The Steelers are playoff regulars during the Ben Roethilsberger era, making nine appearances during his 13-year career. But here's something that has never happened: Big Ben, Antonio Brown and Le'Veon Bell haven't been on the field together during the postseason. Bell was injured in 2014 and 2015, and Brown ended up missing last year's divisional matchup against the Broncos after Vontaze Burfict happened in the wild-card game.
Now, however, the Steelers' three best players are healthy and accounted for ahead of Sunday's meeting with the Dolphins, an outfit that dominated them, 30-15, back in Week 6. Three months later, the teams are completely different.
In addition to the Three B's, and one of the league's best offensive lines, the Steelers have a cadre of complementary players getting healthy at just the right time. Wideouts Darrius Heyward-Bey and Sammie Coates can take the top off coverages, and tight end Ladarius Green can stretch the middle of the field. Additionally, young pass catchers like Eli Rogers, Cobi Hamilton and DeMarcus Ayers have shown the ability to make big plays when defenses have double- and triple-teamed Brown.
And with an extra week to prepare -- Roethilsberger, Brown and Bell didn't play in the meaningless Week 17 game against the Browns -- this group could be even more dangerous.
"We spent some time during special teams and during the defensive periods last week really doing some route-combination stuff," Roethlisberger said last week, via ESPN.com. "I broke down some stuff on film. I was able to take them off to the side and we really just put in some hard work kind of on our own, if you will."
Meanwhile, Bell, who rushed for 1,268 yards and added 616 receiving yards, can't wait for the first postseason action of his career.
"I'm gonna be pumped and I need that -- I need to keep my energy up," he said. "Have my teammates feed off my energy, let 'em know how important this game is to me. Not just those guys and the fans and Steelers Nation but to me ... I want to go out there and show some people what I can do."
The Steelers' much-maligned defense is much-improved from earlier in the season but here's the deal: This team is only going as far as Ben, Bell and Brown carry it. And that reality was encapsulated nicely by Hamilton, who offered this apt description for the trio: "It's like going into a streetball game knowing you have the three best players on the block."