Mirror, Mirror

Strange to look up and see your reflection when you least expect it. Yet, the Steelers defeated a team Sunday in the AFCC game that must have seemed all too familiar. Perhaps an older Cowher-era team slipped in from a parallel universe and disguised themselves as the Denver Bronocos. Then again, the looking glass may have merely showed the Steelers their dark AFCC game past to let them know that they were not yet the fairest in all the land. Whatever the case, the visage of these two teams meeting face to face tells us a lot about where the Steelers have been and where they are headed. Consider:

·  Conservative game-plan.

·  Heavy reliance on the run game.

·  Strong Defense against the run.

·  Average to poor secondary.

·  Adequate and sometimes above average QB, but prone to critical mistakes.

This describes both the Pre-Ben Cowher led Steeler teams as it does the current version of the Broncos post John Elway. Neither Cowher or Shanahan has had much playoff success given these set of circumstances.

Shanahan has long been lauded as one of the best coaches in the football. After all, he won two Super Bowls where others could not and he stole Terrel Davis in the 6th round of the draft. He turned Denver into an excellent running team, but still had a very potent passing attack when necessary. Of course, having John Elway certainly made this easy to do. Yet, now that he has been stripped of Elway, Shanahan has embarked upon the same QB odyssey that beset the Pre-Ben Steelers. Griese was not the answer although he was very effective at times. Jake Plummer has also been affective, but now seems like a bust even though he was able to get his team to a home AFCC game.

Is Shanahan a worse coach now?

Of course not. But it certainly parallels the plight of the Steelers under Kordell Stewart and to a lesser extent O'Donnell. These QBs led the Steelers to the brink of greatness, but failed at just about every critical moment along the way.

Now that Cowher has switched places with Shanahan - having Big Ben, a fast, young secondary and a willingness to play to win in the playoffs - what can he accomplish?

If Shanahan is a great coach because of his accomplishments then perhaps Bill Cowher will see the reflection of a great coach in the looking glass someday soon too. Given the same set of circumstances, it seems that both coaches choose the same path in victory and in defeat. Perhaps all those years Cowher led playoff teams played so tight and conservative is the same reason Shanahan found it necessary to play close to vest on Sunday. Maybe -- yes, this is a reach -- but maybe Cowher is not as bad a coach in the playoffs as was previously thought.

In two weeks, more than just Cowher's reflection will know.