For the Pittsburgh Steelers, the 2004 season was a fairy tale. They drafted their quarterback for the future in Ben Roethlisberger, finished with a league-best 15 wins, and made the AFC Championship Game. Sadly, Pittsburgh’s storybook season came to a bitter end at Heinz Field when they lost to the New England Patriots 41-27. Although the loss was a tough pill to swallow, Pittsburgh’s former general manager Kevin Colbert believes that the Steelers would not have won Super Bowl XL the next year without it.
“I always tell people, that last time when New England beat us at home, if they don’t, we probably don’t win the Super Bowl the next year because it was fresh in our memory,” said Colbert on The Lyons Share Podcast. “And we hit a low point that year [2005] where we lost three games in a row, and coach Cowher challenged the team. He said, ‘We, your coaching staff, we’re not gonna evaluate, you evaluate yourselves, and you tell us what you have to do.’ And, of course, the team met that challenge; we won the remainder of the regular season and became the first sixth-seed to win the Super Bowl. But, again, those set setbacks, if you don’t learn and grow from those setbacks, you won’t experience it.”
Expectations for the 2005 Steelers were sky-high. With Roethlisberger in his second season and an almost identical roster, Pittsburgh was seen as a contender for the Super Bowl. But at the end of November, it seemed like the Steelers couldn’t recreate the magic of 2004.
Despite a hot start, Roethlisberger’s on-and-off injuries (and shaky play when he returned) had the Steelers at 7-5 and on a three-game losing streak. With only four games left, Pittsburgh’s playoff hopes were fading. Although they controlled their destiny, they had to win out.
Like Kevin Colbert said, coach Bill Cowher challenged his team, and they responded. The previous season, Pittsburgh came close to reaching the Super Bowl but fell just short. The heartbreak of 2004, combined with the understanding of how hard it is to get that far, allowed Steelers players to focus on their own play instead of blaming each other for the three-game skid. This camaraderie led the Steelers to play some great football down the stretch.
In Pittsburgh’s last four regular-season games, they allowed just 33 points, won out, and snuck into the playoffs as a sixth seed. In the playoffs, they used their experience to win three straight road playoff games to reach Super Bowl XL. There, they beat the Seattle Seahawks 21-10 to win their long-awaited fifth championship.
The 2005 Steelers experienced a great deal of adversity. One year removed from a 15-1 regular season and an AFC Championship Game appearance, the Steelers were 7-5 and fighting to make the playoffs in December. The pain of not making the Super Bowl was fresh in the minds of most of the 2005 roster. The heartbreak one year earlier helped the Steelers come together, hit a different gear in December 2005, and finally win “one for the thumb.”
