Stealing a win

Maddox leads fourth-quarter comeback; Pittsburgh prevails

Antwaan Randle El had a punt return for a touchdown, 85 receiving yards and a pass for a late conversion. AP

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The Cleveland Browns never have gotten over The Drive by John Elway. Now they've got to live with The Comeback by the quarterback who was once supposed to be the next Elway.

Tommy Maddox, the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year, led one of Pittsburgh's greatest comebacks by throwing three touchdown passes in the final 19 minutes as the Steelers rallied from a 17-point deficit to stun the Browns 36-33 Sunday in an AFC wild-card game.

Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala's 3-yard touchdown run with 54 seconds left secured the Steelers' most dramatic come-from-behind playoff victory since Franco Harris' Immaculate Reception against Oakland in 1972.

They trailed 17-7 at the half, 24-7 in the third quarter and 33-21 with just over 10 minutes remaining.

"Tommy brought the whole team together at halftime and told us what we were going to do," wide receiver Terance Mathis said. "He said if you don't think we're going to win this game, you need to go back into the locker room."

Tommy Gun Tommy Maddox's record-setting day got off to a rocky start, but he rebounded to set the Steelers' record for most passing yards in a playoff game Down  Time  Play        First Quarter   3-4 Pit. 35  12:23  (Shotgun) Sacked for minus-9 yards.  1-10 Pit. 7  9:59  Pass incomplete to Burress.  2-10 Pit. 17  8:30  Pass to Burress for 22 yards.  1-10 Pit. 39  8:03  Pass to Burress 11 yards.  3-5 Cle. 45  6:29  (Shotgun) Pass incomplete to Randle El.  1-10 Cle. 23  1:59  Pass intercepted.  Maddox's play-by-play, click here.

The Steelers denied the Browns their first road playoff victory since 1969 and their first playoff win of any kind since returning to the NFL in 1999. They also gave themselves a huge momentum lift going into Saturday's divisional game at second-seeded Tennessee.

The Jets, shutout winners Saturday over the Colts, play Sunday at top-seeded Oakland.

"I was already in Oakland," receiver Kevin Johnson said, referring to the Browns' opponent if they had won.

For the Browns, it was an eerie flashback to Elway's memorable 98-yard "The Drive" to beat the Browns for Denver in the 1987 AFC championship game. Remarkably, Denver drafted Maddox five years later to replace Elway.

Maddox later shuttled among four NFL teams without finding work before becoming the Steelers' starter earlier this season, 10 years after making his last NFL start.

"I was very fortunate to play behind John Elway and see all the things he was able to do in games we did not think we had a chance to win," said Maddox, who was 30-of-48 for 367 yards and two interceptions.

Afterward, Steelers head coach Bill Cowher, disappointed at home so often before in the playoffs, threw his cap, jumped up and down and yelled in a stadium runway.

SI's Michael Silver PITTSBURGH -- I don't know how the Steelers won this game. ... Even when they got it to 27-21, they were atrocious -- couldn't run the ball, inconsistent quarterback, defense couldn't stop Cleveland. And even when the Steelers were giving their fans hope, I was thinking that this team couldn't win a big playoff game. Give an incredible amount of credit to this team; I'm still shaking my head trying to figure it out. I've seen some amazing games -- Music City Miracle included -- but this one certainly ranks right up there. There was such an outpouring of emotions after Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala's touchdown. ... And I can't remember when the last time I heard Renegade by Styx blaring through a stadium. It was a resounding moment. Then I was thinking: 50 seconds to go, Kelly Holcomb is hot, the Browns have taken most of their games down to the last second .... It was a greatly entertaining game -- two vert flawed teams, but very gutty and with explosive offenses. But the cynic in me wants to take the Browns to task for going into the Prevent defense, and you could make an argument against both coaches for some of the play-calling. Of course, Bill Cowher is beyond reproach now that the Steelers won. However, if Pittsburgh doesn't revamp its defensive effort, or get re-invigorated, the Steelers won't do anything. At the same time, there isn't a "super" team this year, and this team survives. We may look back on this game as one where the Steelers were dead, and also say it at Tennessee or Oakland or against the Jets. If Tommy Maddox continues to play as he is, we could be looking at the fourth consecutive great quarterback story in as many Super Bowls, following Kurt Warner, Trent Dilfer and Tom Brady.

"It's one of those wins you can't see happening, but you just keep hoping it will keep going the way it's going," Cowher said of the frantic comeback.

The Steelers were shredded all afternoon by Kelly Holcomb, who threw for 429 yards and three touchdowns, and trailed 24-7 until Maddox's 6-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress with 3:50 left in the third quarter.

"But I can't say how many times I must have said, 'We've got time. We have time, so don't panic,'" offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey said. "I never felt there was a panic button pushed by anyone."

Except the Browns.

Their game-long inability to run the ball -- rookie William Green ran 25 times for just 30 yards -- proved their undoing.

"This is going to hurt. This burns inside," Browns receiver Dennis Northcutt said. "It's going to be very hard to move on."

Mostly because the Browns won't be moving on.

Unable to wind the clock down, the Browns were forced to throw on almost every down, and, once the Steelers' defense tightened up, that left Pittsburgh the time to come back.

Still, even after the comeback began, the Browns had enough left to drive for Phil Dawson's 24-yard field goal and Holcomb's 22-yard touchdown pass to Andre Davis that made it 33-21.

But the Steelers, who have lost four home playoff games under Cowher since 1992, were confident they could come back after rallying from 11 down in the fourth quarter against Baltimore only last week.

Maddox gave the Steelers a chance, leading a 77-yard drive that ended with his 5-yard scoring pass to Hines Ward with 3:06 left, cutting the deficit to 33-28.

Even then, the Browns needed only a first down or two to run it out.

"I don't think anybody in the building thought we weren't going to win," Holcomb said. "I think everybody thought we were going to go on."

But Northcutt, who had made big play after big play with two scoring catches and a long punt return, couldn't hold onto a throw from Holcomb on third-and-12 and the Browns punted.

"I just dropped it, plain and simple," Northcutt said.

Rallies Capped Greatest comebacks, playoff history Date Deficit Bills def. Oilers 1/3/93 32 • Buffalo trailed 35-3, won 41-38 in OT 49ers def. Giants 1/5/03 24 • San Francisco trailed 38-14, won 39-38 Lions def. 49ers 12/22/57 20 • Detroit trailed 27-7, won 31-27 Cowboys def. 49ers 12/23/72 18 • Dallas trailed 21-3, won 30-28 Dolphins def. Browns 1/4/85 18 • Miami trailed 21-3, won 24-21 Steelers def. Browns 1/5/03 17 • Pittsburgh trailed 24-27, won 36-33 Broncos def. Oilers 1/4/91 15 • Denver trailed 21-6, won 26-24 15

With Pittsburgh in a score-or-go home situation, Maddox found Plaxico Burress for 24 yards, Hines Ward for 10, Burress again for 17 and Ward for 7. Fuamatu-Ma'afala, filling the role Jerome Bettis usually plays when he's not hurting with a sore knee, then powered up the middle from the 3 to score.

The game ended with Holcomb's 16-yard completion to Andre King at the Steelers 29 as the Browns couldn't get into range for a possible tying field goal.

Until Maddox took over, it was all Holcomb in a remarkable performance by a quarterback starting only his fourth NFL game, for a team that is 0-8 in road playoff games since 1969.

Holcomb, subbing for the injured Tim Couch, had no running game for support, not a single minute of playoff experience -- and no fear. Only Bernie Kosar, who threw for 489 yards in 1987 against Jets, has thrown for more yards in a Browns playoff game.

Never say die Click the image to launch the clip Quarterback Tommy Maddox says the Steelers never doubted they could beat the Browns. Start Video Plus Visit Video Plus for all the latest video and audio.

Holcomb, one of the most inexperienced quarterbacks to start an NFL playoff game, had completions of 83, 32, 29, 15 and 43 yards against a secondary weakened by injuries to cornerback Chad Scott and safety Mike Logan.

Holcomb needed almost no time to get Cleveland going, finding Kevin Johnson behind safety Brent Alexander for an 83-yard completion to the 1 on the third play from scrimmage.

Green, coming off a 187-yard game against Atlanta, scored on the next play, one of his few positive-yardage runs of the day, and just like that, it was 7-0 Browns with 1:16 gone.

Pittsburgh, troubled by turnovers all season, later turned it over three times in a span of 51/2 minutes, twice on interceptions by Daylon McCutcheon, but only rookie Antwaan Randle El's fumbled punt was turned into points: Northcutt's 32-yard scoring catch that made it 14-0.

Randle El made up for his mistake with a 66-yard punt return touchdown, but Cleveland answered with Dawson's 31-yard field goal for a 17-7 lead.

Of course, the Browns should have known it would go down to the final minute, as did 12 of their 16 regular-season games. They won only six.

"I can't believe this. I just can't believe this happened to us," Earl Little said.

Notes: Until Sunday, the Steelers' biggest postseason comeback was from a seven-point deficit in a 24-17 win at Denver in December 1984. ... The Steelers were 0-5 when trailing at halftime. ... All three Browns-Steelers games were decided by three points -- all Steelers victories. ... The Steelers are the 10th team to beat an opponent twice in the season and again in the playoffs. Five teams failed to sweep. ... Cleveland's 6-2 road record tied Tampa Bay for the NFL's best.

 

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