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PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Ramon Foster never stopped believing. Not after the embarrassing meltdown against Tampa Bay. Not after the debacle in Cleveland. Not after the New York Jets pushed the Pittsburgh Steelers around six weeks ago.The Steelers were a playoff team. Foster was sure of it. The self-assured guard figured it would simply take a little time for things to come together, particularly on a roster thats undergone a sizable makeover since its last post-season appearance in 2011.Ive said it since the beginning of camp, we have the tools capable of doing it, Foster said. It starts up front with the O-line and D-line. We have a quarterback. We have a running back. We have receivers. We have a defence that is getting hot.So hot that Foster sees no problem with taking the feeling he had since camp opened in July a step further.A lot of press look at me weird when I say it, but I think were a team thats capable of playing in Arizona, Foster said.Thats Arizona as in the host of the Super Bowl.Foster wasnt bragging or making a prediction, necessarily, but giving voice to a confidence that has slowly been building throughout the fall. Pittsburghs momentum crested in Sundays 20-12 win over Kansas City that secured a playoff spot and set up a showdown with Cincinnati this weekend for the AFC North title and the home playoff game that goes along with it.While quarterback Ben Roethlisberger stresses the Steelers (10-5) remain a work in progress, they also look less uneven than the group that slouched through a 3-3 start. Pittsburgh is 7-2 since getting crushed by the Browns on Oct. 12. Roethlisberger is in the midst of the finest season of his career. Antonio Brown is obliterating every significant team single-season receiving record and LeVeon Bell is entering the conversation as the most versatile running back in the league.Heck, even the defence has shown up. That really was 36-year-old James Harrison spending a good portion of Sunday afternoon in the Kansas City backfield. The team that gave up big plays with alarming regularity earlier in the year kept the Chiefs out of the end zone. Pittsburgh is no longer just jumping to the lead, the Steelers are keeping it.Pittsburgh has trailed for only 5 minutes since a 25-point fourth quarter outburst against Cincinnati on Dec. 7. The finishing instinct the Steelers lacked during treadmill-spinning 8-8 seasons in 2012 and 2013 has suddenly reappeared. In each of the last two weeks, the Steelers have held the ball early in the fourth quarter nursing a one-score lead. Twice they responded with lengthy scoring drives that sealed the outcome.We knew we had the talent, and that it was just a case of us being consistent and putting it together, Bell said. It might not have looked like we were making progress, but we knew that if we kept doing what we were supposed to be doing, wed be alright.The Steelers certainly look like it. The impact plays against the Chiefs were made by franchise fixtures who multiple Super Bowl rings at home like Roethlisberger and Harrison to newcomers like Bell and rookie defensive tackle Stephon Tuitt who are in the midst of a playoff push for the first time.Pittsburgh doesnt have the swagger that accompanied the franchise during its dominant run from 2005-10 where it won two Vince Lombardi trophies and played for a third. Thats fine by coach Mike Tomlin, who would prefer his team get by on its play, not its reputation. The Steelers have spent the last four months bucking tradition, riding one of the NFLs most potent offences back to prominence and sticking with a youthful core that is growing up in front of its coachs eyes.Same guys, but theyve matured through the process, Tomlin said. That maturation process is sometimes not easy.But its effective. The growing pains of September and October — and 2012 and 2013 for that matter — are now firmly in the rearview mirror. Following a two-year absence, the Steelers are back in the playoffs and have no plans on going home anytime soon.We had some up and downs but we just kept pounding the pavement and its been paying off for us, linebacker Lawrence Timmons said. Weve seen that if we believe, we can win. Weve just got to go do it.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL Connor Hellebuyck Jersey . 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Andrew Copp Jersey .com) - Devon Johnson ran for a school record 272 yards with four touchdowns and No.The St. Louis Cardinals are having a flare for the dramatic and all the Pittsburgh Pirates can do is watch. The Cardinals target a series win over the NL Central-rival Pirates Wednesday in the third installment of a four-game set at Busch Stadium. Catch the game live on TSN starting at 8pm et/5pm pt. Matt Adams belted a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth of Mondays 2-0 victory, then it was Kolten Wongs turn Tuesday. Wong broke a 4-4 tie in the ninth with a two-out solo home run for the hosts and finished with two hits and three RBI. "When I hit it, I knew it was gone," Wong said of his clutch hit off Pirates reliever Ernesto Frieri. "For a moment I forgot to run. Just excited to get home and be the guy jumping into the dog pile. Its something Ill always remember." Matt Carpenter, Jhonny Peralta and Oscar Taveras ended with two hits apiece and helped the Cardinals pull within three games off the Milwaukee Brewers for first in the NL Central. Pittsburgh is 3 1/2 games behind the Brewers, who have lost three in a row. Carlos Martinez started on the mound for St. Louis last night and was reached for four and eight hits in six innings. Wongs home run made a winner out of Trevor Rosenthal, who worked around a hit and a walk in the ninth. The Cardinals, winners in five of seven games, announced that Jaime Garcia will undergo season-ending surgery due to thoracic outlet syndrome (shoulder), the same procedure former ace Chris Carpenter had back in 2012. The left- handed Garcia went 3-1 with a 4.12 ERA in seven starts. Lance Lynn is one of the healthy St. Louis starters and draws the start Wednesday. Lynn threw 6 2/3 shutout innings in last Fridays 3-2 win over Miami, struck out six and walked three. Lynn was blasted for seven runs (6 earned) in his previous start June 28 at Los Angeles. Lynn has alternated results in the past six trips to the hill and is 9-6 with a 3.17 earned run average. The right-hander is 5-2 in nine homme starts and 7-2 in 12 appearances at night.dddddddddddd Lynn has faced Pittsburgh 12 times (10 starts) in his career and owns a 4-3 record with a 5.13 ERA. He lost at Pittsburgh back on May 10 in a 4-3 setback, allowing all four runs in six innings. Pittsburgh will try to avoid its first three-game slide since June 15-18 when they gets back to work Wednesday. Justin Wilson gave up Adams home run on Monday and Frieri was the mound victim in last nights loss. Vance Worley allowed four runs and nine hits in five innings, while Pedro Alvarez and Andrew McCutchen each hit two-run homers for the Pirates, who are still 12-5 in the last 17 games. "Its not the first time weve had two tough losses and it probably wont be the last time," said Pirates manager Clint Hurdle. "One swing of the bat changed the game. You shower up and get ready to play tomorrow." The Pirates have lost three in a row on the road and had prevailed in five straight series as the visitor. In the last 29 games, Pittsburgh starting pitchers have combined to go 15-6 and it will be Brandon Cumptons turn in the rotation on Wednesday. Cumpton was sent to Triple-A Indianapolis when Gerrit Cole was activated off the disabled list, but is now replacing an injured Cole. Cumpton pitched against Louisville on July 4 and was reached for four runs, three of which were earned, and eight hits in six innings of a 7-6 loss in 11 innings. He is 3-2 with a 4.61 earned run average in nine starts this season and unbeaten (3-0) in the past five outings. In a 3-2 win over the New York Mets on June 27, Cumpton tossed seven innings of two-run ball in a no- decision. He has allowed two runs over 14 innings in his last two games. The right-hander won his only start against St. Louis last July 30, when he fired seven scoreless innings of a 6-0 win at PNC Park. St. Louis is 6-5 against Pittsburgh this season and each of the last five games in this series has been decided by two runs or less. ' ' '