The Pittsburgh Steelers made a magical run from the Wild Card round to win the Super Bowl at the end of the 2005 season that wouldn't have been possible without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger making a tackle in the AFC Divisional round against the Indianapolis Colts. Willie Parker was in his second season with the team and had taken over as the team's leading rusher. He vividly remembers that moment and how it was then that he felt the team was on a date with destiny to win the whole thing.
Parker recently joined Joe Starkey on 93.7 The Fan to talk about his career. Their discussion eventually ventured to the 2005 season and for Parker, it's defined largely by one thing.
"Our defense was unstoppable," he said. "Our defense stopped anybody. You wouldn't want to mess with our defense any type of way."
Pittsburgh finished the season with an 11-5 record, which put them in the 6th seed heading into the playoffs. They traveled to Ohio for a first-round playoff battle with the AFC North winners, the Cincinnati Bengals. Pittsburgh scored three unanswered touchdowns in the second half to go with a field goal to close out the game 31-17 and earn a trip to face the formidable Colts led by Peyton Manning.
The Colts offense finished 2nd in points scored and 3rd in total yards. Receivers Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne both had over 1,000 yards receiving. Running back Edgerrin James had 1,506 rushing yards and 14 total touchdowns.
Pittsburgh jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first half. Roethlisberger connected with Antwan Randle-El for the opening score and then found Heath Miller for the second touchdown. The Colts' offense had been stymied by Pittsburgh's defense, with four of their first offensive series ending in a punt. They finally managed to muster a 15-play drive ending in a field goal with 1:23 left to play in the first half.
The Colts' high-flying offense continued to struggle after halftime. In the third quarter, the Colts' first two offensive possessions both ended in punts. As the quarter was set to finish and roll over to the fourth, the Colts' offense found a spark. Manning kept the drive going with a 13-yard pass to Brandon Stockley on a 4th and two, and two plays later completed a 50-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dallas Clark. After the completed extra point, the Colts only trailed 21-10 with just over 14 minutes left to play in the game.
After driving from their own territory into the Colts' side of the field, Pittsburgh's offense sputtered and punted it. After a touchback, Manning and the offense took over. Pittsburgh thought they had a good chance to put the game away when Troy Polamalu came up with what looked like an interception with five and a half minutes to go, but the Colts challenged, and the play was overturned. The Colts drove down the field and James punched it in from three yards out. The Colts got the two-point completion with Manning connecting with Wayne to make it 21-18.
Steelers' Super Bowl Hopes Nearly Ended With A Colossal Mistake
The Colts got the ball back again at their own 21-yard line with two and a half minutes left. They couldn't do anything, as Joey Porter picked up a sack on second down for an eight-yard loss and then combined with James Farrior to end the drive with a sack on fourth down. Pittsburgh had the ball back at the Colts' two-yard line and handed it off to Jerome Bettis to try to end the game. But he fumbled and had to be saved by his quarterback making a shoestring tackle on the defender that picked up the ball. With Bettis in the game, Parker was watching from the bench.
"I was picking my heart up off the grass, off the sideline," Parker explained. "Everything dropped. My jaw dropped. Man, you just don't understand. It was a feeling like, 'Whew, we did it.' I said we did it once Ben [Roethlisberger] made that tackle, I knew we had a shot."
The Colts' offense had been unstoppable almost all season, including a 26-7 shellacking of the Steelers on a Monday night in Week 11. While they allowed some yards in the postseason, the team never allowed more than the 18 the Colts mustered. Pittsburgh advanced past the Denver Broncos and then the Seattle Seahawks for Parker's first Super Bowl win.
How do you remember the Bettis fumble? Did you think the Colts were about to end the game?
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