American Football: Comeback Kid inspires Steelers' great escape

The Pittsburgh Steelers and the San Francisco 49ers kept their Super Bowl hopes intact over the weekend, but both had to come back from the brink to do so following two of the most dramatic playoff games witnessed in years.

The Steelers trailed the Cleveland Browns 24-7 at one point in the second half, only to rally for a 36-33 victory with a late touchdown. The 49ers managed to top that for heroics, trailing the New York Giants by 24 points in the second half, only to pinch it by a single point.

The Steelers have made a habit of losing home post-season contests in recent years, and the trend looked set to continue as the visiting Browns cruised smoothly to a 17-point lead. Cleveland were without their starting quarterback, Tim Couch, who had broken his leg a week earlier. In stepped the untested Kelly Holcomb, who proved himself with a flawless display.

Holcomb finished the game with 429 passing yards and three touchdowns, and when he tossed a 15-yard scoring pass to Dennis Northcutt to make the score 24-7 early in the third quarter, Pittsburgh's hopes seemed to be dashed.

Nothing had gone right for the Steelers up to that point, other than Antwaan Randle El's sizzling 66-yard punt return. Unable to stop Holcomb, Pittsburgh's own quarterback, Tommy Maddox, was having a hard time, having thrown a pair of interceptions.

The reeling Steelers needed inspiration, and it came when Mike Logan intercepted one of the few bad passes attempted by Holcomb. Maddox, seizing the moment, took advantage of the turnover with a touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress and Pittsburgh had hope at last.

Last week Maddox had been named the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year for the way he has returned following a decade in the wilderness, which included three years out of the game selling insurance. The former Denver Bronco had not started a game since 1992, when the struggling Steelers turned to him early in the current campaign.

With the momentum on his side, Maddox silenced the jeers of the home fans by firing touchdown passes to Jerame Tuman and Hines Ward to bring his side to within five points with under three minutes to go.

Cleveland collapsed, and when Chris Fuamatu Ma'afala scored on a three-yard run with 50 seconds left, the Comeback Kid had engineered the Steelers' greatest-ever comeback, earning a trip to Tennessee next week.

"The boos were coming after he threw a couple of bad passes, but Tommy doesn't care about that," the wide receiver, Terance Mathis, said. "You have to understand where he is coming from. He was out of football for a few years and has taken a long road back. When you have confidence in yourself you can do a lot."

False confidence was flowing in San Francisco where the Giants, led by four touchdown passes from the quarterback, Kerry Collins, were cruising at 38-14 against the 49ers. Then, without warning, the visitors suffered a complete meltdown.

The San Francisco quarterback, Jeff Garcia, threw a pair of touchdowns and ran for another himself to give the home side a one-point lead with a minute on the clock.

Somehow, the Giants managed to get themselves in position for a 41-yard field goal with six seconds remaining, but they then contrived to botch the effort to seal victory for the 49ers and the second-biggest comeback in play-off history.

"It got away from us today," the bewildered Giants coach, Jim Fassel, said. "I don't know the reason why, but I'm not getting over this one for a while."

Fassel will have until September to soothe his shattered psyche. No rest for the 49ers, however: their next step on the road to the Super Bowl is a daunting trip to Tampa Bay.