Steelers have no trouble with Dolphins this time in 30-12 wild card win
So this is what the Steelers look like when they have all of their offensive pieces on the field for a playoff game.
Pity the Kansas City Chiefs, next tasked with trying to stop the star trio of Le'Veon Bell, Antonio Brown and Ben Roethlisberger, something the Miami Dolphins failed to do in an AFC wild-card game Sunday afternoon at Heinz Field.
Bell, appearing in his first career playoff game, and Brown scored two touchdowns apiece to help the Steelers advance to the divisional round for the second year in a row with a 30-12 victory.
Neither player was on the field last season when the Steelers lost in Denver in the second round. Roethlisberger played in the game, but he was in walking boot Sunday after his ankle was injured late in the game.
"I'll be out there next week," Roethlisberger said.
The Steelers shrugged off a 2-degree wind chill, showing their offense works in any climate while avenging a 30-15 loss in Miami in October when conditions were much balmier.
The win set up another regular-season rematch, this one from Week 4 when the Steelers thrashed the Chiefs, 43-14, at Heinz Field. The divisional game, however, will be played at Arrowhead Stadium.
"Our job is to keep it going," Steelers guard Ramon Foster said. "All this does is heighten to Kansas City to what we can do. Now, we have to go to their place.
"It's just a start."
But what a start it was for the Steelers.
Brown turned a pair of short receptions into touchdowns covering 50 and 62 yards in the first quarter. Bell carried the ball all 10 plays on another first-half touchdown drive and rushed for 167 yards, a single-game postseason record that eclipsed Franco Harris' 158 yards from Super Bowl IX.
And Roethlisberger completed his first 11 passes and had a perfect passer rating until the final minute of the first half. He finished 13 of 18 for 197 yards.
"Everybody was talking about it all week," guard David DeCastro said of the Steelers having all of their offensive playmakers healthy. "That's great, but we had to do something about it. We had to put some points up on the board early."
The Steelers took the lead less than three minutes into the game, held a 14-0 lead after two possessions and increased it to 20-3 early in the second quarter. They had 219 of their 367 yards in the first quarter.
The touchdown catches by Brown were the first two of his postseason career, and they rattled the Dolphins.
"It made them back up a little bit and made them think you can't let 84 run down the field on us," Bell said. "It opened up some things for us."
On the third drive, the Steelers decided it was time to turn the focus to Bell, who had missed the previous two postseasons with knee injuries.
"I didn't want to think about it being my first playoff game or a huge game," Bell said. "I just wanted to go out there and play football and just let the game come to me."
Roethlisberger said the plan for the third series was to give the ball to Bell on four consecutive plays. It turned out to be 10.
"I was excited," Bell said. "Coach (Todd) Haley said we were going into that mode. When the offensive coordinator issues that challenge, I'm glad I could deliver."
Bell kept churning yards until he found the end zone, accounting for 78 of the 83 yards on the drive (the other five were via penalty).
"You can't script it any better," DeCastro said. "Everybody on the line got their blocks, and the guy carrying the ball is a pretty special player. It's nice to have him in the playoffs."
The same can be said for Maurkice Pouncey, the Steelers' Pro-Bowl center who also missed last year's playoffs because of injury. Foster said Pouncey "set the tone" for the week by the way he practiced in the chilly weather conditions.
"You have some guys who don't play O-line who don't like the weather," Foster said. "He was like, what would you rather be doing? Would you rather be home right now? We knew it was going to be cold, but it's going to be cold the entire postseason.
"He just really set the tone by telling guys that we've got to play ball no matter what."
The Steelers defense also responded by forcing three turnovers that led to 10 second-half points and by sacking Dolphins quarterback Matt Moore five times. And Jay Ajayi, who gashed the Steelers for 204 yards in the first meeting, was limited to 33 yards on 16 attempts.
Late in the first half, with the Dolphins trailing 20-6 but driving inside the Steelers' 10, linebacker James Harrison blitzed from the edge with a sack and forced fumble. Stephon Tuitt recovered to keep the 14-point lead intact.
"We played Steelers football today, and that's what we try to do every game," safety Mike Mitchell said. "It was about redemption for us."
Redemption is what the Chiefs will be seeking next weekend. In October, Bell rushed for 144 yards and had 178 yards from scrimmage in his first game back from suspension. Brown had two touchdown receptions, and the Steelers jumped to a 29-0 lead.
"Kansas City is going to come in with the same mindset we had this week," Bell said. "We have to understand that the same passion and dedication we had this week, that's how Kansas City is going to try to beat us.
"We have to put that much more time into our detail and make sure we do all the little thing right."
Joe Rutter is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at jrutter@tribweb.com or via Twitter @tribjoerutter.
