A SUPER '70S REVIVAL\Steelers escape with dramatic AFC victory on Colts' near-miss\PITTSBURGH 20, INDIANAPOLIS 16.

Byline: Dave Sheinin Miami Herald

Could it have been any more perfect? Could there have been a more beautiful way for the Pittsburgh Steelers to make good on a 1-year-old promise to themselves than by revisiting the scene of their horror story and rewriting the ending?

With a stomach-churning 20-16 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday afternoon at Three Rivers Stadium, the Steelers won the AFC championship that eluded them so painfully a year ago.

The Colts' final prayer was a Hail Mary on the last play that landed for a precious instant in Aaron Bailey's lap - but it went unanswered, and the Steelers were back in the Super Bowl, which they dominated in the mid- to late 1970s.

The ending was so intense it reduced Steelers coach Bill Cowher, Toughness Personified, to tears. So breathtaking it silenced a crowd of 61,062 towel-waving maniacs for an excruciating moment. So cathartic it sent emotionally drained bodies sprawling to the ground.

"I don't need to say a word," said Cowher, at 38 the youngest Super Bowl coach. "I think the game speaks for itself."

For the Steelers, it was sweet vindication, the end of a nightmarish 12 months during which they blew the AFC Championships Game to San Diego after all but guaranteeing victory; endured a rash of injuries in 1995 that depleted their secondary and left them without heart-and-soul cornerback Rod Woodson for the year; and stumbled to a 3-4 start that had them calling players-only meetings.

"With all we've been through, going back to last year's game and all the problems we've had this year," safety Darren Perry said, "and then to have it come down to the end like that - man, I just wanted to fall to the ground. And that's what I did."

The feeling of deja vu in the fourth quarter was inescapable. There were the Colts, bullying the mightier Steelers in their home just like the Chargers did last year. There were the Steelers, failing to put their undermanned opponent away.

There was Jim Harbaugh, launching the Colts to a sudden touchdown - on a similar Steelers blitz no less - that gave them the lead, just like San Diego's Stan Humphries did last year.

And there was Steelers quarterback Neil O'Donnell, facing a last-gasp fourth-and-three that could decide the outcome, just as he did in this game last year.

Even in his own building, even as he was trying to vindicate himself and his teammates, O'Donnell wasn't allowed to forget.

As he lined up behind center on the biggest play of the year, he stared straight into a giant banner that pleaded, "Three More Yards" - all the reminder he needed that his final drive against the Chargers fell that many yards short.

But this time, O'Donnell's pass found its target - receiver Andre Hastings - for a first down. On the next play, he hit a streaking Ernie Mills for a 37-yard gain to the 1. Two plays later, with 1:34 left, Bam Morris barged in for the winning touchdown.

"All week, I tried to stay away from the talk of last year, last year, last year. And then there it was right in front of my face," O'Donnell said. "I've got to talk to somebody about taking that sign down now."

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(color) The Colts' Aaron Bailey, center, has a last-second pass fall into his lap in the Pittsburgh end zone, but he can't make the game-winning catch. Associated Press