Perhaps the NFL agreed with what Joey Porter had to say after the game Sunday, because the league has decided not to fine him.

	Peter Diana, Post-Gazette Joey Porter sacks Colts quarterback Peyton Manning but didn't get sacked for his comments about the officials. Click photo for larger image.

A league official told the Steelers Porter would not be fined for calling the officials "cheaters" after the Steelers overcame at least one call the NFL admitted was a bad one to beat the Colts, 21-18, in Indianapolis and advance to the AFC championship game.

Porter said he already knew that because coach Bill Cowher told him so.

"I wasn't doing it to take a stand but, really, that's old news," Porter said. "New news is what we can do with Denver."

Among Porter's many comments were these:

"The world wanted Indy to win so bad, they were going to do whatever they had to do, man. It was like the 9-1-1 year when they wanted the Patriots to win it for the world, that's what they wanted for Indy today."

He went on to call the officials cheaters. There were several bizarre calls. The NFL's head of officiating, Mike Pereira, admitted that referee Pete Morelli erred by overturning a crucial Troy Polamalu interception on a replay challenge.

Porter also called the Colts a finesse team a week ago and challenged them to back up their talk that they were a physical team. Yesterday, he said the Denver Broncos qualify as a "smash-mouth" football team.

"Oh, yeah, they play aggressive. They play to run the ball and pass the ball. They play physical on defense. They're a very, very good football team."

Stopping the run first, not quarterback Jake Plummer, will be the Steelers' priority, Porter said.

"You just want to try to contain him. He makes a lot of plays with his legs and stuff like that. He's a mobile quarterback. We've played mobile quarterbacks in the past.

"It always starts with us stopping the run and putting the game in the quarterback's hand, and that's the approach we want to take."

No new job for Grimm

Steelers offensive line coach Russ Grimm apparently is out as a candidate for the Detroit Lions' head coaching job.

Reports in Detroit say that the Lions have hired Rod Marinelli, the defensive line coach at Tampa Bay, and will make the announcement today.

Two other teams that had been interested in Grimm for their openings have filled them, Green Bay and New Orleans.

A cutting edge

The cut block -- blocking below the waist from the front or the back -- is legal within 2 yards of the line of scrimmage, provided another blocker does not already have a defender engaged. Defensive players hate the cut block and have complained about it for a long time because they say it can cause leg injuries and ruin careers. The Denver Broncos' offensive line long has been a practitioner of it.

The Steelers greeted the topic yesterday with one big shrug of their shoulders.

"I get cut-blocked all the time. It's just something you have to deal with," Porter said.

Added nose tackle Casey Hampton, "If you don't want them to cut you, don't let them cut you, that's my whole thing."

The Steelers have a different blocking style, although many linemen have used the occasional cut block even if it's not in their normal repertoire.

"It goes to personnel and schemes," guard Alan Faneca said. "We run the counter block a little more than some teams do. It's personal preference.

"I think they're trying to create seams, they're trying to create that little hole, and their backs are just trying to read it, look for that hole and hit it."

Dress for success

While you might think it could jinx them, fans can order Steelers Super Bowl shirts and caps before they learn whether their favorite team will get there.

It comes with the blessing of the NFL. In fact, that's who is selling the championship clothing. Fans from all four conference finalists can order the merchandise at nflshop.com. It will be shipped only if your team wins; the order will be canceled if it loses.

And guess who the NFL sales champions this season? The Steelers, at least according to figures compiled by Reebok.

The Steelers were No. 1 in NFL official clothing sales this season, up 28 percent over last season. They also are the only team with five players in the top 50 of jersey sales, which all are made by Reebok.

More on 6s

The Steelers are the first No. 6 playoff seed to reach a conference championship game, but they're not the first No. 6 seed in the postseason to do so in the NFL.

In 1982, the season was reduced to nine games because of a 57-day players' strike. Instead of holding the traditional playoffs after the season, Commissioner Pete Rozelle decided to conduct what he officially called a Super Bowl Tournament with 16 teams, eight from each conference.

The New York Jets were the sixth seed in the AFC. They won their first game at Cincinnati, 44-17, and their second game at the Los Angeles Raiders, 17-14. But the Jets then lost at Miami, 14-0, in the AFC championship.

Injury report

The Steelers' injury report was the same as Tuesday. Those who did not practice were linebacker James Harrison, defensive end Travis Kirschke, cornerback Deshea Townsend and defensive end Kimo von Oelhoffen.

Denver doings

Denver coach Mike Shanahan recalled meeting Ben Roethlisberger at a charity golf event at Lake Tahoe last summer: "When I looked at Ben, I thought he was a linebacker, not a quarterback. I mean, he is a big guy."

The Broncos are 4-0 in AFC championship games at home, having beaten the Jets in 1998, Cleveland in '89 and '87, and Oakland in '77. They are 12-2 all time in home playoff games. They also went 9-0 at Invesco Field this season.

"I'm sexy," said offensive tackle George Foster, irritated over hype about the game Sunday lacking the pizzazz of Peyton Manning or story lines of Tony Dungy or the three-peat Patriots. "And I'm playing in this game."

Broncos fans, toward the end of their team's upset Saturday of New England and thinking ahead to a matchup with anybody but the same Colts who ousted them from the previous two years' playoffs, began to chant: "We want Pittsburgh."

The most prominent Broncos injury is the pulled groin of starting cornerback Darrent Williams, who sat out the third quarter Saturday. He said he is 80 percent healthy from the Dec. 11 injury that kept him out for five weeks. He was listed as probable, as was everyone else on the Broncos' injury report: Tight end Stephen Alexander (toe), defensive end Courtney Brown (shoulder/knee), linebacker Keith Burns (knee), wide receiver Todd Devoe (wrist) and linebacker Al Wilson (thumb).