Steelers Find Sproles' Kryptonite: Tackle Him

Darren Sproles ran all over the Colts in the Wild Card round, but Pittsburgh figured out how to stop him. It's a pretty advanced, complex strategy, calling "tackling." Sproles did nothing within the confines of the Chargers offense in the first 58 minutes; one good punt return from the mighty mouse did get S.D. into good field position, but Pittsburgh kept him under tight wraps for the most part (until a long TD off a screen with two minutes left and Pittsburgh up 18). With LaDainian Tomlinson out and the Steelers secondary flying like the Luftwaffe, the Chargers offense had no chance.

But the more spectacular development in the second half came as the Pittsburgh offense exploded, buoying an eventual 35-24 final. Ben Roethlisberger made no mistake throws, San Diego never really figured out how to keep up with Nate Washington, Hines Ward or (especially) Santonio Holmes, who missed an absolute bomb from Ben in the late third by about four inches. Willie Parker ran beautifully, the Pittsburgh O-line gave Roethlisberger all day in the pocket all day long. Mixing in deep patterns with chain-moving plays kept Philip Rivers off the field most of the second half; the Steelers offense hasn't looked this good in quite a while.

Next week's AFC Championship is going to be absolutely brutal. Baltimore's defense pounded the light from the eyes of Miami and Tennessee; Sproles and Rivers will tell you Pittsburgh's D can do the same. Pitt went 2-0 against the Ravens this year, but you might remember the games were close as you can get. If Eagles at Cardinals is just weird, Ravens at Steelers should be barbaric.

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.