Latest / Pittsburgh Sports Memories / Steelers-Ravens: The Greatest Season

Transcript

Steelers-Ravens: The Greatest Season · Pittsburgh Sports Memories

0:01
SPEAKER_03: Hi everybody, welcome to the Pittsburgh Sports Memories Podcast.
0:05
SPEAKER_03: My name is Tim Hannon, and I am joined by a co-host.
0:08
SPEAKER_03: And his name is uh Steve Wirt.
0:12
SPEAKER_03: What's up, Steve?
0:13
SPEAKER_05: Ah, duh butch.
0:14
SPEAKER_05: We're uh sitting here enjoying this day here.
0:18
SPEAKER_05: Gonna do some podcasting, right?
0:23
SPEAKER_05: We're gonna really uh not like the Baltimore Ravens, right?
0:28
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
0:43
SPEAKER_03: Yep, and and in addition to a uh new episode this week, we also have a big announcement.
0:49
SPEAKER_05: Oh, what is it?
0:50
SPEAKER_05: It did we win the lottery?
0:52
SPEAKER_03: Even bigger, even bigger.
0:53
SPEAKER_03: We have released a book.
0:55
SPEAKER_03: It's called Pittsburgh vs.
0:57
SPEAKER_03: Baltimore: The Unofficial History, and it's a deep dive into the 30-year history of what has become the greatest rivalry in all of pro sports.
1:06
SPEAKER_03: Steve, is there a better rivalry than this in pro sports?
1:09
SPEAKER_05: And you're talking like all the sports, huh?
1:12
SPEAKER_03: Pro sports.
1:14
SPEAKER_05: Well, yeah.
1:15
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, pro sports.
1:16
SPEAKER_05: Boy, that's a good question.
1:18
SPEAKER_05: Um, let's see what you got.
1:20
SPEAKER_05: Yankees, Red Sox, which I can't stand.
1:23
SPEAKER_05: But it hasn't been competitive the last couple of years.
1:26
SPEAKER_05: I'd say Baltimore Pittsburgh's normally consistently competitive, at least.
1:30
SPEAKER_05: Green Bay, Chicago, but Chicago's been so bad, you know, in the NFL.
1:37
SPEAKER_05: Trying to think of a hockey rivalry.
1:40
SPEAKER_03: Bruins, Canadians.
1:42
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, yeah, I guess.
1:44
SPEAKER_03: I think I think any anything we come up with is gonna have like quantity over quality, if that makes sense.
1:52
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I mean, because yeah, a lot of these teams have been playing each other, like Chicago and Green Bay, I think that's the oldest rivalry, isn't it?
1:59
SPEAKER_05: I think they've played more.
2:00
SPEAKER_05: Hundred years.
2:01
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
2:02
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and and but like you said, in terms of consistency, I don't think anything really matches Pittsburgh, Baltimore.
2:10
SPEAKER_03: I mean, this has been 30 years now of both those teams almost always being right there competing for the division.
2:18
SPEAKER_03: Every game matters.
2:20
SPEAKER_03: Uh it it and it just no matter what set of players comes through, it's just always super intense.
2:27
SPEAKER_03: And so uh we, you know, this this came about because I I wanted to do an episode on the history of that rivalry, but there's just way too much detail to fit into one episode.
2:40
SPEAKER_03: And then I thought, well, maybe we can break it into multiple episodes.
2:43
SPEAKER_03: But but like even then, um I would have had to leave out a bunch of stories and memorable moments.
2:49
SPEAKER_03: So finally I said, hey, let's make it a book.
2:51
SPEAKER_03: So if you like this podcast and the way we cover Steelers history, we think you'll really love this book.
2:57
SPEAKER_03: It's a fun way to relive a bunch of great memories.
3:00
SPEAKER_03: It would also make for a great Christmas gift for that person in your life who is a Steelers fan.
3:06
SPEAKER_03: Heck, I think the way it is written, it would even make a good gift for a Ravens fan because there's a lot of fun stuff for them to relive in the history of this thing, too.
3:13
SPEAKER_03: Either way, whether you buy this for yourself or someone else or both, you'll be supporting our little podcast here.
3:20
SPEAKER_03: There are two versions of the book, which you can find on Amazon.
3:24
SPEAKER_03: There's a physical copy and an ebook version.
3:26
SPEAKER_03: The link for that is in the show description.
3:29
SPEAKER_03: We would also greatly appreciate you sharing that link on social media.
3:33
SPEAKER_03: Once again, you'll be just doing us a favor supporting our little podcast here.
3:38
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, it's uh that's a great thing, Tim.
3:40
SPEAKER_05: That's a great thing.
3:41
SPEAKER_05: Tim Tim is uh definitely the sole author and contributor to the book.
3:47
SPEAKER_05: So he's uh done a great job.
3:50
SPEAKER_05: Definitely need to check that out.
3:52
SPEAKER_05: I've read I've read uh the book and it it's it's a good good read.
3:56
SPEAKER_05: It's it's definitely enjoyable.
3:58
SPEAKER_05: If you enjoy you know our podcast, you'll definitely enjoy the book.
4:02
SPEAKER_03: For sure.
4:02
SPEAKER_05: If not, then still get the book and read it.
4:08
SPEAKER_03: And and the book is split into different eras, but one year in particular was so full of history that there's an entire chapter devoted to it.
4:17
SPEAKER_03: And that's the 2008 season, and that's also the topic for this episode of the podcast.
4:23
SPEAKER_03: So let's dive into that season.
4:25
SPEAKER_03: Uh the events that that kind of lay the groundwork for the 2008 season really begin four years earlier on the weekend of September 18th and 19th, 2004.
4:37
SPEAKER_03: That weekend in Baltimore, Ravens defensive back Gary Baxter, injures Steelers quarterback Tommy Maddox.
4:44
SPEAKER_03: And we go into full detail about that in the book.
4:47
SPEAKER_03: Uh there's some really interesting context, Steve, behind why they called that play, and you can read about that in the book.
4:52
SPEAKER_03: But the end result is that Ben Rothesberger gets inserted into the lineup and stays there for the next 18 seasons.
5:00
SPEAKER_03: So that happened in Baltimore that same weekend in Pittsburgh.
5:05
SPEAKER_03: Pitt is playing Nebraska at Heinz Field, and Pitt has a new quarterback that season.
5:09
SPEAKER_05: Who cares about that, Tim?
5:14
SPEAKER_03: No, not a lot of people did at the time.
5:17
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
5:18
SPEAKER_05: By the attendance at Heinz Field for sure.
5:21
SPEAKER_05: Yes.
5:21
SPEAKER_05: But Tyler Palko was playing quarterback for.
5:25
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
5:26
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
5:26
SPEAKER_03: Tyler Palco is Pitt's new quarterback, and uh he's not doing so well against Nebraska.
5:32
SPEAKER_05: I remember there's some skitty kid on the sideline from New Jersey.
5:36
SPEAKER_03: Yes, yes.
5:37
SPEAKER_03: So Pitts 24-10 late in the third quarter, and the home crowd kind of turns on Palco.
5:43
SPEAKER_03: They boo him off the field after a drive with which saw the offense net minus nine yards.
5:49
SPEAKER_03: Uh Steve, I think you and I were both at this game.
5:51
SPEAKER_03: Were you were you part of the Blue Birds there?
5:53
SPEAKER_03: I know I was.
5:55
SPEAKER_05: I don't know.
5:56
SPEAKER_05: I I never tried to boo too badly because it was it.
6:00
SPEAKER_05: They're still kind of young.
6:01
SPEAKER_05: I don't know.
6:02
SPEAKER_05: I never I never really tried to boo my own team.
6:06
SPEAKER_05: I might boo maybe the coaching staff.
6:08
SPEAKER_05: Todd Grabb, I definitely left half it.
6:10
SPEAKER_05: I never thought Walt Harris deserved to be booed.
6:14
SPEAKER_03: Well, you're a better man than I am because uh I was booing.
6:18
SPEAKER_03: Well, Walt Harris, uh after after that uh miserable offensive series, he makes a change at quarterback.
6:28
SPEAKER_03: And that's and here's what that sounded like.
6:31
SPEAKER_08: Here he is.
6:31
SPEAKER_08: Here comes um Steve Vine, one of our cameramen, picked up the back of the number 15, Joe Flacco.
6:38
SPEAKER_08: Tyler Paco go to the sidelines.
6:40
SPEAKER_08: So, man, That's first and ten for the red shirt freshman from Ottoman, New Jersey.
6:46
SPEAKER_04: So Brett, the inside skinny on Joe Flacco is he was a pretty good player when he was in high school.
6:51
SPEAKER_04: In fact, he was a three year starter for Audubon, New Jersey, passed for 15,100 yards, And in one game, he threw for 471 yards just in one game.
7:00
SPEAKER_04: And the coaches tell me he has a better arm than Tyler Flacco.
7:05
SPEAKER_05: I can't believe you found that clip, Tim.
7:07
SPEAKER_05: I'm in I'm I'm impressed.
7:09
SPEAKER_05: Wow, you really dug into the archives for uh Joe Flacco.
7:14
SPEAKER_05: I mean, playing three plays at pit play.
7:17
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
7:18
SPEAKER_03: So Joe Flacco is the the skinny kid from New Jersey that Steve talked about, he gets to go into the game.
7:26
SPEAKER_03: And uh unfortunately for Joe Flacco, like Steve said, he never gets much of a chance.
7:31
SPEAKER_03: Harris, who was also the offensive coordinator, he calls two running plays.
7:35
SPEAKER_03: Flacco then makes a nifty play with his legs, running for a first down.
7:39
SPEAKER_03: Uh but then uh he gets sacked and has a third and 23.
7:44
SPEAKER_03: So while Harris calls for a quick kick, Joe Flacco shows why he wasn't a punter, and that's it.
7:50
SPEAKER_03: Palco comes back into the game, nearly leads a comeback, then leads Pitt to an unlikely fiesta bowl appearance that season.
7:57
SPEAKER_03: And Joe Flacco realizes he's never going to usurp Palco, so he transfers to the University of Delaware, where he not only gets the opportunity to start, but also sets all kinds of school records in the process.
8:09
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, see, what happened was Fla uh Tyler Palco threw those five touchdowns against Notre Dame, and that was kind of that was kind of it for Joe Flacco ever really getting a chance.
8:23
SPEAKER_05: And then after the season, Harris got left to go to Stanford, fired, whatever you want to call it.
8:30
SPEAKER_05: And then he when Wanstack came in, he tried to um oh, who was the quarterback for USC?
8:37
SPEAKER_05: Matt Castle.
8:38
SPEAKER_05: Remember, he stayed at USC for five years and only got to start one year.
8:43
SPEAKER_05: Wanstatt wanted Flacco to do that.
8:46
SPEAKER_05: And Flacco, you know, fair enough to himself, you know, decided he wasn't gonna be able to do that, so he transferred to Delaware.
8:54
SPEAKER_05: And because he went down a level, he could start immediately.
8:57
SPEAKER_05: And he had a great career at Delaware.
8:59
SPEAKER_05: They they lost to the Appalachian State team that had beaten Michigan that year, and they they they gave him an okay game.
9:06
SPEAKER_05: But Flacco looked good, but that Appalachian State team was unbelievably good since they had beaten a Michigan team that went eight and four.
9:15
SPEAKER_05: It wasn't like a complete joke.
9:17
SPEAKER_05: So that you know, it was yeah, it was a tough break, but um it all worked out for Joe Flacco.
9:23
SPEAKER_05: He ended up being a first-round draft pick.
9:25
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
9:26
SPEAKER_03: I I think I think he made the right decision for his career, right?
9:30
SPEAKER_03: I mean, he just wasn't gonna play a pit.
9:32
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, look at what happened to Matt Castle.
9:34
SPEAKER_05: He really kind of went under the radar, and you know, he only got to really start one year, and I I I don't know.
9:42
SPEAKER_05: That I think that's what Wants that was trying to talk him into.
9:45
SPEAKER_05: And to Wandsat's credit, at least he was honest.
9:47
SPEAKER_05: He didn't promise him anything that he wasn't gonna get.
9:50
SPEAKER_05: So and he was smart enough to see that you know Tyler Pauko was never gonna not be the quarterback at this.
9:58
SPEAKER_03: Right.
9:59
SPEAKER_03: Right.
10:00
SPEAKER_03: So uh when Flacco graduates in 2008, like Steve said, he's he's projected to be a high draft pick.
10:08
SPEAKER_03: Guess which NFL team is looking for a franchise quarterback?
10:12
SPEAKER_03: Uh Baltimore Ravens.
10:14
SPEAKER_03: Uh the Ravens had tried all kinds of experiments at quarterback.
10:17
SPEAKER_03: They had won a Super Bowl with Trent Dilfer.
10:20
SPEAKER_03: They had tried to sign veterans like Elvis Gerback and Steve McNair.
10:23
SPEAKER_03: They had drafted college phenoms like Kyle Bowler and Troy Smith.
10:28
SPEAKER_03: Nothing ever seemed to work out long term at that position for Baltimore.
10:33
SPEAKER_05: Kyle Bowler was terrible.
10:36
SPEAKER_05: Just by the way, Kyle Bowler was god-awful.
10:39
SPEAKER_05: I don't know what they ever saw in that guy.
10:42
SPEAKER_05: He was really bad.
10:43
SPEAKER_03: I think he was the guy that could like throw on his knees or something.
10:47
SPEAKER_03: Throwball like 70 yards on his knees, which is not a transferable NFL game.
10:52
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, that's great, but you're down when you're throwing.
10:56
SPEAKER_05: If you do that in the game, it's not gonna count.
10:58
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
10:59
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
11:00
SPEAKER_03: Yep.
11:01
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, one of many first-round bust quarterbacks in the NFL in the last 20 plus years.
11:08
SPEAKER_03: Uh so, you know, here they are competing with the Steelers in the division, and the Steelers already had their franchise quarterback of the future.
11:19
SPEAKER_03: So Baltimore decides they're going to draft Joe Flacco with their number one pick.
11:24
SPEAKER_03: The Ravens also name a new head coach for the 2008 season.
11:28
SPEAKER_03: It's Eagles defensive assistant John Harbaugh.
11:32
SPEAKER_05: Ah, he's a one-game, one-year wonder, too.
11:34
SPEAKER_05: Never last.
11:35
SPEAKER_05: Never last.
11:37
SPEAKER_03: Yep.
11:38
SPEAKER_03: He did pretty good.
11:39
SPEAKER_03: We talk in the book about like the Brian Billick era and all of the kind of the animosity from that era.
11:46
SPEAKER_03: But the Ravens decided to move on from Billick after a subpar 2007 finish.
11:51
SPEAKER_03: And Harbaugh, of course, comes from a rich football background.
11:54
SPEAKER_03: His father Jack was a coach.
11:56
SPEAKER_03: His brother Jim was an NFL quarterback who had also played in this rivalry as a member of the Ravens, something you might not remember.
12:04
SPEAKER_03: But John Harbaugh also had a Pittsburgh connection.
12:07
SPEAKER_03: He used to be an assistant under Mike Gottfried at Pitt.
12:10
SPEAKER_03: Wow.
12:11
SPEAKER_03: So Harbaugh and Flacco, both pit guys at one time.
12:16
SPEAKER_03: And it's funny, you know, one of the things that uh we get into in the book is um how much kind of similarity there is between these two franchises.
12:25
SPEAKER_03: And if you look at the process to hire Harbaugh, it really does bear a lot of similarities to the process to hire Tomlin the year before that the Steors had.
12:34
SPEAKER_03: Because, like Tomlin, Harbaugh was kind of an unlikely candidate.
12:38
SPEAKER_03: He had never been an NFL coordinator.
12:41
SPEAKER_03: Uh Tomlin had been only for one season.
12:44
SPEAKER_03: But Steve Biscotti, the the Ravens owner, and Ozzie Newsom, the general manager, they're impressed by Harbaugh and they decide to make him their guy.
12:53
SPEAKER_03: Uh it was again, it was very similar, Steve, to the to the Tomlin hire, because it was like, wait, who's this guy?
12:59
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I that's a good, like you always forget, like, I forget about John Harbaugh.
13:05
SPEAKER_05: Like, he's been there forever, but he's never like he's never mentioned in the same breath as like some of the other coaches in the league, which is odd because he's had success.
13:17
SPEAKER_05: I mean, I always think the media kind of likes him, but he doesn't get the love to like I mean now rightfully so, Andy Reed's like probably the would you would you say Andy Reed's the best coach in the NFL right now?
13:30
SPEAKER_05: I would.
13:31
SPEAKER_03: It's hard to argue that.
13:32
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
13:33
SPEAKER_05: I mean I mean I realize it just because like it's kind of like how when Belichick had Brady, is it because he has Brady or you know, but I mean I don't know.
13:42
SPEAKER_05: He was making championship games with Donovan McNabb and having successful six seasons with Alex Smith.
13:49
SPEAKER_05: So I I think YD Reed's a good good choice right now for the best coach.
13:53
SPEAKER_05: I mean, but is Harbaugh in the top five?
13:56
SPEAKER_05: Is he as good as Tomlin?
13:58
SPEAKER_05: Probably.
13:59
SPEAKER_05: They're probably eerily similar, actually, quite honestly.
14:02
SPEAKER_05: They both won a Super Bowl or no, he's only won one, right?
14:07
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, they both won one Super Bowl earlier.
14:10
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
14:10
SPEAKER_03: It's been a while since they both won the Super Bowl.
14:13
SPEAKER_03: But they're but they're both they both field highly competitive teams every year.
14:18
SPEAKER_03: I I think you're right.
14:19
SPEAKER_03: I think there's a ton of similarities.
14:20
SPEAKER_03: I think and again, just the way the organizations are run, I think there's a ton of simple.
14:24
SPEAKER_05: But then Tomlin, yeah, Tomlin's always talked about, I think, more respected than Harbaugh, and I mean maybe it should I don't know.
14:31
SPEAKER_05: I don't think Carbaugh's disrespect.
14:33
SPEAKER_03: I don't think people don't think much of him, but um speaking of Tomlin, he's in his second year and he's learned some things.
14:41
SPEAKER_03: Uh Max Starks, the offensive lineman, says that uh Tomlin was too tough that first year, thinking that if he just worked the team really hard in practice, that would be get them better prepared for Sunday.
14:54
SPEAKER_03: But according to Starks, it kind of had the opposite effect.
14:57
SPEAKER_03: It wore the team down to the point that they had nothing left by the end, as proven by the fact that they dropped four of their final five games in 2007.
15:05
SPEAKER_03: So in his second year, 2008, Tomlin eases up in practice and quote, took the chains off the dogs on game day.
15:15
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I still think that's that was a move Tomlin had to make.
15:19
SPEAKER_05: I I I see where Matt star and he's right, but like when you're new, it's like the substitute teacher effect.
15:28
SPEAKER_05: Like, you know, the players aren't are gonna test you, the players aren't gonna listen, so you better come in there and just be a jerk.
15:35
SPEAKER_05: And it cost him probably that season, but you know what?
15:39
SPEAKER_05: I think he had a veteran team too, and I wish he would have gone back to that, like when he had Antonio Brown and some of that, like gone back to just you know although it seems like you know, lately now he's been trading away talent.
15:55
SPEAKER_05: He's gone more like he'll he'll get rid of people instead of you know just running them into the ground.
16:01
SPEAKER_05: So I I I might he's definitely evolved with his coaching and the way he handles things in-house.
16:09
SPEAKER_05: Remember, remember that one time that guy um in the Carolina game like got that really stupid penalty?
16:14
SPEAKER_05: He was like talking trash.
16:18
SPEAKER_05: And like he got rid of him.
16:20
SPEAKER_05: Like it but he wasn't the media was like, Well, what's gonna happen?
16:23
SPEAKER_05: And he was like, Well, I'm not gonna give you your pound of flesh.
16:26
SPEAKER_05: So he I think he does it the right way, like he keeps the that kind of stuff in-house, and that's what'll win you the loyalty of the players that they know you know at the same time, they know you're not gonna put up with stupid antics, but you're not going to throw them under the bus.
16:43
SPEAKER_05: You know, you're just gonna, you know, fix it and they better watch their selves going forward.
16:49
SPEAKER_03: So yeah, that's a very good point about you know, coming in hot, being the young coach, being the new coach of a team that had won the Super Bowl fewers earlier.
16:59
SPEAKER_03: That probably was the right strategy.
17:01
SPEAKER_03: And and also a good point about we never really know what goes on behind closed doors.
17:05
SPEAKER_03: Everybody wants to make their assumptions about how they think Tomlin handles the players, but we're not there.
17:11
SPEAKER_03: None of us see it.
17:12
SPEAKER_05: So that's just my opinion on how I think just from my observations, just from that one incident, and I've noticed other like you know, with Claypool and Brown, and like when these guys go to other teams, they're total disasters.
17:27
SPEAKER_05: And he he squeezes as much juice out of that, you know, the fruit as he can.
17:33
SPEAKER_05: And you know, once he's done with you, he's done with you.
17:36
SPEAKER_03: So the Steelers opened that 2008 season with a big win at home over Houston, but then the offense starts to go cold.
17:46
SPEAKER_03: They beat Cleveland in week two, but they only mustered 10 points in the process.
17:51
SPEAKER_03: And then in week three, Jim Johnson's Philadelphia defense runs all over the Steelers.
17:56
SPEAKER_03: Uh the Eagles sack Ben nine times, they forced three turnovers, and they score a safety in a 15-6 drawing that really wasn't as close as that score indicated.
18:08
SPEAKER_05: I mean, that was a blowout.
18:10
SPEAKER_05: Fun fact when's the last time the Steelers won in Philadelphia?
18:13
SPEAKER_05: I think it's the 60s.
18:15
SPEAKER_05: Is it really?
18:16
SPEAKER_05: I think it is, yeah.
18:17
SPEAKER_05: So they have not won in that's just one of those old school NFC East teams that we never beat, like the Giants.
18:25
SPEAKER_05: So we never beat the Giants.
18:27
SPEAKER_05: We never beat Well, I don't know about Washington.
18:29
SPEAKER_05: We started beating them pretty, but that was just because Danny Snyder was an idiot.
18:33
SPEAKER_05: Green Bay, Green Bay is another team we don't ever seem to beat.
18:37
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
18:38
SPEAKER_03: Well, the the Eagles definitely whipped the Steelers that year.
18:42
SPEAKER_03: And and three games into the season, the offense just looks real bad.
18:47
SPEAKER_03: And a big reason for that is that the offensive line, which would be a problem all the way to the final moments of the season.
18:55
SPEAKER_05: Yes, it would.
18:57
SPEAKER_05: Almost cost us the Super Bowl.
19:00
SPEAKER_05: Literally.
19:01
SPEAKER_05: Yes.
19:02
SPEAKER_03: And and and the reason for that is because they've lost a lot of people.
19:05
SPEAKER_03: Uh Hall of Famer Alan Fannica had left in free agency.
19:09
SPEAKER_03: Pro Bowl Center Jeff Hurdings had retired, and both Marvell Smith and Kendall Simmons suffer significant injuries.
19:17
SPEAKER_03: Max Starks was still there.
19:19
SPEAKER_03: He was like the staple at left tackle, but the rest of the line is a hodgepodge of guys thrown together.
19:24
SPEAKER_03: You got Willie Cologne at right tackle, Chris Kiyamatu and Darnell Stapleton at guard, and then Veteran Freed and Dustin Hartwig at center.
19:33
SPEAKER_03: It was a bad line.
19:34
SPEAKER_05: I didn't think Chris Kiamatu was that bad.
19:37
SPEAKER_05: Darnell Stapleton was bad.
19:39
SPEAKER_03: Kiyomatu wasn't bad.
19:41
SPEAKER_03: He he had a he had a bad knack for taking time holding penalties.
19:47
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
19:47
SPEAKER_03: So, you know.
19:49
SPEAKER_05: Darnell Stableton was not good.
19:51
SPEAKER_03: No, I mean, none of these guys were.
19:53
SPEAKER_03: And and like to be fair, they're they weren't really supposed to be starter.
19:57
SPEAKER_03: These are all guys that they just kind of threw together to replace guys that were injured or to place guys that had retired or left in free agency.
20:04
SPEAKER_03: Uh so so yeah, the Steelers are uh two and one.
20:10
SPEAKER_03: Offense is looking bad.
20:11
SPEAKER_03: Baltimore, meanwhile, goes all in with their new rookie quarterback.
20:14
SPEAKER_03: He scores divisional wins over Pro Bowlers Carson Palmer and Derek Alexander.
20:19
SPEAKER_03: And then in week four, the 2-0 Ravens come to Hinesfield for a Monday night football game against the 2-1 Steelers.
20:27
SPEAKER_03: It's a big game.
20:27
SPEAKER_03: It marks the introduction of the rivalry to both Flacco and Harbaugh.
20:32
SPEAKER_03: It's also the introduction of the rivalry for Steelers' first-round draft pick, Richard Mendenhall.
20:39
SPEAKER_05: Well, I'm ready.
20:40
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I'm ready for some football.
20:42
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
20:42
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
20:42
SPEAKER_03: Mendenhall is going to get his first NFL start in place of injured running back Willie Parker.
20:47
SPEAKER_03: But days before the game, controversy erupts around Mendenhall, allegedly sending texts to Ravens running back Ray Rice, boasting that he's going to have a big game.
20:58
SPEAKER_03: The story soon makes national headlines.
21:01
SPEAKER_03: Baltimore naturally does not appreciate the fact that some rookie kid is talking trash about them.
21:07
SPEAKER_03: So Bart Scott and some other guys come out publicly against Mendon Hall, and they're kind of like, yeah, we'll see you on the field, rookie.
21:14
SPEAKER_03: And that really sets the tone for the 2008 edition of Steelers Ravens.
21:19
SPEAKER_05: This is as bad as the what was it?
21:21
SPEAKER_05: Remember, was it Keenan McCartell calling Greg Lloyd, yeah.
21:26
SPEAKER_05: Greg Lloyd.
21:26
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
21:27
SPEAKER_05: By the way, it's Keenan McCartell.
21:29
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
21:31
SPEAKER_05: Number 84 for Jacksonville.
21:33
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
21:34
SPEAKER_03: Just like the Keenan McCartell incident, uh, this never happened.
21:38
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
21:40
SPEAKER_05: Well, Greg Lloyd might have been like just imagining it.
21:43
SPEAKER_05: He's a little not quite right in the head.
21:47
SPEAKER_03: Well, some maybe Bart Scott was the same, doing the same thing because Menon Hall Menon Hall says, quote, it was conjured up.
21:53
SPEAKER_03: I didn't even have Ray Rice's phone number.
21:57
SPEAKER_03: But regardless, the Ravens were.
22:00
SPEAKER_03: So the first half of that game once again goes poorly for the Steelers offense.
22:04
SPEAKER_03: The the uh cobbled together offensive line allows three sacks.
22:09
SPEAKER_03: Ben throws a bad interception.
22:11
SPEAKER_03: Menonhall suffers a broken shoulder, courtesy of an angry Ray Lewis, which ends his rookie season right there.
22:17
SPEAKER_05: By the way, that was the bounty.
22:18
SPEAKER_05: He put they put a bounty on him.
22:21
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
22:22
SPEAKER_05: Which was totally illegal.
22:23
SPEAKER_05: And they got away with it.
22:25
SPEAKER_05: And they got away with it.
22:26
SPEAKER_03: They also admitted it publicly and didn't get in any kind of channel.
22:30
SPEAKER_05: Nothing happened.
22:31
SPEAKER_05: And that was like that was like the year after, didn't they uh fire on Greg Williams and all those Saints players?
22:39
SPEAKER_03: It was the next year that the Saints the Saints had to forfeit draft picks and Sean Payton got suspended for a whole season.
22:45
SPEAKER_03: But but Steve, the the the difference there, you have to understand, is that the the bounty the Saints put out was on Brett Favre.
22:52
SPEAKER_03: Nobody cares about Richard Menhauer Heinz Ward.
22:55
SPEAKER_03: They're allowed to have bounties on in them, but not on Brett Favre.
22:59
SPEAKER_03: So you have to understand, like, come on, it's Brett Favre.
23:03
SPEAKER_05: You weren't allowed to do bounties since the Buddy Ryan days.
23:06
SPEAKER_05: Like Buddy Ryan started doing that.
23:08
SPEAKER_05: And they had that what they call that the body bag game.
23:10
SPEAKER_05: Is that the Eagles and Redskins?
23:12
SPEAKER_03: Body bag game, yeah.
23:13
SPEAKER_05: Was that Eagles, Redskins?
23:14
SPEAKER_05: I mean, I can still I can still say Redskins because they were Redskins.
23:17
SPEAKER_03: That's what the team was called at the time.
23:19
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, and yeah.
23:21
SPEAKER_05: And that that's what caused the NFL.
23:23
SPEAKER_05: Because obviously, you know, intent to injure is not part of football.
23:28
SPEAKER_05: So you could technically get arrested for assault, I guess, if if you did that, I guess.
23:35
SPEAKER_05: Maybe.
23:36
SPEAKER_03: But yeah, literally they they the NFL didn't care because it wasn't Bret Farr.
23:40
SPEAKER_03: I mean, sorry, I don't know how else to sum that up because the like and the Saints never admitted to anything.
23:46
SPEAKER_03: Like they the Saints all categorically denied that they put out any bounties.
23:51
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, Sean Payton lied to Roger Goodell, and that's why he got suspended.
23:55
SPEAKER_03: Well, supposedly, right?
23:56
SPEAKER_03: Again, the the my point just being the Saints never admitted to anything.
24:01
SPEAKER_05: And then went to coach youth football, isn't there like a Netflix movie fucked by uh James?
24:06
SPEAKER_05: King of Queens guys.
24:07
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
24:08
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
24:08
SPEAKER_03: But but but Terrell Suggs literally, you can go listen to the interview where he literally said, Yeah, we had a bounty out on Heinzwart and Richard Mendenhall.
24:18
SPEAKER_03: He he said it very publicly.
24:20
SPEAKER_03: Anyway, uh like we said, first half going very poorly for the Steelers.
24:26
SPEAKER_03: Flacco, meanwhile, appears unfazed by the Pittsburgh fans.
24:30
SPEAKER_03: He launches the Ravens out to a 13-3 lead.
24:33
SPEAKER_03: And by the third time the third quarter hits, the crowd boos the offense off the field.
24:38
SPEAKER_03: Man, that Heinzfield crowd is just very impatient with offenses, apparently.
24:43
SPEAKER_05: And especially ones involving Joe Flacco, apparently.
24:47
SPEAKER_05: Well, games involving Joe Fly.
24:49
SPEAKER_03: Well, remember, Flacco's never getting booed in these scenarios, it's always somebody else.
24:54
SPEAKER_03: He's just sitting in his sidelines.
24:56
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
24:57
SPEAKER_05: Minding his own business as a guy from New Jersey trying to play football.
25:03
SPEAKER_03: So the Steelers, you know, obviously they need something to break them out of this funk.
25:07
SPEAKER_03: And who better to do that than the guy we mentioned earlier?
25:10
SPEAKER_03: Number 86, Heinz Ward.
25:12
SPEAKER_03: We talk in the a lot in the book about Ward because he's a really integral part of this rivalry.
25:18
SPEAKER_03: And on the next Steelers possession, Ward says or does something that gets under the skin of Ravens linebacker Garrett Johnson.
25:27
SPEAKER_03: He unloads on Ward and he gets called for a 15-yard penalty.
25:31
SPEAKER_03: And Jarrett Johnson was by no means like a hothead player.
25:35
SPEAKER_03: In fact, he's a very smart and talented six-year veteran.
25:38
SPEAKER_03: Steve, guess how many times Johnson has ever been flagged for a personal foul in his six NFL seasons before this game?
25:45
SPEAKER_05: I'm going to say zero.
25:47
SPEAKER_05: Zero.
25:48
SPEAKER_05: What the heck?
25:50
SPEAKER_03: But that's the genius, I suppose, of Heinz Ward.
25:53
SPEAKER_05: He's not quite Jerry Porter.
25:55
SPEAKER_03: No, but I mean, man, I mean, again, like, but but like uh Jerry Porter getting under the skin of Pac-Man Jones.
26:03
SPEAKER_03: I mean Pac-Man Jones.
26:05
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, it's kind of an easy, easy target.
26:08
SPEAKER_03: Easy target, but Jared Johnson was not that guy.
26:10
SPEAKER_03: And somehow Ward get again, Baltimore has all the it's very like Max Talbot-esque.
26:16
SPEAKER_03: Like Baltimore has all the momentum, and he somehow goes this guy into taking a bad penalty.
26:21
SPEAKER_03: So two plays later, the Steelers have third down from the Baltimore 38-yard line, and that's when this happens.
26:32
SPEAKER_04: And six Ravens come.
26:34
SPEAKER_04: Then got rid of it.
26:35
SPEAKER_04: Caught Santonio Holmes.
26:37
SPEAKER_04: Touchdown.
26:48
SPEAKER_05: That was a really awesome catch by Santonio Holmes.
26:51
SPEAKER_05: Like a run after catch really is better than it's a great throw by Ben to hit him, but that's a probably a really I didn't realize how good of a run after the catch that was.
27:01
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, it really was.
27:04
SPEAKER_05: And I like those throw, those were the throwbacks, uh those those were not the bumblebee throwbacks.
27:09
SPEAKER_05: They had that they only had that one year, and those were those were nice with the yellow helmet.
27:14
SPEAKER_05: I don't know what that was.
27:16
SPEAKER_05: I I don't know.
27:16
SPEAKER_03: That was the 75 season throwback, so I think they had that for a couple years.
27:21
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, those are those are decent.
27:23
SPEAKER_05: Like I think like uh Dan Rooney when he ran the team, the late Dan Rooney, really hated having to design a third uniform, so he tried to make them as ugly as possible just to screw with you know the marketing people in the NFL.
27:37
SPEAKER_05: Like try and sell this crap.
27:39
SPEAKER_05: And then people still would buy it.
27:41
SPEAKER_05: It was like the worst, like the worst, the bumblebee was the worst, and it's like people would still buy it.
27:46
SPEAKER_05: It's like, what the heck?
27:48
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it worked.
27:50
SPEAKER_03: So yeah, like like like you said, Steve, Santonio makes a great play there.
27:53
SPEAKER_03: Santonio's gonna make a trio of huge plays against the Ravens this season.
27:57
SPEAKER_03: Uh, and so the Steelers score a touchdown.
28:00
SPEAKER_03: You heard everybody's back into the game, the crowd's back into the game, they fire up the uh the Mortal Kombat music after home scores.
28:10
SPEAKER_03: But then but then on the commercial break, uh the uh stadium operator senses the energy and fires up a different song called Renegade.
28:20
SPEAKER_05: Ah, that'll never stick.
28:22
SPEAKER_03: And we we actually go into the history of that song in the book.
28:25
SPEAKER_03: Most people think its origin is that Cleveland playoff game in 2002 where the Steelers made that comeback.
28:31
SPEAKER_03: That's actually a myth.
28:32
SPEAKER_03: But you can read more about that in the book.
28:35
SPEAKER_03: Myth?
28:35
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
28:36
SPEAKER_03: What?
28:36
SPEAKER_03: Yes, it was around actually before that.
28:39
SPEAKER_05: You talk about like a mandala effect or something.
28:42
SPEAKER_03: Sort of, yeah, sort of.
28:44
SPEAKER_03: So yeah, they play Renegade, the Steelers kick off, and on the Ravens' first play from Scrimmage after playing Renegade, this happens.
28:52
SPEAKER_05: Something's gonna happen.
28:55
SPEAKER_05: Pressure back on Flacco and the Baltimore offense.
29:00
SPEAKER_06: It's recovered and untouched with response.
29:18
SPEAKER_03: Five Raiden.
29:26
SPEAKER_05: That is a great that is a great touchdown song.
29:28
SPEAKER_05: It is a great touchdown song.
29:30
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that's I mean it's got a lot of energy.
29:31
SPEAKER_05: What do they play?
29:32
SPEAKER_03: What do they play down the stadium now and they just they just they they actually, believe it or not, they have gone back to the Steelers polka.
29:39
SPEAKER_05: You're full of crap.
29:41
SPEAKER_05: No way.
29:42
SPEAKER_03: They that's the touchdown song.
29:43
SPEAKER_05: No way you're playing the Steeler Polka in 2024.
29:47
SPEAKER_03: And the first time I heard it, I thought that that's that's not gonna work.
29:51
SPEAKER_03: But believe it or not, it actually works.
29:53
SPEAKER_03: It actually really works.
29:55
SPEAKER_05: Is it like a modern like version of the Steeler Polka?
29:58
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I mean, they took out like I think they take out like the references to Franco and Rocky and stuff like that, but it's still the same song.
30:06
SPEAKER_03: So yeah, two touchdowns in 15 seconds completely alters the trajectory, not only of that game, but of the Steelers season.
30:14
SPEAKER_03: I mean, it was like 10 minutes earlier, Steve, that they were booing the offense off the field, and now all of a sudden they have the lead in in two plays in 15 seconds, but the game is far from over.
30:26
SPEAKER_03: Flacco says, Yeah, so you wouldn't let me throw a pass on this field four years ago.
30:31
SPEAKER_03: Well, watch this.
30:32
SPEAKER_03: And he leads a 76-yard drive to force overtime.
30:36
SPEAKER_03: Baltimore wins the overtime coin toss, but Steelers linebacker Lawrence Timmins sacks Flacco to force a punt.
30:43
SPEAKER_03: Steelers running back Moode Moore, who was like the unsung hero, Steve, of that 2008 season, makes a nice catch and run, dodges defenders for a long game, and that sets up Jeff Reed for a game-winning field goal.
30:56
SPEAKER_03: The Steelers score an epic 23-20 victory over their rivals, but it's just part one of three.
31:03
SPEAKER_05: Wow.
31:04
SPEAKER_05: Was that the Jeff the Jeff Reed field goal?
31:07
SPEAKER_05: Yes, with the where they did like the five dollar foot long.
31:14
SPEAKER_05: I remember because it went in like the very corner of the left.
31:18
SPEAKER_05: That was back when Heinz Field was impossible to kick.
31:20
SPEAKER_05: How long do you know how long that kick was?
31:21
SPEAKER_05: It wasn't a very long kick even.
31:23
SPEAKER_05: It was like a 40-yard kick, but remember like kicking a 40-yarder down there was like problematic.
31:30
SPEAKER_03: Right.
31:31
SPEAKER_05: I mean, apparently it still is.
31:33
SPEAKER_05: I mean, I missed I saw a guy from Cal miss a 20-yarder, you know, but but I I just remember like that picture in the paper the next day of like literally Jeff Reed like you know, holding up like I gotta buy that much.
31:45
SPEAKER_05: So yeah.
31:46
SPEAKER_05: It was that's classic Jeff Reed.
31:49
SPEAKER_03: It is.
31:49
SPEAKER_03: It was actually 46 yards, Steve.
31:51
SPEAKER_03: So it was it was pretty long.
31:53
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, it down there.
31:54
SPEAKER_05: You gotta remember they didn't nobody made a 50 yard field goal for 20 years until until the idiot new new owner put in the stand, you know.
32:04
SPEAKER_05: Art Art Jr.
32:06
SPEAKER_03: He's not what's wrong, not your favorite person.
32:09
SPEAKER_05: No, I I don't hate it.
32:10
SPEAKER_05: I just he just made some dumb moves.
32:13
SPEAKER_05: That I don't know.
32:14
SPEAKER_05: I I guess they needed the money.
32:15
SPEAKER_05: Whatever.
32:16
SPEAKER_05: Like like a billion dollar company, you really need like 20 more dollars.
32:20
SPEAKER_03: I mean, it's always important that the NFL makes more money, Steve.
32:23
SPEAKER_03: Just like it's important in protect fright far.
32:26
SPEAKER_03: You gotta you gotta line up your own.
32:28
SPEAKER_05: How much money are you making from the stupid stands in the end zone?
32:32
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I get it.
32:32
SPEAKER_05: Put in the bigger jumbotron if you want.
32:35
SPEAKER_05: But like if they don't put in those stands, like it it was such a home field advantage.
32:40
SPEAKER_05: Like they've lost their home field advantage.
32:42
SPEAKER_05: Like Chris Boswell is a great kicker, but he's not kicking 50.
32:45
SPEAKER_05: Um Ben Saul's too.
32:46
SPEAKER_05: They're not kicking 55 yarders down there if they don't do that to the open end like they did.
32:52
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, probably true.
32:59
SPEAKER_07: He waits, he throws the pass, and it's in the Baltimore with the 40, 35, 30!
33:05
SPEAKER_00: Steelers vs.
33:06
SPEAKER_00: Ravens is the best rivalry in all of Pro Sports.
33:09
SPEAKER_00: And now that series has been chronicled in Pittsburgh versus Baltimore, the unofficial history, an all-new book from the Pittsburgh Sports Memories podcast.
33:18
SPEAKER_00: Relive all the fierce battles and exciting moments from this amazing rivalry.
33:24
SPEAKER_00: There were legendary plays like Troy Polomalu's Pick Six and The Immaculate Extension, and there were crazy incidents like Joey Porter chasing Ray Lewis into the parking lot, or the Ravens putting a bounty on Heinz Ward.
33:37
SPEAKER_00: We cover all of it, including some stories you may never have heard.
33:41
SPEAKER_00: Buy a copy for yourself, or get one as a Christmas gift for the Steelers fan in your life.
33:47
SPEAKER_00: Find it on Amazon or see the link in the show description of this episode, and thanks for supporting the podcast.
34:02
SPEAKER_03: So after that game, both teams go on a roll.
34:05
SPEAKER_03: The Ravens have a stretch where they win seven out of eight games, and they win those games by scoring a bunch of points.
34:11
SPEAKER_03: They put up 37 against Cleveland, 41 against Houston, 36 against Philadelphia, who the Seowers couldn't score on, and 34 against Cincinnati.
34:20
SPEAKER_03: And if you remember the Ravens from back then, that was not the way they normally won games.
34:25
SPEAKER_03: You know, they were all defense all the time, but now they have a franchise quarterback.
34:30
SPEAKER_03: Flacco earns NFL Rookie of the Year honors and finishes the year with almost 3,000 yards passing.
34:37
SPEAKER_03: The Steelers are also carried by their franchise quarterback.
34:40
SPEAKER_03: It's a weird offense in 2008 because there's really not much of a running game.
34:46
SPEAKER_03: Like like the the year before Willie Parker was was the the you know, just the star of the offense.
34:52
SPEAKER_03: Remember Tomlin talked about running him until the wheels fall off?
34:55
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
34:56
SPEAKER_05: And he did.
34:58
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
34:58
SPEAKER_03: Literally, his wheels did fall off.
35:01
SPEAKER_03: But but that year, with the offensive line being so bad, there's really not much of a running game.
35:06
SPEAKER_03: And then Ben's under pressure a lot, and he ends up extending plays a lot and moving the ball that way.
35:11
SPEAKER_03: Just a lot of like backyard improv improvisation that year.
35:16
SPEAKER_05: I think Arians was Bruce Bruce Arians was the coordinator.
35:20
SPEAKER_05: Bruce Arians was the coordinator.
35:21
SPEAKER_05: And Bruce Arians He loves to go deep.
35:23
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
35:24
SPEAKER_05: Yes.
35:25
SPEAKER_03: Long developing routes was Bruce Arians kind of like bread and butter, which is great if you have an offensive line, which the Steelers just did not have at all that year.
35:34
SPEAKER_03: It's definitely not a sustainable strategy as Bruce Arians will find out a few years later, but it's working for now.
35:41
SPEAKER_03: Meanwhile, the AFC is up for grabs.
35:44
SPEAKER_03: Tom Brady is out for the season, and that kind of opens the door for teams like the Titans and Dolphins to compete with the Steelers, Ravens, Colts, and Chargers.
35:53
SPEAKER_03: And then for the AFC North, it all comes down to the rematch in Baltimore in week 15.
35:58
SPEAKER_03: The Steelers are 10-3, the Ravens are 9-4.
36:02
SPEAKER_03: The winner essentially takes the division and the home playoff game or games that go with it.
36:08
SPEAKER_03: CBS moves that game to a 4-15 starts.
36:11
SPEAKER_03: They assign their top announcing pair to cover it.
36:14
SPEAKER_03: Over 71,000 people pack MT Bank Stadium.
36:18
SPEAKER_03: It's a huge, huge game.
36:21
SPEAKER_03: And if ever there was a game to just define what smash mouth old school Baltimore Pittsburgh football looked like, it was this one.
36:29
SPEAKER_03: Both teams clamp down on defense.
36:31
SPEAKER_03: Mike Taylor picks off Flacco, Ray Lewis sacks Ben.
36:35
SPEAKER_03: Yards come in a premium.
36:37
SPEAKER_03: No one can get in the end zone.
36:38
SPEAKER_03: The longest run of the day is a mere 10 yards by Pro Bowl running back LaRon McLean for the Ravens.
36:46
SPEAKER_05: Ooh, I don't remember that guy.
36:48
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, he made the Pro Bowl that year.
36:51
SPEAKER_05: Like five other people bow out or something.
36:54
SPEAKER_03: No, he had a very good season.
36:56
SPEAKER_03: Again, that was just kind of the Ravens.
36:58
SPEAKER_03: Very much like the Sears.
36:59
SPEAKER_03: Like Jamal Lewis was their running back for years.
37:02
SPEAKER_03: And then he had kind of gotten to the point of his career where he wasn't effective anymore.
37:06
SPEAKER_03: And they get this guy in there and he makes the Pro Bowl.
37:09
SPEAKER_03: So again, very very well run.
37:13
SPEAKER_03: I mean, as much as we want to hate the Ravens, hard not to say that they're not a really well-run outfit.
37:20
SPEAKER_03: So 336 left in the game.
37:22
SPEAKER_03: The Steelers get the ball at their own eight-yard line.
37:25
SPEAKER_03: The score is nine to six Baltimore.
37:28
SPEAKER_03: Basically, three field goals by the Ravens to two field goals by the Steelers because that was Pittsburgh Baltimore back then, right?
37:37
SPEAKER_03: It's just the way those games went.
37:39
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
37:40
SPEAKER_05: It's just Yeah, it's it was a defensive struggle for sure.
37:45
SPEAKER_05: Not a lot of offense.
37:46
SPEAKER_05: If you were there to see like 30 to 24 kind of game, you were gonna be disappointed.
37:53
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
37:54
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, there's a s there's a stat we have in the book that uh since 1996, 1996 was the year that this rivalry began.
38:03
SPEAKER_03: And and since 1996, the average combined points of an NFL game is about 45.
38:10
SPEAKER_03: Like both teams together score about 45 points on average.
38:14
SPEAKER_03: But the Steelers and Ravens have combined to score fewer than 45 points in 70% of their matchups.
38:20
SPEAKER_05: Wow.
38:20
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, because it's like it's like, you know, they'll like Chris Berman will call it a blackjack game where first one to 21 wins.
38:28
SPEAKER_05: And the there is a lot of games like that.
38:30
SPEAKER_05: Like, yeah.
38:31
SPEAKER_03: For sure.
38:32
SPEAKER_03: So this one's nine to six, Baltimore.
38:35
SPEAKER_03: It's about three a little over three minutes left.
38:37
SPEAKER_03: Stewart's at their own eight.
38:39
SPEAKER_03: But Ben Rothesperger starts driving, he hits Heinzword for a pair of 13 yard gains.
38:44
SPEAKER_03: He then finds the immortal Nate Washington three times.
38:48
SPEAKER_03: Uh twice to get the ball in midfield, and then again for a 24-yard pass to get the ball down to the Nate was a solid wide receiver.
38:56
SPEAKER_05: Let's not disparage He was, he was.
38:59
SPEAKER_03: I I I I love Nate Washington.
39:01
SPEAKER_03: I mean, he was certainly not, you know, an all-time great, but he was very effective, especially that year.
39:06
SPEAKER_05: Better little Ron McLean.
39:11
SPEAKER_03: Following a 10-yard strike to Ward, the Steelers have first and goal at the Baltimore four-yard line with a chance to tie or win the game with a touchdown.
39:21
SPEAKER_03: And by this point, the Steelers were very used to this pattern down late in the game and dependent on number seven to lead them to victory.
39:28
SPEAKER_03: The New York Times called that drive, quote, a microcosm of the Steelers season and Rothersberger's career, resilient and remarkable.
39:37
SPEAKER_03: So first and goal from the four, three chances to score.
39:40
SPEAKER_03: Our odds are pretty good Pittsburgh's going to take the lead, right?
39:43
SPEAKER_03: So what happens?
39:44
SPEAKER_03: First down, Ben spikes the ball.
39:48
SPEAKER_03: Which was totally unnecessary because there's still almost a minute left on the clock.
39:53
SPEAKER_05: Clock management never never never a strong point of Mike Tomlin.
39:59
SPEAKER_05: No.
40:01
SPEAKER_03: No.
40:02
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
40:02
SPEAKER_03: It's it's just terrible clock management.
40:04
SPEAKER_03: So they waste a down.
40:06
SPEAKER_03: And then on second down, Ben throws a pass over the middle for tight end Matt Spaith, but he can't haul it in.
40:11
SPEAKER_03: So now we're down to third down.
40:14
SPEAKER_03: And once again, enter Santonio Holmes.
40:17
SPEAKER_03: Holmes is not having a good game.
40:19
SPEAKER_03: In fact, the reason Baltimore has the lead is because Holmes had fumbled deep in Ravens territory.
40:25
SPEAKER_03: That's how the Ravens got that nine-to-six lead.
40:28
SPEAKER_03: Also, Holmes has had some discipline issues this season.
40:30
SPEAKER_03: Tomlin had actually benched him earlier in the year.
40:34
SPEAKER_03: I think most people forget about that, Steve.
40:36
SPEAKER_03: You were talking about the the Tomlin discipline stuff.
40:39
SPEAKER_03: I think people forget about stuff like that.
40:41
SPEAKER_03: It's Antonio Holmes.
40:43
SPEAKER_05: Was that over the naked?
40:44
SPEAKER_05: No, that was later the naked pictures he was sending people.
40:47
SPEAKER_05: I don't think he did the off-the-field stuff yet.
40:50
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
40:51
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I don't remember what it was about specifically.
40:53
SPEAKER_03: I just know that that he had been bent.
40:56
SPEAKER_05: Once again, Tomlin really doesn't Yeah, you really don't find out why.
41:00
SPEAKER_05: Like maybe, yeah, maybe late for meetings or whatever.
41:03
SPEAKER_03: Sure.
41:04
SPEAKER_03: Sure.
41:04
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, like you said, he's not going to air that stuff publicly, much to the chagrin of Steeler fans who want to call him out for being soft or whatever.
41:13
SPEAKER_03: But on uh so Holmes, again, bad game, kind of a rocky season, but on third and goal, Ben looks for Santonio, and here's what that play sounds like, complete with some dramatic NFL films music.
41:29
SPEAKER_06: Rapplings broker takes he wants to throw it on third and goal.
41:32
SPEAKER_06: He looks right nothing there.
41:33
SPEAKER_06: Scampin' his left, looks, stops, now comes back to the strike, throws the path, touchdown, that's right, Tantonio, pulls it into the end zone, alleged to say he wants it in.
41:43
SPEAKER_05: In order to change this to a touchdown, the official has to have evidence that the ball broke the plane.
41:50
SPEAKER_05: Now remember, all the ball has to do is touch the chalk.
41:54
SPEAKER_01: The chalk.
41:54
SPEAKER_01: The score and the division title would come down to a matter of inches.
42:00
SPEAKER_04: The receiver had 108 down in the end zone with possession of the balls and has a touchdown.
42:10
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I I don't know if that was a I I'll say that till the day I don't know if that was a touchdown or not.
42:16
SPEAKER_05: That's just so close.
42:18
SPEAKER_05: I don't know how they determined that was a touchdown.
42:22
SPEAKER_05: I mean, are they just because his feet are in the end zone, they're counting it as a touchdown?
42:26
SPEAKER_03: I I mean he did get his feet down in the end zone, but yeah, though the that ends up being a very controversial call.
42:34
SPEAKER_03: And and in the book, we go into some more detail about the history of replay and how it went away and how it came back.
42:43
SPEAKER_03: And remember, Steve, when it came back, the stipulation was that if anything was overturned, it had to be because of like clear irrefutable evidence.
42:55
SPEAKER_03: And I don't know that that replay, because they originally called it not a touchdown.
43:00
SPEAKER_03: Right.
43:00
SPEAKER_03: I don't know that that replay met that criteria.
43:04
SPEAKER_05: If they would have called it the other way, you're gonna say, well, you know.
43:07
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, there wasn't enough evidence to overturn it.
43:09
SPEAKER_03: But they didn't.
43:10
SPEAKER_03: They didn't they called it no touchdown.
43:12
SPEAKER_03: So regardless, it is a touchdown.
43:14
SPEAKER_03: Uh William Gay then picks off Flacco's Desperation Hail Mary pass moments later, and the Steelers are kings of the AFC North, but they know that this is probably not the last time they're gonna see the Ravens.
43:27
SPEAKER_03: Uh, they also know they haven't won anything yet.
43:30
SPEAKER_03: Larry Foote says uh quote, ain't no special season until you win that Super Bowl.
43:35
SPEAKER_03: So the Steelers know that they really haven't won anything yet.
43:38
SPEAKER_03: Uh while the Steelers and Ravens are battling for AFC North supremacy, the Tennessee Titans are putting together a dream season.
43:46
SPEAKER_03: Veteran quarterback Kerry Collins, formerly of Penn State, leads Tennessee to the NFL's best record.
43:53
SPEAKER_03: So the Steelers enter the postseason as the number two seed, and the Ravens, despite their very impressive eleven wins, they have To go in as the number six seed, really on the back of that Santonio Holmes controversial catch.
44:06
SPEAKER_03: But in reality, this is very similar to like Oilers and Steelers in the 70s.
44:11
SPEAKER_03: The two best teams in the AFC, actually, I would argue the two best teams in the entire NFL that year are Pittsburgh and Baltimore.
44:19
SPEAKER_05: Really?
44:20
SPEAKER_05: I mean, well, Carolina.
44:22
SPEAKER_05: Well, Carolina had a great season, didn't they, that year?
44:25
SPEAKER_03: Carolina?
44:26
SPEAKER_03: What did they do?
44:27
SPEAKER_03: What Super Bowl did they make it to?
44:28
SPEAKER_05: I don't know.
44:30
SPEAKER_05: Did they get blown out?
44:31
SPEAKER_05: Who's the team that got blown out at home by Arizona?
44:34
SPEAKER_05: Was that Carolina?
44:35
SPEAKER_03: That was Carolina.
44:36
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
44:36
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
44:37
SPEAKER_05: I don't know.
44:38
SPEAKER_05: Who I don't even know who quarter who's Carolina's quarterback?
44:41
SPEAKER_05: Was it Cam Newton at that point?
44:42
SPEAKER_05: I don't even know.
44:44
SPEAKER_03: Still home still, maybe.
44:46
SPEAKER_03: Again, Carolina was not better than Baltimore that year.
44:49
SPEAKER_03: Sorry.
44:49
SPEAKER_03: They just weren't.
44:54
SPEAKER_03: You could have you could have maybe said the Giants, because I the Giants were the number one seed in the I thought Carolina was the number one seed.
45:00
SPEAKER_05: I don't know.
45:01
SPEAKER_03: Well, one of the two of them.
45:02
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
45:02
SPEAKER_03: I think they were the two, the top two seeds.
45:04
SPEAKER_03: And the Giants were the defending Super Bowl champions, but they got upset and they didn't.
45:08
SPEAKER_05: But Arizona just gets on a really hot streak at the end of the year.
45:11
SPEAKER_03: And Philadelphia, too.
45:13
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
45:13
SPEAKER_03: You know.
45:14
SPEAKER_05: So um, but yeah, I I would and and that was a weird year on the NFC side.
45:19
SPEAKER_05: That really was.
45:20
SPEAKER_05: It's just like Philadelphia and Arizona just kind of came out of nowhere at the end of the year.
45:25
SPEAKER_03: And that's what I'm saying.
45:26
SPEAKER_03: I think that's why I think Pittsburgh and Baltimore were the two best teams in the league.
45:29
SPEAKER_03: And you could have argued that Tennessee was was better, but then in the playoffs, the Ravens.
45:35
SPEAKER_05: It doesn't go well when Tennessee plays Baltimore in a playoff.
45:38
SPEAKER_05: It doesn't go well for Tennessee.
45:39
SPEAKER_05: It never has.
45:41
SPEAKER_03: Well, and and that's what happens.
45:44
SPEAKER_03: The Ravens, well, in the first round, they make quick work of the Dolphins.
45:47
SPEAKER_03: The Dolphins were running that wildcat offense that year.
45:50
SPEAKER_05: That was yeah, that was that weird.
45:51
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
45:52
SPEAKER_05: I don't even know who was their quarterback.
45:53
SPEAKER_05: I don't even know.
45:54
SPEAKER_03: Was it Pat White?
45:55
SPEAKER_03: I thought it was Pat White from West Virginia.
45:58
SPEAKER_05: I've I know they had him on the roster, but then they have somebody out like it was the running back who really, if I forget the running back.
46:04
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
46:04
SPEAKER_03: I mean, regardless, Baltimore wipes them out in the first round.
46:09
SPEAKER_03: You know, and that offense had stymied a lot of teams.
46:11
SPEAKER_03: That's why the Dolphins made the playoffs.
46:13
SPEAKER_03: And then, like you said, in the divisional round, they shock the Titans in Tennessee.
46:18
SPEAKER_05: Is it really shocking?
46:19
SPEAKER_05: I mean, I don't know.
46:20
SPEAKER_03: Well, sure, yeah, that's true.
46:21
SPEAKER_03: Again, to the point about Baltimore probably being the the the one of the two best teams in the league that year.
46:27
SPEAKER_03: Their defense forces three turnovers.
46:29
SPEAKER_03: And I think what people might forget about that game is that it's ultimately won by Flacco because he leads a very Ben-like last-second drive for the victory.
46:39
SPEAKER_03: Uh the Ravens needed a last-second drive to win that game, and Flacco, as a rookie, leads him down the field to do that.
46:46
SPEAKER_03: Uh the Steelers, meanwhile, they have a bye in the first round, then they crush the Chargers in the divisional round.
46:52
SPEAKER_05: They actually run the ball for a change.
46:54
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that was the one game all season where Willie Parker had a huge game.
46:58
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
47:00
SPEAKER_03: And that sets up what everyone in both cities dreamed about.
47:03
SPEAKER_03: It's Steelers versus Ravens for the AFC Championship at Heinz Field.
47:10
SPEAKER_05: I think it's the biggest playoff game in Steeler history since like you know the 70s.
47:16
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
47:17
SPEAKER_03: I would say that.
47:18
SPEAKER_05: I I mean, because they played all the other ones on the road.
47:22
SPEAKER_03: I mean, in terms of like hype and build-up and what it meant, I mean, to play your biggest rivals.
47:29
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, there was Cleveland and the playoffs, but that was a wild card game, wasn't it?
47:34
SPEAKER_03: It was div it was a divisional.
47:37
SPEAKER_03: And it and it just didn't have the like we said about the the quality over quantity.
47:42
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
47:43
SPEAKER_03: Like like that that one year, Cleveland and Pittsburgh were both really good, but they hadn't really been good together for about 30 years before that.
47:51
SPEAKER_03: So uh yeah, this one I I that's a good point, Steve.
47:54
SPEAKER_03: I think yes, I think this is probably the greatest and most hyped playoff game that the Steelers have had, yeah, since since the 70s.
48:02
SPEAKER_03: I agree with that.
48:03
SPEAKER_05: I can't think of one even since that's I mean maybe the cle when Cleveland played us in the COVID year.
48:12
SPEAKER_05: No.
48:12
SPEAKER_05: But even that didn't get there was no fans.
48:14
SPEAKER_03: So no, this this one was this one was was was huge.
48:20
SPEAKER_03: Uh so here's a fun story that I dug up.
48:23
SPEAKER_03: The uh the Baltimore staff, the coaches and all the front office people, they have to have a pass with a special sticker on it to gain access to the field uh for the AFC championship game.
48:36
SPEAKER_03: So like Heinzfield had set up like, hey, you have to have a pass, and it has to have the sticker and you have to show it to security, and that's how you get in.
48:42
SPEAKER_03: And the sticker that the Steelers security opts for was a cartoon laughing jackass.
48:48
SPEAKER_03: And John Harbaugh refuses to wear the sticker, and he actually has to get honorary captain Tony Saragusa to intimidate the security guard into letting him onto the field.
49:00
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, he literally is like, I'm not gonna wear that sticker.
49:03
SPEAKER_03: They're just doing that to be jerks, and I'm not gonna go along with it.
49:06
SPEAKER_03: So there's a big fight for him to get onto the field for the game because he won't wear this this sticker.
49:12
SPEAKER_05: I don't I don't know like who's like it just makes everybody look like idiots.
49:18
SPEAKER_05: Just just put the sticker on and then take it off, you know?
49:21
SPEAKER_05: I mean, there you go.
49:22
SPEAKER_05: You know who I am.
49:24
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you you could also argue that uh you could also argue that the Steelers, whoever was running the stadium That's why I said it you both look like idiots.
49:34
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, yeah.
49:35
SPEAKER_05: Both of you need to grow up just the for a split second.
49:38
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
49:39
SPEAKER_03: Well, it's it's actually not the it's it's actually one of two controversies that the Steelers stadium people are gonna have in this game, but we'll get to that later.
49:47
SPEAKER_05: Oh, yeah.
49:48
SPEAKER_05: Well, down on the corner.
49:50
SPEAKER_03: Yes, that's exactly right.
49:52
SPEAKER_03: So uh both both teams have gotten to this point on the strengths of their defenses.
49:56
SPEAKER_03: Both teams have top three defenses that season, so you knew it was gonna be like a very brutal physical game, and sure enough, it is.
50:04
SPEAKER_03: Willie Cologne says that he locks eyes with Veloti Nata on the game's first play.
50:09
SPEAKER_03: And Cologne later says that Nata, quote, just gave me that nod like somebody is going to die today.
50:16
SPEAKER_03: That was the agreement we made that we were going to war, we were going to empty the clip on each other, and whoever was able to get off the field was going to be the winner.
50:24
SPEAKER_07: That's crazy.
50:26
SPEAKER_05: That's the most insane thing.
50:29
SPEAKER_05: Wow.
50:30
SPEAKER_05: I wow, that's intense.
50:31
SPEAKER_05: That's an intense rivalry.
50:34
SPEAKER_05: I respect that.
50:36
SPEAKER_05: I respect that.
50:37
SPEAKER_03: Ed Reed basically says the same thing.
50:39
SPEAKER_03: He says the mantra for both teams is quote, kill or be killed.
50:44
SPEAKER_03: And and Ed Reed says you couldn't play that type of football against the other teams.
50:48
SPEAKER_03: The Patriots just didn't play that way, the Colts didn't play that way.
50:51
SPEAKER_03: It was just the Ravens and the Steelers.
50:53
SPEAKER_03: You always knew what you were gonna get.
50:56
SPEAKER_03: So that's from Ed Reed.
50:58
SPEAKER_03: Uh the first quarter goes largely Pittsburgh's way.
51:00
SPEAKER_03: The Steelers have a couple of big plays early, they have a long completion award, a Townsend interception of Flacco, but both plays only result in field goals.
51:09
SPEAKER_03: Baltimore then has a golden chance at the end of the first quarter when they strip Willie Parker and recover in Steelers territory.
51:16
SPEAKER_03: But Troy Polomalu makes a leaping tackle over the line of scrimmage to stuff a Flacco sneak on fourth and one.
51:24
SPEAKER_03: The next big play of the game comes early in the second quarter.
51:27
SPEAKER_03: The Steelers have third and long from their own 35-yard line.
51:32
SPEAKER_03: The Ravens blitz seven defenders, and the pocket quickly collapses, as it usually did that year.
51:38
SPEAKER_03: Raltosperger scrambles to his left, then he tries to cut back to his right, but suddenly finds Ray Lewis right in his face, and he has to throw off his back foot.
51:48
SPEAKER_03: And here's what happens next.
51:54
SPEAKER_09: They're bringing everybody stepping away from it.
51:58
SPEAKER_09: Rafflesberger throws off balance.
52:01
SPEAKER_09: Has Holmes Holmes cuts back middle pass.
52:03
SPEAKER_09: Walker sidesteps another hit.
52:06
SPEAKER_09: Miller down there leading the charges.
52:08
SPEAKER_09: Washington's gonna throw a block, and Holmes is taking it in.
52:11
SPEAKER_09: Touchdown, Pittsburgh.
52:21
SPEAKER_03: Fire up that Mortal Kombat music again.
52:26
SPEAKER_05: Um Yeah, there aren't a lot of quarterbacks can make that play uh in in NFL history.
52:33
SPEAKER_05: There really isn't.
52:34
SPEAKER_05: And uh thank God we had one of 'em.
52:38
SPEAKER_03: A lot of other quarters that probably would be an interception or incompletion or you know, just throwaway or a sack, yeah, or taking the sack, yeah.
52:46
SPEAKER_03: Yep, and then Holmes makes a great play.
52:48
SPEAKER_03: It it's you know, that play I feel like is always a little bit uh you watch that play, it's an amazing play.
52:55
SPEAKER_03: And it's only the second greatest play of this game.
52:59
SPEAKER_03: You know what I mean?
53:00
SPEAKER_03: It's like it's overshadowed because of what happens later, but it's it's an amazing play, isn't it?
53:06
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I mean it it's it's a classic Ben move, and um Holmes and him, they were just on a whole nother level that year.
53:15
SPEAKER_05: Even the one year I remember they didn't make the boot towers last year.
53:20
SPEAKER_05: Remember, he had a nice completion to Holmes and against the Bengals to win a game in overtime.
53:26
SPEAKER_05: So they always had a good connection, they always were able to find each other.
53:30
SPEAKER_05: And um it's a shame Santonio Holmes didn't play longer for the Steelers.
53:36
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it really is.
53:37
SPEAKER_03: And and when he was at the height of his greatness, again, that's it was hard to stop.
53:42
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, well, and that's all three games this year, Santonio Holmes has made a huge, massive play.
53:49
SPEAKER_03: Like, and then of course we all know what he what he does a couple weeks later in the Super Bowl.
53:54
SPEAKER_03: So I I mean, you're right, he his career in Pittsburgh was short.
53:58
SPEAKER_03: It it had a very kind of bitter end.
54:01
SPEAKER_03: But I don't know if anybody had a better single season than Santonio Holmes in 2008.
54:06
SPEAKER_03: I really don't.
54:08
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, uh at least that wide receiver.
54:11
SPEAKER_03: Right, right.
54:12
SPEAKER_03: So after that touchdown, the Steelers now lead 13-0, but of course it was never going to be that easy.
54:18
SPEAKER_03: The momentum starts to shift.
54:20
SPEAKER_03: Uh Chris Kiyamatu, has who, as we said, has a knack for taking untimely penalties, he has a costly personal foul, and that forces the Steelers to punt from deep in their own territory.
54:31
SPEAKER_03: Jim Leonard for Baltimore returns at 45 yards, and a few plays later, Ravens running back Willis McGahee scores a touchdown to cut the lead to 13-7.
54:41
SPEAKER_03: To make matters worse for the Steelers, Heinz Ward suffers an MCL sprain and is lost for the game.
54:47
SPEAKER_03: So Pittsburgh now needs someone to step up in place of Ward, and they hope that that someone would be rookie Lima Swede.
54:58
SPEAKER_03: Swede is a 6'4 phenom out of Texas.
55:01
SPEAKER_03: At one point, he was actually projected to be the first wide receiver taken in the 2008 draft, but his stock fell due to a wrist injury.
55:10
SPEAKER_03: And the Steelers really thought they had a steal when they nabbed Swede in the second round.
55:14
SPEAKER_03: And and Swede has a slow rookie year.
55:17
SPEAKER_03: He's only been targeted about uh ten times.
55:21
SPEAKER_03: Uh, but here in the biggest game of the season, Swede is gonna get his shot at glory.
55:26
SPEAKER_03: With just one minute left to go in the first half.
55:28
SPEAKER_03: The Steelers have the ball at midfield, and here's what happens.
55:35
SPEAKER_09: He's got the man! Line! Line the Twede.
55:41
SPEAKER_09: Swede is still down in the end zone.
55:45
SPEAKER_09: No is them suffering from a bruised ego.
55:48
SPEAKER_09: And a little embarrassment after that.
55:52
SPEAKER_09: My goodness, me was a perfectly filmable, maybe just a half yard one, but certainly very catchable.
55:59
SPEAKER_09: It was perfect, perfect, it was perfect.
56:05
SPEAKER_05: Bill Sims wasn't having it.
56:07
SPEAKER_05: He's like it's perfect.
56:10
SPEAKER_05: Fans weren't having it either, as you could hear there.
56:13
SPEAKER_05: That that would have that would have like probably put Baltimore away right before the half, 20 to 7.
56:19
SPEAKER_03: It would have been 20 to 7.
56:20
SPEAKER_03: That would have been blackjack hit me, yeah.
56:23
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, right, exactly.
56:24
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, like you said about the 21 points.
56:27
SPEAKER_03: Um the the the not only does Lima drop that the touchdown, he also like feigns an injury, which costs the Steelers their final timeout.
56:37
SPEAKER_03: Because even if that pass was incomplete, they still had time to maybe at least get in field goal range, and them having to use that final timeout makes it where they don't get any points.
56:46
SPEAKER_03: Why'd they have to take I mean if the clock stops on an incomplete pass, I don't understand why you if there's an injury, the the role is if if inside of whatever, however much time, if there's an injury on the field, you have to you're charged a timeout.
57:02
SPEAKER_05: Huh.
57:02
SPEAKER_05: Even on a stopped clock.
57:04
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, because you're you're uh you could use that time to huddle and get your play together and all that.
57:10
SPEAKER_03: You could basically do the stuff that you would normally do during a timeout.
57:14
SPEAKER_03: Right?
57:14
SPEAKER_03: It's not just stopping the clock, it's the all the stuff that would go with taking a timeout.
57:19
SPEAKER_05: Probably Bill Belichick made them make that rule.
57:23
SPEAKER_03: Probably most things date back to Belichick somehow.
57:28
SPEAKER_03: Uh but the you could hear the fans were really upset about that, and then James Farrier actually says that um the Steelers players were pretty upset about that too.
57:38
SPEAKER_03: So Swede never really recovers from that play, and he's out of football two years later.
57:43
SPEAKER_03: So kind of a crazy back and forth first half, but then the game kind of settles more into like a Steelers typic, like a typical Steelers Ravens format.
57:51
SPEAKER_03: Def Reed kicks a 46-yard field goal to put the Steelers up 16-7, which, like Steve said, was not easy at Heinz Field in those days.
57:59
SPEAKER_03: And then in the fourth quarter, Flacco leads a touchdown and drive to bring the Ravens within two points.
58:04
SPEAKER_03: And after a Suggs sack leads to another Steelers punt, the stage is set for a storybook Baltimore inning.
58:13
SPEAKER_03: It is the rookie quarterback who was shunned by by a Pittsburgh football team now has the chance to lead his team to the conference-winning field goal in the game's final moments.
58:26
SPEAKER_03: Uh Troy Palomalo said later that it would have been, quote, a great story for them.
58:31
SPEAKER_03: But uh Troy's gonna write his own story.
58:33
SPEAKER_05: So I remember Dick Le Dick LeBeau walking out.
58:37
SPEAKER_05: Isn't he like, okay, we can hold there?
58:39
SPEAKER_05: Like he says something like that, something like that on the sidelines.
58:42
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
58:43
SPEAKER_05: He was kind of giving them a pep talk.
58:45
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I mean, because now it it like and so how appropriate too, right?
58:50
SPEAKER_03: It all comes down to the defense.
58:52
SPEAKER_05: We'll talk about after this play.
58:53
SPEAKER_05: He he makes an interesting uh adjustment.
58:56
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
58:57
SPEAKER_03: We will yeah, let's let's let's talk about that because so renegade plays on the loudspeakers again.
59:03
SPEAKER_03: It's the it's the this is really like the pinnacle drive of the entire rivalry up to this point.
59:09
SPEAKER_03: And and it starts off with Flacco hitting tight end Todd Heap for a 20-yard gain to get the drive started.
59:15
SPEAKER_03: Uh Todd Heap had been playing for the Ravens since like 1964, I think.
59:20
SPEAKER_05: It was about the old Baltimore Colts, yeah.
59:23
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, seriously.
59:24
SPEAKER_03: Like I did not remember that Todd Heap was still playing in this game, but he gets a 20-yard pass.
59:29
SPEAKER_03: Uh, and then Ray Rice has a short run, and then this is what Steve was referring to.
59:34
SPEAKER_03: Steelers defensive coordinator Dick Lebeau calls an unusual play.
59:38
SPEAKER_03: Uh so James Harrison and Lamar Woodley were the two outside linebackers that year.
59:43
SPEAKER_03: And Lebau has them line up on the same side.
59:47
SPEAKER_03: James Farrier then blitzes from the opposite side, and it works magnificently.
59:53
SPEAKER_03: The pressure from Ferrier forces Flacco to step up in the pocket, and Woodley's waiting there to swallow him up.
59:59
SPEAKER_05: Because I think they were double teaming, they were trying to double-team both of them.
1:00:03
SPEAKER_05: And once you did that, you really couldn't.
1:00:05
SPEAKER_05: And plus Farrier was always pretty clutch and good at rush.
1:00:08
SPEAKER_05: That's the only reason this really works.
1:00:10
SPEAKER_05: Really, Ferrier's kind of the unsung, I never thought about that.
1:00:12
SPEAKER_05: Ferrier's kind of the unsung hero of this play.
1:00:15
SPEAKER_05: Boy, another big play by James Farrier.
1:00:17
SPEAKER_05: That guy doesn't get enough credit.
1:00:18
SPEAKER_03: No, he really doesn't.
1:00:20
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
1:00:20
SPEAKER_03: He really doesn't.
1:00:22
SPEAKER_03: There were a lot of guys on that defense who won't be in the Hall of Fame one day.
1:00:26
SPEAKER_03: Who without those guys, Aaron Smith's another one.
1:00:29
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, like James Ferrier, we don't win two Super Bowls without James Ferrier.
1:00:33
SPEAKER_05: Totally agree.
1:00:34
SPEAKER_03: Yep.
1:00:35
SPEAKER_03: So the Ravens now have third and thirteen from their own 29-yard line.
1:00:43
SPEAKER_03: And that sets up one of the most iconic moments in Pittsburgh Steelers' history.
1:00:50
SPEAKER_02: Baltimore needed just a field goal to take the lead.
1:00:55
SPEAKER_02: Once again, the Steelers needed a play.
1:00:59
SPEAKER_02: What they got was the stuff of legend.
1:01:04
SPEAKER_06: Turn over time, man.
1:01:05
SPEAKER_06: Turn over time.
1:01:06
unknown: Let's go.
1:01:07
SPEAKER_06: The clock at 443 and winding.
1:01:10
SPEAKER_06: He's back.
1:01:11
SPEAKER_06: He waits.
1:01:11
SPEAKER_06: He throws the pass.
1:01:12
SPEAKER_06: And it's intercepted.
1:01:13
SPEAKER_06: True by the 40.
1:01:15
SPEAKER_06: 35 running.
1:01:16
SPEAKER_06: Calculus at the 25.
1:01:22
SPEAKER_06: He's running by the 15.
1:01:24
SPEAKER_06: He turns and goes right to the right.
1:01:26
SPEAKER_06: And he came with a touchdown.
1:01:30
unknown: And this
1:01:35
SPEAKER_05: That was like rattling my like headset.
1:01:40
SPEAKER_05: Felt like I was there to even though I never or I wasn't, I watched it at home.
1:01:44
SPEAKER_05: I was excited.
1:01:45
SPEAKER_05: I was excited at home.
1:01:47
SPEAKER_03: I I was there and and I've been going to Sewer Games for uh almost 40 seasons, and I can tell you that I've never experienced a stadium as loud as it was in that exact moment.
1:01:59
SPEAKER_03: I just I've never not before then, not after then.
1:02:04
SPEAKER_03: I've never felt that kind of energy.
1:02:06
SPEAKER_03: I was literally jumping into the arms of strangers.
1:02:10
SPEAKER_03: Like, literally, I was like, we were like leaping into each other's arms like celebrating.
1:02:15
SPEAKER_03: Uh what a play.
1:02:16
SPEAKER_03: Troy Palomalo with the interception and the return.
1:02:20
SPEAKER_03: Um again, iconic moment in steeler history.
1:02:24
SPEAKER_03: It's not quite the end of the game.
1:02:26
SPEAKER_03: Uh the Ravens are down 23-14, and so of course they're gonna try to you know still muster something in the final minutes, even though it's you know, very slim chance of doing anything.
1:02:36
SPEAKER_03: But McGahee absorbs a violent hit from Ryan Clark and he coughs up the football.
1:02:42
SPEAKER_03: That's probably probably the one of the scariest hits I've ever seen, Steve.
1:02:47
SPEAKER_05: I mean Yeah, it's probably one of the one of those things that like started the whole concussion.
1:02:54
SPEAKER_05: Because like he he he spears him with his helmet and McKay's down for a long time.
1:03:00
SPEAKER_05: And normally when a player gets hurt, they just like show the logo on the screen or the screen goes black and they don't do anything.
1:03:07
SPEAKER_05: Like they don't play any music or anything, they just so I don't know who was running the score.
1:03:13
SPEAKER_05: But like I mean, I've been to Steelers games, I've been to Pit games.
1:03:16
SPEAKER_05: Normally, like if they don't realize that a player is seriously hurt, as soon as they do, they turn everything off.
1:03:23
SPEAKER_05: Like, that's pretty much been a general rule I've noticed.
1:03:27
SPEAKER_05: But for some reason they decided to go with um they they decided to play the credence and they played uh you know what is that uh down on the corner?
1:03:36
SPEAKER_05: Down on the corner.
1:03:37
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
1:03:38
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I mean, it it's an odd choice.
1:03:40
SPEAKER_03: But um Yeah, it's an odd like you said, it's an odd choice to play music at all when a guy is playing.
1:03:46
SPEAKER_03: But they normally don't.
1:03:47
SPEAKER_05: It's not like oh they always do that, that's just what they do.
1:03:50
SPEAKER_03: No, yeah, it's it's I mean if it's a somber moment.
1:03:53
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, if you if it's a normal time out and it's just people milling around, then they'll play the music.
1:03:59
SPEAKER_05: But normally, you know, even I've seen times where they start to play the music and they're like, oh, wait a minute, somebody's hurt, and they turn it off.
1:04:06
SPEAKER_05: I've seen that.
1:04:07
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
1:04:08
SPEAKER_05: So I mean I I I don't know.
1:04:11
SPEAKER_05: It was definitely talked about.
1:04:13
SPEAKER_05: I remember Jim Rome, the uh the national announcer, got like really like he really made fun of the Steelers for that.
1:04:20
SPEAKER_05: Like, you know, oh a neck injury, uh, down on the corner.
1:04:24
SPEAKER_05: Like he did that like a whole bit on that.
1:04:27
SPEAKER_05: It was um it was they were rat they were ridiculed nationally and embarrassed, and you know, so yeah, the knees definitely kind of were embarrassed by that.
1:04:39
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it was it was it was definitely a little bit of an embarrassing moment.
1:04:43
SPEAKER_03: I think it kind of got lost to time just because the Stears are going to the Super Bowl.
1:04:48
SPEAKER_03: You know, it's like okay, bad decision, they shouldn't have done that.
1:04:51
SPEAKER_03: Anyway, let's talk about the Super Bowl.
1:04:55
SPEAKER_05: What a great team, yeah.
1:04:56
SPEAKER_05: I mean, and what a great play.
1:04:58
SPEAKER_05: And I and I think that's Harrison actually gets some weight pressure on Flacco to force that.
1:05:03
SPEAKER_03: He did.
1:05:04
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, he Flacco's actually getting hit as he threw that.
1:05:07
SPEAKER_05: But Palomalo makes a great interception, too.
1:05:10
SPEAKER_05: It's just a great play all around.
1:05:11
SPEAKER_05: It really wasn't Flacco's fault.
1:05:13
SPEAKER_05: And maybe it gets completed if Palomalo isn't as good as he is, maybe, you know.
1:05:19
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, very true.
1:05:20
SPEAKER_05: But but I mean, you know, it was a great and a great idea, Dick Lebeau.
1:05:24
SPEAKER_05: That's why Dick LeBeau's in the Hall of Fame.
1:05:27
SPEAKER_05: Right.
1:05:27
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
1:05:27
SPEAKER_03: Yep.
1:05:29
SPEAKER_03: So the Steelers prevail.
1:05:31
SPEAKER_03: They of course then go on to win the Super Bowl two weeks later in dramatic fashion.
1:05:35
SPEAKER_03: The 2008 season is epic because of the level that both teams were at at that point.
1:05:41
SPEAKER_03: Like we like I said, I think they were the two best teams in the entire league.
1:05:45
SPEAKER_03: And it also kind of marks a turning point in that rivalry.
1:05:48
SPEAKER_03: Because up into that point, Steve, I think the series between the Stewart and Ravens was marked by a lot of negativity, which we cover in the book.
1:05:56
SPEAKER_03: Like those early years with uh like the Kind of era with with uh you know Joey Porter and and and uh you know Ray Lewis and those guys Saragusa there was a lot more like animosity and anger and I think by this point in 2008 it was kind of becoming harder to not at least sort of begrudgingly respect each other and and in that championship game I mean Baltimore played their absolute guts out that night.
1:06:26
SPEAKER_03: Yeah and played pretty well played pretty well played very well with a rookie quarterback too and and and remember back in the 90s when they used to say like Dallas and San Francisco in the championship game was the real Super Bowl?
1:06:40
SPEAKER_03: This was the real Super Bowl.
1:06:41
SPEAKER_03: It really was I mean and and you know no disrespect for the to the Cardinals who you know came incredibly close to winning the Super Bowl but that was the real Super Bowl those were the two best teams and um Derek Mason the the wide receiver for the Ravens he congratulates Tomlin after the game and uh they get a soundbite of that in NFL films and uh Tomlin kind of sums up the state of the rivalry uh in one sentence that he says to Mason he says quote you all bring out the best in us yeah and that that's good that's a yeah that's what a rivalry should be that's what healthy competition should be you know yeah yeah and and when the Ravens win the Super Bowl four years later Ed Reed actually credits the Steelers uh because he's he says he actually he actually goes to Tampa for that Super Bowl between the Steelers and Cardinals because he wanted to watch it and he said when he sat there and watched the Steelers win the Super Bowl he's like hey we can do this too like we could win this thing too if the Steelers can do it we can do it.
1:07:43
SPEAKER_03: And he actually says that years later that that really helped the Ravens you know kind of believe in themselves.
1:07:50
SPEAKER_03: So uh after the season uh both teams make it clear that while they hated each other on the field uh that's where it ended uh Ray Lewis tells Mendenhall that he had no intent to injure him and he had been praying for his recovery.
1:08:03
SPEAKER_03: Ryan Clark runs into McGay and asks him out for a drink.
1:08:08
SPEAKER_03: And Ike Taylor said that although he hated the Ravens with a passion uh after the game everyone was quote cool with each other.
1:08:16
SPEAKER_03: Ryan Clark was later asked uh hey you know you and Willis McGahee went out for drinks did you guys talk about that hit and and Clark says quote uh no there was nothing to talk about we both understand what this rivalry is about.
1:08:33
SPEAKER_05: McGaye probably doesn't remember it quite honestly talk about a guy that like he's not gonna have I I I I always feel bad for it because I always liked Willis McGahey at Miami.
1:08:46
SPEAKER_03: I remember how good he was in college and he's had so many horrific injuries I you know I hope he's has a lot of money and is doing okay wherever he's he's at and living yeah he had a lot of bad luck in his career good player really yeah he was a he was like unstoppable in college like every time he touched the ball it didn't matter he got five yards and he was very good in the NFL too he just again had some bad luck so so uh 2008 of of course is by no means the end of the rivalry a lot happens after this and to read about that get the book so that's it for this episode uh thank you everybody for tuning in uh like we said we would really appreciate it if you checked out this book uh you can also connect with us on social media on Facebook you can also check out our website all those links are in the show description thanks again and we will catch you next time