AMERICAN FOOTBALL:THE PITTSBURGH Steelers silenced the tough-talking New York Jets with a 24-19 win in the AFC Championship on Sunday to set up a Super Bowl showdown with the Green Bay Packers.
While the Steelers and their fans celebrated a third trip to the Super Bowl in six years, the Jets were left crushed and for the first time this season and were lost for words after seeing their season end with a defeat in the AFC title game for the second consecutive year.
The Steelers will now travel to Dallas for a February 6th meeting with the Packers, who booked their Super Bowl ticket with a 21-14 win over the Chicago Bears in the NFC title game earlier on Sunday.
“Let us bath (sic) in this, we’ll be ready to deal with those guys (Packers) tomorrow,” said Steelers coach Mike Tomlin. “There are 32 teams that start this journey and now there are two left.”
The agonising defeat ended a spectacular play-off run by the brash Jets, who had reached the AFC Championship recording road wins over the Indianapolis Colts and the New England Patriots.
But Heinz Field has never been a happy hunting ground for the New Yorkers, who won just once in nine trips to Pittsburgh since the NFL-AFL merger.
“We came up short, just like we did last year, one game away from the big game,” offered a subdued Jets coach Rex Ryan.
“We played a good half, we didn’t play a good game.”
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had an unspectacular game, completing just 10 of 19 passes for 133 yards and two interceptions.
But he also ran for a key touchdown underlining his status as the NFL’s ultimate post-season performer as he improved his play-off record to 10-2.
The Jets had often talked a better game than they played, but had backed up their bravado in the play-offs and looked ready to do so again. Having fallen behind 24-0, they launched a stirring second-half rally that threw a fright into a frigid crowd.
Meanwhile, the resurgent and gritty Packers earned a once-unthinkable trip to the Super Bowl by easing past the Chicago Bears 21-14 to claim the NFC Championship.
Aaron Rodgers was not at his best, but led the way for the Packers, completing 17 of 30 passes for 244 yards, while rushing for a score against one of the NFL’s top defences.
“It’s a dream come true, it’s an incredible feeling,” said Rodgers, who was a back-up to Brett Favre for three years before becoming the starter.
“I’m lost for words. You have got to give credit to their defence. I didn’t play my best game.”
The Packers won the last two games of the regular season to sneak into the play-offs as a wild card, before reeling off road victories over East champion Philadelphia, Atlanta and the North-winning Bears.
Green Bay is the first number-six seed from the NFC to advance to the title game since the NFL went to a 12-team play-off format in 1990.
