particularly this season's edition, never do.
It was resilience that got them off to a surprisingly strong start this year after losing the heart of their team, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who was suspended four games following accusations that he assaulted a teenaged female college student in a small Georgia town. It was resilience that Sunday closed out their third successful run to the Super Bowl in the past six seasons.
And as much of a cliché as it may sound when talking about the Steelers, it is that toughness that made them look on Sunday like the team to beat in the Super Bowl next month in Dallas.
Read more at: http://kevin-blackistone.fanhouse.com/2011/01/24/resilient-steelers-look-like-team-to-beat-in-super-bowl-xlv/?icid=main%7Chtmlws-main-n%7Cdl2%7Csec1_lnk3%7C196966