Steelers v. Colts:
A preview and a look back

The Steelers travel to Indianapolis this Sunday for a prime-time contest with the Colts.  Indy will be missing TV commercial actor Peyton Manning, who also plays QB for the Colts.  Pittsburgh heads into Indy after a 24-0 shut-out of the Shehawks, while the Colts are still reeling from a 27-19 loss to the hapless Cleveland Brownie-Elves.

Seriously, this is Cleveland's mascot

This is a Cleveland fan

Replacing Manning at QB is the grey-bearded Kerry Collins, who broke into the NFL in 1995 and had recently retired until the Colts pulled him off some bar stool at a racial sensitivity training session.  However, the Steelers shouldn't be looking past the Colts and will do well to remember that it was Kerry Collins who led the Tennessee Titans to a 31-14 win over the then soon-to-be Super Bowl Champion Steelers in December 2008.  Nonetheless, if the Brownie-Elves (see photos above) can manage an 8 point margin of victory against the Colts, the Steelers should be good for at least double that -- so, I'll take Pittsburgh by a 33-17 count.  (The Steeler Face is 1-1 picking the Steelers this year).

Oh my gosh!  Oh my gosh!  Oh my gosh!

Somebody has to tackle him!

No trip to Indianapolis is complete for Steeler fans without some reminiscing over the Steelers stunning 21-18 upset of the Colts in the Divisional round of the 2005 playoffs.  Pittsburgh had to win its last four regular season games just to sneak into the postseason that year as the lowest seed in the AFC.  Indy was the AFC's top seed with a 14-2 record and heavily favored to win on the strength of Peyton's TV skills and the game officials' disdain of Polamalu, Troy Polamalu's intercepting skills.

However, it was the underdog Steelers that jumped out to a 21-3 lead in the third quarter.  When NFL game officials made the worst call ever in the history of professional sports by denying the reality of Polamalu, Troy Polamalu's game-clinching interception, the Colts closed the gap to 21-18.

After Joey PEEZY Porter sacked Peyton, the Steelers took possession of the ball at the Colts 2 yard line with under 2 minutes to go and now the game was over.  But, NO!  The unthinkable happened when The Bus FUMBLED the ball and someone in a Colts uniform scooped it up and would be still be running today if Big Ben had not done this:

"THE TACKLE"

I had collapsed to the floor in front of my television and could only manage to repeat: "Oh my gosh!  Oh my gosh!  Oh my gosh!" until I finally spit out "SOMEONE HAS TO TACKLE HIM!"  And thankfully, Ben did.  I know I didn't have the only heart attack that day.  I couldn't get up.  I couldn't look.  I couldn't even bare to watch when Vanderjagt attempted to tie the game.  My wife screamed "he missed!" "he missed!" before I would look up and see the Steelers celebrating on the field.

I'm sure I lost 5 years off my life that day.

That play by Big Ben is the reason why he is one of my all-time favorite Steelers.  That's the kind of play that doesn't show up in the stat book, but it makes the difference between heart-wrenching defeat and thrilling victory.  If Ben doesn't make "The Tackle", the Steelers don't win that game, and don't win Super Bowl XL.

Today, "The Tackle" is commemorated by this photo that is proudly displayed in my kitchen.

Here we go Steelers!  Here we go!