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NFL: CHIEFS: GRETZ: Six Weeks Ago...

/noticias.info/ When the National Football League woke up on the morning of Sunday, December 11th, the Chiefs held post-season dreams in their hands. A three-game winning streak had provided some salve for the wound of a ridiculous loss in Buffalo. The Chiefs were 8-4 and in Dallas to play the beatable Cowboys. As they went through the ritual of their pre-game meal at the Renaissance Hotel, all things seemed possible.

Things were not quite as rosy for the Pittsburgh Steelers as dawn broke on week No. 14 of the NFL season. Bill Cowher’s team was 7-5 and coming off a three-game losing streak. The Ravens, Colts and Bengals had all beaten the Steelers, but the one that hurt the most was that third loss. Cincinnati came into Heinz Field and walked out with a victory. Now, Cowher and his black and gold boys were hosting the NFC North division leading Chicago Bears. Desperation hung in the air and the always loyal Steelers fans were grumbling.

Some six weeks later, the Steelers are headed to Detroit for the 40th Super Bowl; the Chiefs are already three weeks into planning for the 2006 season.

What was the difference? Why did the Steelers win their last four regular season games and now three straight in the playoffs, while the Chiefs split their final four games? Why are Cowher and his staff starting game plan preparation today for the Seattle Seahawks, while Dick Vermeil is gone, as is most of his coaching staff and a new regime is beginning its first days at Arrowhead?

The answer is easy, the explanation is not. The Steelers are Super Bowl bound because of their ability to win on the road. Not only was Pittsburgh able to win on the road, they were able to do it in December and January and they were able to do it under win or else circumstances.

That’s not something the Chiefs showed the ability to do in the Dick Vermeil Era. Winning on the road, and especially beating good teams away from Arrowhead in December did not get done. In fact, you have to go back to January 16, 1994 for the last time the organization won an important late season/post-season game away from Kansas City. That was the divisional round of the 1993 playoffs when the Chiefs went into the Astrodome and beat the Houston Oilers 28-20.

The 2005 Chiefs had the opportunity to rewrite the history. They couldn’t do it; when the Chiefs needed to beat the Cowboys in Dallas, they ended up losing a game that should have been victory. Pittsburgh beat Chicago and now both teams were tied with 8-5 record. The next weekend, the Chiefs again failed to win on the road, losing to the Giants in the Meadowlands. That same weekend, the Steelers went to Minnesota and beat the Vikings. Pittsburgh was now 9-5 and the Chiefs were 8-6.

The Steelers never looked back.

So what’s the secret for winning on the road? First and foremost, it takes a talented team. Of all the teams that had winning road records during the 2005 regular season, only one did not make the playoffs: San Diego. The best way to beat a good team on the road is to also be a good team.

But obviously it takes more than that. It takes a hard to define quality that is best explained as toughness. This is often assumed to be all about physicality, and that’s certainly a factor, but it’s much more than that. It’s a mental toughness to be able to block out the roaring crowd that’s trying to disrupt you. It’s about forgetting about the lumpy hotel bed or the crappy locker room, or the altitude, or the extra noise being pumped into the dome. It takes all those clichés that people like to dismiss, but are all part of championship teams: trust, dedication, togetherness.

It takes a football team that has its priorities in order, like the 2005 Steelers. So powerful is their will to win away from the confluence Heinz Field that they are the first No. 6 seed to advance to the championship game since the extra wild card team was introduced in 1990.

Before this season, the sixth team in the AFC playoffs had a combined record of 1-15. The only victory was Miami in 1999, as Jimmy Johnson’s team beat Seattle 20-17. The next weekend, they were smoked by Jacksonville 62-7. Over in the NFC, the sixth seed before this season was 8-15. That means the sixth seed from 1990-2004 was a combined 9-30.

This year, thanks to the Steelers and a first-round victory by Washington in the NFC, the sixth seed was 4-1.

Pittsburgh is now 9-2 on the road this season, winning their last five away from home, including three in a row, in the pressure of the post-season.

Until the Chiefs find that kind of toughness, they will spend their Januarys sitting at home, no matter where they might be on December 11th.

The opinions offered in this column do not necessarily reflect those of the Kansas City Chiefs.

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A former beat reporter who covered the Pittsburgh Steelers during their glory years, Gretz covered the Chiefs for the Kansas City Star for nine years before heading up KCFX-FM's sports department. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Board of Selectors. His column appears three times a week during the season. notas_de_prensa_archivo