James Harrison knocks himself in the helmet after drawing a holding penalty on the game's pivotal play. - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS

Steelers

Kovacevic: Harrison just beats the man in front of him ... and all the rest follow

By Dejan Kovacevic

Jan 16, 2017 • 7:38 am

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- "Deebo brought us into the stadium, and he took us out of the stadium."

That's what Lawrence Timmons was telling me minutes after the Steelers had strode off the soggy Arrowhead turf late Sunday night. I had no idea what it meant, just having stuck it to the Chiefs, 18-16, to soar into the AFC Championship Game next week at New England.

And L.T. was referring, of course, to James Harrison, who was silently stripping off his galactic stormtrooper gear at the adjacent stall. So you can be sure it was a good thing being emphasized.

I just had no idea what it meant.

So I took it around the room.

"Oh, that's right," Bud Dupree came back. "Into the stadium and out of the stadium."

Huh?

"In and out, just like that," Sean Davis would offer, his accompanied by a broad smile. "Where Deebo goes, we follow, you know I'm sayin'?"

Getting there, I suppose. But hey, let's just say this matter, unlike all those matters that Antonio Brown mindlessly laid bare later in the evening with his already infamous Facebook Live video, should probably stay with the fellas.

What counts from the conundrum is this: When these remarkable, resilient Steelers most needed a big play, they yet again got it from their 38-year-old defensive leader:

That up there is Harrison being held, and flagrantly so, by Kansas City left tackle Eric Fisher. But that, in and of itself, is hardly special. Happens maybe a half-dozen times a game, including at pivotal points such as this one, with the Chiefs going for a two-point conversion that would have tied the score with 2:43 remaining.

No, for the fullest context about what's special here, know that there's probably an equal chance of any of the following three occurring on any given Sunday:

• The kicker converts six field goals on a rainy, frigid, windswept night.

• A running back rips off 170 yards on a rainy, frigid, windswept night in a Divisional Playoff matchup against an opponent with a mega-money defensive front.

• The ref flags someone for holding Harrison.

Well, what do you know?