US Sport story by Carl Anders, Tue, 17 Jan 2006 03:36:00 GMT


Pittsburgh Steelers and Carolina Panthers stormed to the AFC and NFC Championships after recording thrilling victories over Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears respectively. The Steelers went through in a mad scramble towards the end.

It seemed like a fumble by Jerome Bettis would cost the Steelers the game as Nick Harper raced through the Steelers' goal with the score at 21-18 in favor of the Steelers. But a timely tackle by Ben Roethlisberger saved the game for the Steelers and spared the blushes fro Bettis. “I was on the ground and I just saw people running. I fumbled the football, and that's a no-no, something I can't do. I was mad," Bettis said after the game. "Once in a blue moon, Jerome fumbles," Roethlisberger wryly observed. "Once in a blue moon, I make a tackle. They just happened to be in the same game."

At one point, the Steelers were ahead 21-3 in what was looking like a comfortable win for them. But Manning then took over and brought the Colts close to a win. But he was left painfully short and was gutted in the end, "There is no question we were in good position with home field and having the bye. At this point, it is hard to swallow," he lamented.

On the other side, the Carolina Panthers registered a 29-21 win over Chicago Bears to make it to the NFC Championship game next week. Steve Smith seemed to be all over the park and played with amazing confidence to comfortably guide the Panthers past the Bears, “I'm just really utilizing my talents. They throw me the ball; my job is to catch it. If I don't catch the ball, they will get somebody in here who will," he said.

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