Both the Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings will enter Thursday night on the outside, looking in at their respective playoff scenarios. A win will be of the utmost importance for each team. Minnesota can’t stay away from the nail-biters. It was true yet again last week in Detroit. On Thursday, they’ll face off against one of the best teams in the business at closing out last-second victories.
This year, Pittsburgh has had a couple of ugly games, mainly the two losses against the Cincinnati Bengals. Getting outscored by a total of 65-20 in two games against a division rival isn’t exactly a resumé builder. Four of Pittsburgh’s five losses have come by more than one score. They have a better overall record than Minnesota but have laid far more eggs. Where they have excelled is precisely where the Vikings have set up shop all year long: one-possession contests.
The Steelers are an impressive 6-1 in one-possession affairs this year. That’s not a misprint. All six of their victories have come in games that hung in the balance until the end. If the law of averages plays out on Thursday night in downtown Minneapolis, Ben Roethlisberger and Co. can expect another one.
What the Vikings have done this year defies logic and common sense. Outside of their Week 3 win against the Seattle Seahawks, every game has been decided by one score. None has left fans as deflated as last week’s defeat at the hands of the previously winless Detroit Lions. It was the fourth game this year that the Vikings lost on the final play of the game, a number that becomes increasingly more impossible to believe as it continues to grow.
So what’s been the difference between the Steelers finding success in those spots and the Vikings slipping up more times than not? Pittsburgh’s offense has kicked into gear.
In their Week 1 win at Buffalo, the Steelers trailed 10-6 entering the final quarter. But they produced a 17-point fourth quarter, including a pair of scoring drives from the offense, and catapulted in front for good. An offense on life support with the doctor getting ready to pull the plug through three quarters found a groove when it needed to.
The Steelers found themselves behind the 8-ball in Week 8, trailing the Cleveland Browns 10-3 late in the third quarter. Roethlisberger and the offense would put together back-to-back touchdown drives of 12 plays, 78 yards and 13 plays, 83 yards to leapfrog Cleveland on the road, 15-10, and never look back.
A week later, a shootout broke out against the Chicago Bears in Pittsburgh. Three fourth-quarter scoring drives — albeit three field goals from Chris Boswell — were enough to hold off the Bears.
Now, Pittsburgh is coming off their most impressive one yet, scoring 17 points in the fourth quarter against the Baltimore Ravens in a massive 20-19, come-from-behind win.
Meanwhile, Minnesota’s offense has been pretty good and is often clutch. They’ve also let numerous opportunities slip away. It’s frequently been a full-on effort, with their defense chipping in to help make the heartbreak even more unbearable. It’s safe to say the Vikings should be the most comfortable team in the NFL when it comes to battling it out in close games. But it’d be wise to avoid it at all costs against Pittsburgh.
When the Steelers have been in a pinch, Roethlisberger has often been at his best, even if he isn’t the quarterback he once was. Tomlin seems more than willing to still go to war with Roethlisberger in those come-from-behind moments.
“I’ve been in a lot of circumstances like that with him (Roethlisberger) and he usually does what he did last night,” said Tomlin. “And not only that, but he relishes those opportunities. You want to educate young players too. I’m sure Ben’s got a lot of game balls at the house, but it was also a point to be made to the young player: what’s desired and expected. Our young players get an opportunity to learn a lot from guys like Ben and Cam (Heyward), not only in terms of how they conduct themselves and the things that they say, but how they perform and how they perform in those thick moments. You get to be Ben, you get to be Cam, for a reason. Because of your ability and your willingness to consistently rise up in those moments and deliver.”
Cousins has had a far superior statistical year than Big Ben this season. He’s also got a lot more tread left on the tires compared to Roethlisberger, who has looked as though he may spontaneously combust at various moments this year. The one big difference is those clutch moments. The Steelers and Roethlisberger have been as good as it gets in those spots. Meanwhile, the Vikings have continued to ride the see-saw.
