The\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers\u2019 long Sunday began with an early-morning trip to the airport and then a late-night flight home. It was the middle of the day, bogged by questionable officiating and a sometimes stagnant offense, that must have seemed interminable until the Steelers uncovered an identity that made even a laborious travel itinerary worthwhile.<\/p>\n
The missteps and mistakes \u2014 by offense and officials, even by coaches \u2014 could not undo the best effort the Steelers\u2019 erratic defense has had, and against the best opponent it has faced. In a 24-20 victory over the Giants, the Steelers channeled their 1970s selves, with a running game \u2014 behind the third-string running back Isaac Redman \u2014 gashing the Giants\u2019 defense for 158 yards and the Steelers\u2019 defense holding the Giants to less than 200 yards of offense.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully, this was a big step for us in being the kind of team we want to be,\u201d Coach Mike Tomlin said.<\/p>\n
The Steelers might be tempted to remember this game for a series of confounding second-quarter calls by the referee Bill Leavy and his crew that led directly to 14 points for the Giants in less than two minutes. (This was the same Bill Leavy who admitted he botched two calls in\u00a0Super BowlXL, which the Steelers won over Seattle.)<\/p>\n
They will wonder how Keenan Lewis could have been called for pass interference when he barely touched Hakeem Nicks 41 yards downfield. Or how Ryan Clark could be called for a personal foul for a hit to the head of Victor Cruz when Cruz, it was announced minutes later, had sustained bruised ribs on the play. Or how Ben Roethlisberger could have been ruled to have fumbled a ball that was still clearly in his hand as he concluded his throwing motion, leading to a recovery for a touchdown by Michael Boley. Asked what he saw on the Roethlisberger fumble, an angry Tomlin replied, \u201cI can\u2019t figure out some of this stuff now.\u201d In the locker room, the team owner Dan Rooney laughed and said, \u201cDon\u2019t get me fined.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Steelers have felt in recent years that the N.F.L. is out to get them. The hard-hitting linebacker James Harrison, they thought, has been made the poster boy for the league\u2019s crackdown on hits to the head, and a 2011 rule change that allows the league to fine organizations whose players are repeatedly disciplined for improper hits was widely perceived as having been directed at the Steelers, among a handful of other teams. So as soon as the drip-drip-drip of Sunday\u2019s calls began \u2014 all of which the N.F.L.\u2019s former head of officiating Mike Pereira indicated on Twitter he disagreed with \u2014 the conspiracy theories took root.<\/p>\n
But the notion the league wanted the Giants to win as a balm for the wounds of\u00a0Hurricane Sandy\u00a0didn\u2019t account for one thing. The Steelers\u2019 defense, which had struggled to close out opponents earlier in the season, has improved in the last three games.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, they generated more pressure than they have since safety Troy Polamalu went out, and their secondary covered deep downfield to take away the big plays that have become a cornerstone of the Giants\u2019 offense. The Steelers\u2019 defense is older and slower and injured, but in the first quarter, Ike Taylor intercepted Eli Manning, just the fourth interception for the Steelers all season.<\/p>\n
The Steelers got no points from that drive, though. Nor did they get points from three drives that the Steelers started in Giants territory, including one in the fourth quarter that began with a punt return that started a drive at the Giants\u2019 12 and ended with a failed fake field-goal attempt that took the ball out of Roethlisberger\u2019s hands and put it into kicker Shaun Suisham\u2019s. It was the kind of coaching decision that might have unraveled the defense earlier in the season. But Tomlin eschewed a try on a long fourth-and-1 in part because he trusted his defense to hold the Giants even if the Steelers got no points.<\/p>\n
\u201cI took a shot, and the guys backed up my play,\u201d Tomlin said of his decision. \u201cThey overcome bad coaching sometimes. That\u2019s on me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The rest, though, was on the defense. It limited the Giants to one touchdown and two field goals, including one on a drive that began at the Steelers\u2019 33 after Roethlisberger was intercepted. When Roethlisberger and Redman ignited for 14 unanswered points in the fourth, the Giants were so out of a rhythm that even what have become predictable fourth-quarter comebacks were out of reach. Instead, the Steelers forced the Giants into three straight three-and-outs. In all, the Giants converted just 2 of 10 third-down attempts.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been getting hurt on big plays, but lately we haven\u2019t been giving up big plays,\u201d linebacker LaMarr Woodley said. \u201cOur history has been we\u2019ve been losing games in the fourth quarter. Getting after the run, the cornerbacks\u2019 doing a great job on coverage, pressure on the quarterback, getting off the field on third down \u2014 I think it\u2019s probably our best game.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is the vision of how the Steelers are supposed to play.<\/p>\n
Roethlisberger has labeled Todd Haley\u2019s offense \u201cdink and dunk,\u201d and for much of Sunday, it looked more like dink and slump. But it was a pass of just a few yards over the middle that Mike Wallace turned into a 51-yard touchdown that turned the game, and the Steelers finished with 349 yards of offense and a time of possession 10 minutes 30 seconds longer than the Giants\u2019. The defense did the rest. It was ball control for the new age, and that is the kind of team that Tomlin wants the Steelers to be. At 5-3, they are a game behind the Baltimore Ravens in the A.F.C. Central, with both meetings against their fiercest rival still to come.<\/p>\n
In the locker room, Tomlin barked about the \u201cterrible\u201d officiating, but then he turned to other team officials and laughed. \u201cLet\u2019s pack up and make this the shortest road trip in N.F.L. history.\u201d And for the Steelers, one of the most promising.<\/p>\n
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