"The Steelers trotted out two of their legends for the latest in their long line of big games. Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier accompanied the captains to midfield for the coin toss before the AFC championship hair-pull against the New York Jets Sunday night. Then they stepped aside and watched Rashard Mendenhall run into franchise lore. Mendenhall didn't stop until he had carried the team to Dallas for Super Bowl XLV against the Green Bay Packers.

OK, Mendenhall didn't stop until helping the Steelers to a 24-3 halftime lead with 95 first-half yards.

That was good enough.

Barely.

The Steelers hung on for dear life and beat the Jets, 24-19, to advance to their eighth Super Bowl. You think you're lucky to be a pro football fan in this town? The Jets played in their only Super Bowl 42 years ago.

There were a lot of stars for the Steelers, but none shined brighter than Mendenhall, at least in that decisive first half. "The kid was running out of his body," Jets defensive end Trevor Pryce said.

All week, the Jets had talked about stopping quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and taking out a future Hall of Famer in his own stadium for the third week in a row in the playoffs after beating Peyton Manning and his Indianapolis Colts and Tom Brady and his New England Patriots. But they failed to account for Mendenhall.

Good thing for the Steelers because Roethlisberger didn't have his best game, at least until he clinched the win with a 14-yard pass to rookie wide receiver Antonio Brown on third-and-6 with 1:48 left.

"I've been telling people for a while now that Rashard is one of the best running backs in the league," Roethlisberger said. "He doesn't get the credit for it. But he is."

It was clear from the beginning that the Steelers believed they could pound at the Jets' defense. Why not? The Jets won at Heinz Field, 22-17, Dec. 19, but it wasn't because they stuffed the run game. Mendenhall ran for 99 yards that game, the Steelers for 147, the most allowed all season by the Jets.

I repeat:

Why not run the ball again?

The plan didn't change even after the Steelers lost their best offensive lineman, center Maurkice Pouncey, to a left high-ankle sprain midway through the first quarter. Doug Legursky stepped in and, although he and Roethlisberger botched two snaps, the second leading to a fourth-quarter safety, he and the line helped Mendenhall account for 121 of the Steelers' 166 rushing yards."