As reported in the Seattle Times:

It has been little more than a month since the Indianapolis Colts were forced to explain that what mattered to them was not necessarily going undefeated during the regular season, but how things turned out in January and February. 

As we know, things didn't turn out too well for the Colts in the new year.

Once more, the NFL champion will not be the team that appeared to be the best during the season, but the team that played the best when it had to do so -- and that team will be the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Steelers are headed for a storybook ending that will enable them to join the 49ers and Dallas Cowboys as the only five-time Super Bowl winners.

Dan Rooney, the Steelers' 73-year-old owner, said Sunday night that the AFC Championship trophy was too heavy for him to hold, and he quickly passed it to his son, Art Rooney III, the team president. But Dan Rooney said he'd find a way to hold onto the Lombardi Trophy if the Steelers win it in two weeks.

"Nothing drives me more than to hopefully be able to hand him the fifth trophy," Pittsburgh coach Bill Cowher said Sunday.

Pittsburgh won its first four titles within six years in the '70s under Chuck Noll. The Steelers then went through some lean years, but won another AFC title in 1995, which was Cowher's fourth season after replacing Noll. Interceptions killed their chances in the Super Bowl and they lost to Dallas. It has taken 10 years, but now they're back.

It's an ideal script, with Jerome Bettis playing in a Super Bowl in his hometown, with the Steelers becoming the lowest-seeded team ever to get this far, and with the drama of their three road victories in the playoffs as the lead-in.

For more than a month, the Steelers have been living on the edge because a knee injury to quarterback Ben Roethlisberger ended their chances of winning the AFC North title.

Just last week, they were close to blowing an 18-point lead in the divisional playoffs before Colts kicker Mike Vanderjagt gave them a reprieve. But, as the Steelers proved Sunday in winning their seventh consecutive game, they have become a dominant team just when they wanted to be.

In beating third-seeded Cincinnati, first-seeded Indianapolis and now second-seeded Denver, all on the road, the Steelers showed they can run the ball and throw it equally well on offense, that their defense can harass opposing passers, and that Cowher can shed his reputation for big-game losses.

Pittsburgh hung up 34 points against Denver, which tied the Steelers for No. 3 in scoring defense during the regular season, even without a strong running game -- thought to be the cornerstone of the Steelers' offense. Pittsburgh has better balance and more variety than is generally thought.

Against Seattle, of course, the Steelers will face another team with good balance in the Super Bowl. The Seahawks were the league's highest-scoring team this season. But they don't have a defense even remotely comparable to the Steelers, and playing in the NFC West, they haven't been tested nearly as thoroughly as Pittsburgh has.

The big edge in the matchups is Pittsburgh linebackers Joey Porter, Clark Haggans and James Farrior, who have been the dominant players of this postseason.

With the Steelers' defense controlling opponents, Roethlisberger has been on a magical ride, posting passer ratings of 148.7, 95.3 and now 124.9 in three playoff games. The Steelers have depth in the backfield, getting 32 carries out of Jerome Bettis to relieve Willie Parker in the last two weeks, and they have depth among their receivers.

The Steelers have more ways to move the ball. Tight end Heath Miller, a rookie, is about to be discovered. Seattle depends heavily on running back Shaun Alexander, the league MVP, but Pittsburgh's defense is the toughest to run against in the NFL (3.4 yards a carry during the season).

Seattle's hopes for a victory will rest heavily on its offensive line, which is among the NFL's very best. The Steelers, however, will counter with a variety of defensive looks. The Seahawks haven't faced a 3-4 defense as efficient as Pittsburgh's. The Steelers also have an edge in special teams.

The Seahawks can spin a storybook tale of their own, because defensive coordinator Ray Rhodes had a stroke during the season and his workload has been limited, with John Marshall stepping into the coordinator's role. Marshall's problem is that the Seahawks have no way to match the linebackers who are the cornerstone of the Steelers' defense.

Think about what Pittsburgh has done this season: Before the Steelers' three-game road sweep in the playoffs, they also won regular-season games at San Diego and Cincinnati, and beat Chicago at home. They have outscored their opponents by 74 points in their seven-game winning streak. They'll make it eight straight in Detroit.

The Seattle Seahawks' evolution into Super Bowl contenders has required a series of astute decisions.

From the Qwest Field architects who foresaw the benefits of crowd noise to the college scouts who identified the muscle-car engine hidden inside undersized rookie linebacker Lofa Tatupu, the franchise's run to a 9-2 record has been a triumph of design.

But one key move was made for them, and it received less groundswell support at the time than a motion to install former play-by-play announcer Lee "Hacksaw" Hamilton in the Seahawks' Ring of Honor: On May 22, 2001, the NFL owners voted to return the Seahawks to their original conference roots, thus ending the team's 25-year association with the AFC.

Realignment was needed to accommodate the reborn Cleveland Browns, the AFC's 16th team, as well as the expansion Houston Texas, who were on the clock to become the AFC's 17th team.

One problem: the NFC still had 15 teams. In order to achieve the balance necessary for a quartet of four-team divisions in each conference - a kind of numerical nirvana the late Pete Rozelle prophesied as league commissioner in 1969 - an AFC franchise would be forced to switch to the NFC.

All eyes turned toward the Seahawks. Except the Seahawks, who suggested that maybe the San Diego Chargers would be eager to take the plunge off the high dive. But Seattle's new owner, Paul Allen, had little cache with his old-wealth peers except his $35 billion.

So the Seahawks were transferred from the AFC West to the NFC West, forming a new, geographically logical consortium with the San Francisco 49ers, St. Louis Rams and Arizona Cardinals, and everybody was happy.

Well, almost everybody.

"Change - any type of change - makes things more difficult," Seahawks coach and then-general manager Mike Holmgren told ESPN's Bob Ley on an "Outside the Lines" segment that aired May 20, 2001. "I think if you asked anybody in this organization, they don't want to go. We like where we are. We like the AFC West."

Two days later, the Seahawks were voted off the island.

Reaction among the local populace was divided. One faction of diehard loyalists presumed it another case of Eastern Establishment snobs ordering a team in the Pacific Northwest to make things jake. They wondered: Doesn't anybody care about the Seahawks' rich and storied West Coast rivalry with the Raiders?

Another, quite larger faction of casual fans was too busy following baseball - specifically, a Mainers team on its way to finishing May with a 40-12 record - to pay attention to a matter as insignificant as NFL conference realignment.

The AFC versus the NFC? Uh, whatever. Figure it out, arrange a schedule, and wake us after the last pitch of the baseball season.

It turns out the NFL's insensitive, you'll-go-where-we-tell-you posture toward the Seahawks was a blessing. No sooner was the move approved transferring them to the NFC than the conferences underwent a cyclical seismic shift in balance - exemplified by the AFC's New England Patriots, whose 2001 team won the first of their three Super Bowl crowns.

The transfer nobody in Seattle was keen on has evolved into a gift that keeps on giving. Since they switched conferences for the 2002 season, the Seahawks are 6-8 against the AFC (.429), and 29-16 against the NFC (.644).

There's more: Since moving to the NFC, the Seahawks, who earned one postseason appearance between 1988 and 1999, now have advanced twice in three years - and are poised not only to clinch their division title, but to hold down home-field advantage against any NFC playoff foe.

The Seahawks' 9-2 record insists they could be Super Bowl contenders in either conference, but let's not forget they escaped what's considered to be a division steeped in talent and production (the Broncos, Chiefs and Chargers are a collective 13 games over .500 ) to a division of lightweights whose seasons have unraveled like cheap sweaters (the Rams, Cardinals and 49ers are a collective 13 games under .500).

Put it this way: ESPN released its weekly NFL power rankings Tuesday, and while Seattle held ground at third, six of the top nine teams are in AFC, including undefeated Indianapolis at No. 1.

If the Seahawks were allowed to hold onto their tradition four years ago - if the league owners determined, say, San Diego was a better fit for the NFC - there would be no buzz about the possibility of the Seahawks getting to the Super Bowl. The fun run would end on the road. It would end at Indy.

Although conference realignment ended Seattle's rivalry with the Raiders, Holmgren didn't belabor the issue. He wasn't crazy about it, but he was a good soldier who put forth the chance the Seahawks might develop a rivalry with another team from the Bay Area.

"The 49ers," he said four years ago, "now that's an exciting team."

But not a particularly good one in 2005.

It takes some dumb luck to dream about a Super Bowl, and the Seahawks have had their share: During a musical-chairs episode that found the reborn Browns and expansion Texans bloating the AFC to an unworkable 17-team operation in 2001 - when only 16 would do - NFL owners had to target somebody who was standing.

They targeted the Seahawks.

Which is kind of a hoot, because after the conference championship games Jan. 22, the Seattle Seahawks might be the only NFC team still standing.

But with five weeks left in the regular season, the Colts' arduous, three-decade quest to return to the Super Bowl now carries an added burden - trying to join the 1972 Miami Dolphins as the only unbeaten teams in NFL history.

Forget that the Colts are already 11-0, could clinch the AFC South title in the next two weeks and may soon wrap up a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

The big question now around Indy - and the NFL - is whether anyone can beat this team.

Coach Tony Dungy wants everyone to keep things in perspective.

"Hopefully we win the next two because that means we will wrap up the division," he said Tuesday. "If we win them, we know there will be a lot of talk about 'Can you go undefeated?' But that's never really been our goal."

What the Colts have demonstrated through September, October and November is that they can win games in almost every conceivable fashion.

Shut down Manning and the offense, and Indy can win the slugfest. Force the Colts into a shootout, and they'll score more points. Take the lead, early or late, and the Colts can rally. And if an opponent dares the Colts to protect a lead, they've proven they can run out the clock.

"It's a matter of it all coming together at the right time," running back Edgerrin James said.

How good are the Colts?

Indy hasn't trailed in a game since Oct. 17, the offense has averaged nearly 36 points in the last eight games and the defense has allowed an AFC-low 159 points.

On Monday, former Bears and Saints coach Mike Ditka said on a national radio talk show that this offense was the best he'd ever seen. Last week, Don Shula, architect of the Dolphins team that went 17-0, said he believed the Colts could continue knocking off challengers.

"As long as they stay healthy, I think they've got a great shot at it," Shula said.

Over the past four weeks, the Colts also have demonstrated their mettle by knocking off three of the conference's top contenders - winning at two-time defending Super Bowl champ New England and AFC North leader Cincinnati before taking out Pittsburgh 26-7 on Monday night.

That also meant exorcising some old demons.

The victory over the Patriots was Indy's first in Foxborough since 1995, and Monday night's victory ended a 21-year drought against the Steelers.

Those victories have essentially eliminated all three teams from the home-field chase. That makes the Denver Broncos (9-2) the only serious contender to force the Colts out of the RCA Dome in January, when Indianapolis has been most vulnerable playing outdoors in the cold.

For now, though, it means little to the Colts, who can wrap up their third straight AFC South title with two more wins - at home Sunday against Tennessee and at Jacksonville on Dec. 11.

"We want to see if we can get that done," Dungy said. "So our focus is winning the first one. This is a very critical two-week stretch for us."

While others debate which team could derail the Colts' historic quest, staying unbeaten is not what motivates Indianapolis.

"We just need to take this step and move forward," defensive tackle Corey Simon said after the Steelers game. "We can't rest our head on what we did this week and then go out next week and not play well. We need to continue to improve."

After Tennessee and Jacksonville, the Colts have a dangerous game against San Diego, which is making a late-season push for the playoffs. It also happens to fall between an emotional contest against the Jaguars and what will likely be hyped as a Super Bowl preview at Seattle on Dec. 24.

They finish at home against Arizona, and then the Colts can finally focus on the games they've been craving since last January.

"I was talking to (Pittsburgh coach) Bill Cowher about it last night, and he said 'We went 15-1 last year and no one really cares,'" Dungy said. "It would be an honor, it would be special to go undefeated, but it won't mean anything if you don't win in the playoffs."

So Manning, the two-time MVP, and his teammates find themselves in an unusual position. Fourteen or 15 wins would assure the Colts of not playing outdoors after Dec. 24. But anything less than 16-0 may not satisfy critics.

So the Colts will focus on their stated goal of winning the Super Bowl and let others debate the definition of a perfect season.

"Going undefeated has never been our goal," Dungy said. "The teams that get remembered are not the ones who have great regular seasons, they are the ones who do something in the playoffs."

"I'm one happy man right now," Price said Monday. "I can't tell you how much I appreciated my wife, Joyce, and my family's loyalty and love. Without their strength, encouragement and support I don't know if I would have made it."

Price sued the magazine for $20 million, claiming he was defamed and slandered by a story detailing his actions the night he visited a topless bar in Pensacola, Fla., in April 2003 while still head coach at Alabama.

He acknowledged being heavily intoxicated, but denied allegations of sex at his hotel that the magazine reported. Alabama fired Price a few days before the article was published.

When asked about that night at the strip club, he paused Monday and said, "I definitely would have made a different decision that one night, no question. That was a bad night."

Price, who made his comments during UTEP's regularly scheduled weekly news conference, said he couldn't discuss any details of the settlement reached late Friday. In a statement, the publisher did not disclose terms but said the suit was "amicably resolved."

"Mr. Price asserts that certain events were falsely reported in the story. Sports Illustrated continues to stand behind its story," the Time Inc. statement said. Time Inc. owns Sports Illustrated.

Rick McCabe, a spokesman for Time Inc. said the settlement also resolved Price's claims against reporter Don Yaeger, who wrote the Sports Illustrated article and still works for the magazine.

The lawsuit was closely watched in part because it developed into a fight over the magazine's right to protect confidential sources it said were used in the report.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in July that Alabama law did not protect Sports Illustrated from having to identify a confidential source whose identity was sought by Price's attorney, Steven Heninger. The court said the law specifically protected newspapers and broadcast news reports, but not magazines.

McCabe declined comment on whether the magazine or Yaeger had turned over the names of sources used in the story.

Heninger was not present, but issued the following statement through Price: "We have won every legal battle at every corner. We think we have vindicated his name. Two and a half years ago we said we would, and we think we have."

Price also reiterated that he was unjustly fired from Alabama.

"I've said that from day one," he said.

Coach Mike Holmgren said that Jackson will remain in Florida -- where the surgery took place -- for another week and have one more examination before returning to Seattle to rehabilitate the injury.

"I can't tell you how long it's going to be. The cartilage and scopes typically can be two weeks, guys come back in two weeks, sometimes it's longer," Holmgren said. "We just have to see how it is."

Seattle's other starting receiver, Bobby Engram, was listed as out on the injury report with two cracked ribs. Engram was injured two weeks ago against Washington.

Last week, Joe Jurevicius and D.J. Hackett started in Jackson and Engram's place. Jurevicius had a career-high nine catches for 137 yards and a touchdown, while Hackett had five catches for 43 yards.

Cornerback Andre Dyson and offensive lineman Floyd "Pork Chop" Womack were both listed as doubtful. Dyson has right hamstring pull and Womack has a left quadriceps injury.

Barber, who has only been fined one time by the league in his NFL career, was hit with the staggering total as a result of a punch that Barber threw at Jets center Kevin Mawae, but which struck Hannah instead.

After the game, Barber said his intention was not to strike the official, but to defend himself and swat Mawae's hand off of his facemask.

"The guy (Mawae) outweighs me by about 120 pounds," Barber said at the time. "I was afraid he was going to rip my head off. I was just trying to get his hand off my facemask. I'd never try to hit an official. Everybody knows that's not me."

The fine is somewhat surprising, considering last week, the league slapped Chargers cornerback Drayton Florence with only a $15,000 fine when he threw a forearm shiver into the ribs of an official out of frustration at a call — an action that the league viewed as intentional.

Barber doubled Florence's fine, yet his actions were largely viewed as unintentional. The difference, however, was that Barber's shot dropped the ref and appeared much worse to the viewer.

Barber is expected to appeal the fine.

Shockey will receive a new seven-year deal — essentially a five-year extension, as he had two years remaining on his rookie contract — worth $30.1 million. That includes $10.8 million in new money over the first three years of the deal and $11.9 million in total bonuses, with $10.5 million of that essentially guaranteed.

In just over three seasons with the Giants, Shockey has caught 200 passes for 2,346 yards and 12 touchdowns.

His biggest season so far was his first, as he caught 74 passes for 894 yards and was voted to both the All-Pro team and the Pro Bowl.

Shockey was beset by injuries the last two seasons, but still managed to earn Pro Bowl honors in 2003. He appears to have regained his rookie season form this year; in just four games, he has 17 catches for 251 yards and two touchdowns.

"It's been a very quiet negotiation," Shockey's agent Drew Rosenhaus told the Associated Press. "People think all of our deals are loud and obviously they're not. You have to credit the Giants for extending Jeremy's contract. The Giants just felt that he deserved it."