PITTSBURGH — The Steelers will be rooting for the Jets today when they play the Patriots in a divisional playoff game. It’s not that the Steelers like the Jets. Their motivation is simple. If the Jets win, the AFC Championship Game will be played in Pittsburgh.
“I know I’ll be rooting for the Jets,” Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley said. “We’ll see what happens.”
The only guarantee is that the Steelers, who defeated the Ravens 31-24 yesterday, will be facing a team that beat them at Heinz Field during the regular season. The Patriots beat the Steelers 39-26 on Nov. 14, and the Jets claimed a 22-17 victory on Dec. 19.
“You like to play teams that you lose to,” Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. “But right now that’s not on my mind. I just want to enjoy this win and see what happens.”
The Steelers (13-4) certainly would like to play at home and avoid going to Foxborough, though Woodley said, “We’re not scared of anybody.”
The Steelers defense feasted off its crowd in the second half, when they generated three turnovers and turned them into 17 points to erase a 21-7 deficit and take a 24-21 lead.
“That was big for us,” linebacker James Farrior said. “I was hoping our crowd would be as loud as ever and they delivered. We always feed off of those guys. That’s why we want to get another home game here.”
Though the Steelers would like the Jets to win, they won’t be waving green-and-white pompons.
“We know whoever we play it’s going to be a stiff challenge,” tight end Heath Miller said. “It would be nice to play at home. But it is what it is at this point of the year. We know we have to focus and be on top of our game whoever we play.”
Added Woodley: “It’ll be nice to have home-field advantage, but it’s even greater that we’re playing next week. That’s the thing you look forward to at this moment. I’ll let them fight it out.”
Roethlisberger said he finds the trash talk between the Jets and Patriots “humorous.”
“It’s fun to watch,” he said. “It’s always fun to see how they go back and forth.”
The Steelers aren’t planning to practice until Wednesday regardless of who wins in Foxborough. It will take that long to recover from the rugged game they played against the Ravens.
“It’s on another level,” running back Rashard Mendenhall said of the playoff intensity. “There’s so much at stake. Nobody wants to go home so the level picks up. It means a lot to get to the AFC Championship Game. We know we’ll have a tough opponent. But we’re one game away from the Super Bowl.”
