Jan 17, 2016 4 min read

DENVER – No matter the sport, when you get to postseason play there’s only one team that finishes the season happy.

There can be, after all, only one champion.

The 2015 Steelers fought hard and came close to at least being among the final four teams standing in the NFL. And for that, they should be applauded. There aren’t many people who felt this team had that kind of run in it, not with a young, vulnerable defense.

And that certainly was the case, given the team hadn’t won a playoff game since 2010.

But there the Steelers were late Sunday afternoon, leading the AFC’s top-seeded Broncos, 13-12, in the fourth quarter, battling despite playing without team MVP Antonio Brown. They were playing solid football despite being without their top two running backs. In many cases, what they were doing, they were doing with mirrors.

This was a team that overcame so much to not only get into the playoffs, but win its first postseason game, that there began to be a feeling that it was a team of destiny.

The players certainly believed that.

“No one gave us a chance. All year, we just kind of put our heads down and went to work,” said All-Pro guard David DeCastro. “I remember looking at TV and they said no one’s ever won without their leading receiver and running back. I was like, ‘You mean everybody’s counting us out? We don’t have a chance?’ I thought we fought really hard to the end there and then we just gave it away.”

That they did.

Perhaps it’s ironic that a team that had so much success with unheralded players all season lost this game, at least in part, because of a fumble by one of those players.

Fitzgerald Toussaint, who began the season on the practice squad, was a big reason why the Steelers beat Cincinnati last week. Heck, he had been a solid contributor in Sunday’s game, scoring Pittsburgh’s lone touchdown and doing yeoman’s work in pass protection.

But he lost a fumble that was the game’s only turnover as Denver cornerback Bradley Roby punched it free.

“He made a play,” said Toussaint. “They made a great play. I have to protect the ball. There is no excuse for that.”

Some will put the blame solely on Toussaint. But that’s unfair. Pittsburgh’s defense, which had been outstanding at keeping Denver out of the end zone all day, finally blinked and the Broncos marched 65 yards for their lone touchdown.

In the end, however, this is a team that should be proud of what it accomplished. Given what they fought through and the schedule it played – heading into this weekend, the Steelers had played five of the other seven teams still alive in the postseason – many would have said 8-8 was a good year.

This team won 11 games and very nearly pulled out a 12th and went to the conference championship.

There are a bunch of other teams around the league that would look at that as a successful season. The Steelers aren’t one of them. Nor should they be.

“There can be only one,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. “This year, it’s not us. We’ll absorb that. We’ll take responsibility for us not being that team, but I appreciate their efforts.”

He should.

There are a lot of positives to take out of this experience, most notably the efforts that helped the Steelers keep on winning despite what could have been devastating injuries.

“I think we responded to adverse conditions throughout the year,” said tight end Heath Miller. “Obviously, it’s disappointing to not win, but moving forward I think we’ll be proud of the way we responded and continued to fight.”

They did fight. But sometimes you fight and lose. You do, however, learn plenty about the character not only of yourself, but those around you.

That will be important for this team next year.

“It’s hard to fathom looking back at the entire season,” said defensive end Cam Heyward. “It’s been a roller-coaster ride. “I don’t know if a lot of teams could have overcome all the stuff that went on.

“It stinks that we didn’t accomplish our goal.”

They might not have done that but, as Tomlin said, there can be only one. And these Steelers certainly seem to have the arrow pointed back in the right direction.

F. Dale Lolley can be reached at dlolley@observer-reporter.com.