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Greatest Steelers Defensive Plays · Pittsburgh Sports Memories

0:00
SPEAKER_08: Hello and welcome to a very defensive episode of Pittsburgh Sports Memories.
0:06
SPEAKER_08: Are you on the defensive, Tim?
0:12
SPEAKER_08: Um so actually we're not talking about being emotionally defensive, we're talking about the Steelers defense, which is wild yeah, widely considered one of the greatest defenses over several different what would you say, eras since 1969.
0:27
SPEAKER_08: Yes.
0:28
SPEAKER_08: But you know what's odd about that, Tim, is when we think of all the plays, the plays with names on them, like the Immaculate Reception or you know, or uh the Lynn Swan, the kangaroo catch and the levitating leap.
0:42
SPEAKER_08: There really aren't a lot of like for the defense, there aren't any named plays, are there?
0:47
SPEAKER_08: Can you think of any?
0:48
SPEAKER_08: I I don't know.
0:48
SPEAKER_00: No, that's a good point.
0:50
SPEAKER_08: Yeah, so we're gonna look at some of those great defensive plays of all time today.
0:55
SPEAKER_08: And um, you know, some over some of them are forgotten, some of them you recognize, some are just kind of like, oh yeah, maybe forgotten.
1:03
SPEAKER_08: You'll remember.
1:04
SPEAKER_08: So join us as we look back.
1:21
SPEAKER_08: So first up, um, I kind of organized them into groups.
1:25
SPEAKER_08: The first group is Super Bowl clinchers.
1:28
SPEAKER_08: They might have not been the most dramatic in interceptions, but they definitely, I would say, clinched and or pretty much sold it away a Super Bowl.
1:38
SPEAKER_08: And the first one would be a Jack Lambert interception in Super Bowl 14.
1:43
SPEAKER_08: So we'll take a look at that.
1:46
SPEAKER_03: Garragamo on first down 10.
1:48
SPEAKER_03: They're in Steeler territory.
1:50
SPEAKER_03: Garragamo with a play action fake is back, and he lets it fly down the middle, and it's intercepted at the 15.
1:56
SPEAKER_03: And that's Lambert with a football and is running, and he's up to the 29-yard line.
2:02
SPEAKER_04: Lambert intercepts and brings it back to the 29-yard line.
2:07
SPEAKER_04: It was intended for Ron Smith, the wide receiver, but Lambert on a deep stop, and he's known for his outstanding pass coverage.
2:15
SPEAKER_08: And wow, that was a big play, Tim, because the Rams were driving with about five minutes left, and the Rams really had been up to the task.
2:24
SPEAKER_08: Like the Rams were not expected to compete in this Super Bowl, but they are far more competitive than anybody thought they would be.
2:30
SPEAKER_08: And I think they actually had a lead at halftime, didn't they?
2:33
SPEAKER_00: I think they had a lead in the fourth quarter.
2:35
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
2:36
SPEAKER_08: So this was a big play by Jack Lambert and a veteran team to finally vanquish the Rams and Faraguamo and you know, I don't know who's the guy uh from the TV show.
2:48
SPEAKER_00: Fred Dreyer.
2:50
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
2:50
SPEAKER_00: Is that who you're thinking of?
2:51
SPEAKER_08: Yeah, it was uh what's his name?
2:53
SPEAKER_08: Hunter.
2:54
SPEAKER_08: Hunter.
2:55
SPEAKER_08: He was hunting he was hunting a Super Bowl and was stopped.
2:58
SPEAKER_08: Him and McCall.
3:00
SPEAKER_08: No, uh I can remember his co-star, but I can't remember the name of the show, Hunter.
3:05
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
3:06
SPEAKER_08: My brain's really working well today.
3:08
SPEAKER_08: But um, this is kind of the Steelers' last hurrah of that uh Super 70s team.
3:13
SPEAKER_08: After that, they really didn't threaten for any more Super Bowls.
3:17
SPEAKER_08: And um, but uh great way to end the run.
3:20
SPEAKER_08: Um one of the few times in NFO history that I think what every player on the team was pretty much drafted, there were no free agents or anybody signed like that.
3:30
SPEAKER_08: So you'll never see that again, huh?
3:32
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, correct.
3:33
SPEAKER_00: And and we did a whole episode on Super Bowl 14 uh and flushed all that out.
3:38
SPEAKER_00: And you're right, Steve, that the the Rams were way more competitive than anybody thought they were.
3:44
SPEAKER_00: And three different times in that game, they had come back to take the lead.
3:49
SPEAKER_00: So the Steelers had just taken the lead in the fourth quarter, and now the Rams were about to come back for a fourth time and take the lead again when Lambert made that interception.
3:57
SPEAKER_00: So that that's not a super um like in the forefront of everybody's mind kind of Steeler history play, but it it's huge.
4:07
SPEAKER_00: It's really huge because it ices the Super Bowl for the Steelers.
4:10
SPEAKER_08: And even when they show Jack Lambert highlights, they really don't show this interception.
4:15
SPEAKER_08: Yeah like they show him throwing uh what Cliff Harris to the ground or tackling people and spitting over the ground and fighting with Cleveland Browns, but yeah.
4:25
SPEAKER_08: Not not this play, and this is probably his biggest play of his career, if you look think about it.
4:31
SPEAKER_00: That's a good point.
4:32
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
4:33
SPEAKER_08: It won him a Super Bowl.
4:35
SPEAKER_08: So um, so next up is another, I'll call it Super Bowl clincher.
4:40
SPEAKER_08: You might be able to argue with this, but I think it is.
4:43
SPEAKER_08: Um Ike Taylor, he had an interception in Super Bowl 40.
4:46
SPEAKER_08: Um, there was still about 10 minutes left, and the Steelers had a four-point lead, and this was after one of the controversial holding calls.
4:55
SPEAKER_08: But you know, Matt Hasselbach didn't have to throw an interception.
5:00
SPEAKER_08: Or maybe Ike Taylor just made a play.
5:02
SPEAKER_08: But Ike had like a similar inner like he had another one lined up in the first quarter that he dropped, but on this one he doesn't, so we'll review that.
5:13
SPEAKER_08: Third down and 18.
5:15
SPEAKER_15: Hasselback throwing, and it's intercepted at the five-yard line by Ike Taylor.
5:20
SPEAKER_15: And Ike Taylor is brought back to the 28-yard line where he's tackled by Matt Hasselback.
5:26
SPEAKER_08: So thank goodness Ike holds on to that interception, uh, unlike a lot of others he he dropped.
5:32
SPEAKER_08: And um good old Super Roll 40.
5:35
SPEAKER_08: I mean, I think this kind of put the uh Seahawks away because then a couple plays later they do run the um the fake play with Antoine Randwell and Heinz Ward.
5:45
SPEAKER_08: Although that touchdown doesn't have a name, so I I don't know why it doesn't, but wide receiver reverse pass, I don't know.
5:53
SPEAKER_08: Wasn't catchy enough.
5:56
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that was another like it was kind of similar to the a little bit similar to the Lambert play where the momentum um had shifted and yeah, Ben had thrown this bad interception and that made it uh uh was it 14 to 10?
6:13
SPEAKER_00: And then Seattle starts driving and they get all the way, they complete a pass to the one-yard line, but there's a holding call, and it was holding.
6:20
SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry again.
6:21
SPEAKER_00: I know we've been through this, I'm not gonna rehash it all, but uh it was it was Clark Hagen's got like pulled down to the ground.
6:29
SPEAKER_00: So I don't know why you you know how that isn't holding.
6:32
SPEAKER_00: But anyway, um uh you know, so then they were trying to make something happen, and Hasselback throws that interception.
6:38
SPEAKER_00: And and like you said, Steve, Ike Ike was one of those guys who was a really good defender, just didn't intercept a ton of balls.
6:46
SPEAKER_00: He just wasn't a guy that caught the ball a lot.
6:48
SPEAKER_00: That's why he was a defensive back and not a wide receiver, right?
6:51
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and uh and he hung on to that one.
6:53
SPEAKER_00: And um yeah, that's a huge play because you're right, without that, who knows what happens.
6:59
SPEAKER_00: Even if Seattle kicks a field goal there.
7:01
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, the the the Randall L touchdown doesn't ice anything at that point, so it only made it an eight-point game.
7:07
SPEAKER_00: And I don't know that the Steelers would have had the momentum to do that at that point had they not got the interception, right?
7:12
SPEAKER_00: Even if Seattle kicks a field goal, it's 14-13.
7:14
SPEAKER_00: Now the Steelers have to get the ball deep in their own territory on a kickoff, and then maybe they go three and out again, and then who knows what happens, right?
7:22
SPEAKER_00: So that was a huge play.
7:25
SPEAKER_08: Yeah, and uh Ike uh Ike doesn't get a lot of credit as one of the great, like well maybe around in Pittsburgh.
7:32
SPEAKER_08: What do you do?
7:32
SPEAKER_08: In Pittsburgh he probably does, but I think nationally he doesn't get some of the credit that maybe he should because he didn't catch a lot of his interceptions.
7:41
SPEAKER_08: Like I said, he had that early one that he probably should have caught in Super Bowl 40 that he dropped, like Ike was wont to do.
7:50
SPEAKER_08: Ike, I I like I like Ike Taylor.
7:53
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I did too.
7:54
SPEAKER_00: He had a he had a big interception in the AFC championship game before that too, against Denver.
8:00
SPEAKER_08: That was the one he held like it was like you know, the the crown jewels of England.
8:04
SPEAKER_08: That's right.
8:04
SPEAKER_08: Yeah, that's right.
8:05
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
8:06
SPEAKER_08: It was like must not drop.
8:09
SPEAKER_08: That was right before the half, yeah.
8:11
SPEAKER_08: And they ended up scoring a touchdown that pretty much put the game away.
8:14
SPEAKER_08: Exactly.
8:15
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so he was clutch that offseason.
8:17
SPEAKER_00: And like you said, when you think about that that run and all the big plays and everything, you just don't think of like Taylor, and we probably should.
8:24
SPEAKER_08: He took he took pretty much, you know, um Marvin Harrison out of the uh playoff game, too.
8:31
SPEAKER_08: Like Marvin Harrison did not have a good game.
8:34
SPEAKER_00: Well, same with uh, and I know they were missing their quarterback, but same with Chad Johnson the week before that, so yeah.
8:42
SPEAKER_08: Moving on to back to is this Super Bowl 10?
8:45
SPEAKER_08: This is Super Bowl 10, another Super Steelers team.
8:48
SPEAKER_08: And um, this is kind of an underrated play.
8:51
SPEAKER_08: This is at the end of Super Bowl 10.
8:52
SPEAKER_08: There's a Hail Mary that Roger Stahlbach's throwing to attempting to throw to Drew Pearson, and uh Mike Wagner actually does the unforgivable sin of not knocking it down.
9:03
SPEAKER_08: It bounces off his hands, but it goes to Glenn Edwards, and we'll watch Glenn Edwards run around inexplicably for like 30 seconds.
9:11
SPEAKER_14: This most certainly the last play of Super Bowl 10, unless we have a penalty.
9:17
SPEAKER_14: Bellback pumps black.
9:21
SPEAKER_14: Pick them up in the end zone.
9:23
SPEAKER_14: Glenn Edwards, and he's gonna bring it down.
9:25
SPEAKER_14: This one is over.
9:27
SPEAKER_14: Edwards is down at the 28.
9:32
SPEAKER_08: And uh, Tim, why did Glenn Edwards return that ball out of the end zone?
9:36
SPEAKER_08: What was his thinking on that?
9:38
SPEAKER_08: Explain.
9:39
SPEAKER_08: And go.
9:39
SPEAKER_08: Yeah, there's there's no is a and it's kind of scary because was this the year that Dallas had completed a Hail Mary the week like in the championship game to beat Minnesota?
9:51
SPEAKER_08: Was that the same season?
9:53
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
9:53
SPEAKER_00: It was the same season.
9:54
SPEAKER_00: And it was to the guy, it was to uh Pearson, yeah.
9:58
SPEAKER_08: So that was and that and if you watch it, that if Wagner had pretty good coverage, it's like that was that could have been completed.
10:06
SPEAKER_08: That really could have.
10:07
SPEAKER_08: Like and they had a history of doing it.
10:09
SPEAKER_08: It wasn't a bad pass by Stahlbach and Pearson was there.
10:13
SPEAKER_08: Wagner just made a pretty good play and Glen Edwards was kinda jaunty on the spot.
10:17
SPEAKER_08: And that clinches Super Bowl 10, which is probably one of the greatest Super Bowls ever played between the two best teams in the league that year, and maybe the two best teams of the 70s.
10:28
SPEAKER_08: Sorry, the Dolphins.
10:30
SPEAKER_08: You didn't you know you're the third best team.
10:33
SPEAKER_00: But that was if you remember too, um, that was all set up because of a very controversial decision by Chuck Knoll.
10:44
SPEAKER_08: Yeah, he didn't he didn't punt because he was afraid his punt would get blocked.
10:49
SPEAKER_00: Right.
10:49
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
10:50
SPEAKER_08: But then they ran the ball like fourth and nine.
10:53
SPEAKER_08: Right.
10:53
SPEAKER_08: He just runs the ball into the middle.
10:54
SPEAKER_08: Like I'm he went super conservative at the end of that game.
10:59
SPEAKER_00: Yes, it was super conservative.
11:00
SPEAKER_00: Now, now, to be fair, he had a pretty good defense, right?
11:05
SPEAKER_00: And he his thought process was with this defense I have, he he trusted his defense to stop Dallas more than he trusted his offense or special teams to throw a pass or punt, right?
11:20
SPEAKER_00: And and I think Bobby Walden, I think they had already blocked a punt right earlier in that game.
11:25
SPEAKER_00: So um it it was that that's basically what he was gambling on was that.
11:30
SPEAKER_00: But there was that that was that play that you're talking about, Steve, was fourth and nine, where they handed off to Blyer, like you said, made no sense.
11:38
SPEAKER_00: If you're gonna go for it, at least go for it.
11:40
SPEAKER_08: Well, he he had his backup quarterback.
11:42
SPEAKER_08: I think Han Raddy was in at that point too, right?
11:46
SPEAKER_08: I think.
11:47
SPEAKER_00: Uh yes, because yes, yeah.
11:49
SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's another good point.
11:49
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you're because Brad Todd got knocked out of the game.
11:52
SPEAKER_00: That's a very good point.
11:53
SPEAKER_00: But they were on the they were around midfield.
11:56
SPEAKER_08: Yeah, even if you kick a poor crap punt that's like 20 yards, they're at their 30, and that ball doesn't make it to the end zone.
12:04
SPEAKER_00: So and and yeah, you know what the clock was when Blair got stuffed?
12:08
SPEAKER_00: A minute and 28 seconds.
12:10
SPEAKER_08: Yeah, that's forever.
12:11
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like that was that was a that was quite the gamble.
12:15
SPEAKER_00: Uh, but fortunately it worked out.
12:16
SPEAKER_00: But that could have been a disaster.
12:18
SPEAKER_00: I mean, Staubbach was known, like you said, it or just that postseason, Stahlbach was known for last second drives.
12:26
SPEAKER_08: So moving on, um, off of interceptions that Glenn Edwards are still running around to this day, like what was he thinking?
12:35
SPEAKER_08: Like, if you watch the Americas game, which is where I kind of got this from, was like like Mike Wagner's even like, go down, Glenn, go down.
12:44
SPEAKER_08: Like, why are you running around?
12:48
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, nothing good could have came from that.
12:51
SPEAKER_08: So yeah, thank goodness he finally decided cooler heads prevailed, and you know, somebody got smart and said, just fall down.
13:01
SPEAKER_08: Um moving on to forgotten plays that won't be forgotten anymore, at least not by me and Tim, right?
13:10
SPEAKER_08: So in 1984, which just is in a book by George Orwell.
13:14
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, 84 is a weird year because the the Steelers, you know, this is the this is this is like a bunch of guys are retired, Terry Bradshaw's gone, and Melbline, Franco, uh um, Joe Green, all those guys are gone.
13:29
SPEAKER_00: A few guys are left, like Jack Lambert's still there and Stallworth is still there, but Mark Mullen's a quarterback, Frank Pollard's the the key running back, Lewis Lips is a rookie receiver.
13:40
SPEAKER_00: It was a very transitional year for them, but they they won the division.
13:45
SPEAKER_00: And then uh, you know, they they go to play Denver, who was 13-3.
13:51
SPEAKER_00: Steelers were 9-7, and Denver was 13-3, so that's what a a four-win difference there.
13:57
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
13:58
SPEAKER_08: They have to play in Denver where it's hard to win.
14:00
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, where it's hard to win, and this is John Elway.
14:03
SPEAKER_00: This is like the John Elway era.
14:05
SPEAKER_00: So I think going into that game, a lot of people gave the Steelers zero chance.
14:10
SPEAKER_08: Yes, and so late in the fourth quarter, Gary Anderson lines up to kick a field goal of 28 yards on grass and uh promptly misses.
14:22
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and it was tied at the time.
14:24
SPEAKER_00: It was tied with like three minutes left.
14:26
unknown: Yeah.
14:27
SPEAKER_00: And it was a chip shot to give the Steelers a lead, and he missed.
14:30
SPEAKER_08: It was and it's not like John Elway could uh uh you know orchestrate a drive that might win a playoff game, huh, Tim?
14:40
SPEAKER_00: Well, well, and that's the thing.
14:42
SPEAKER_00: Like Elway, you don't want to give Elway w the ball back even with a three-point lead, but now you're giving Elway the ball back and it's tied.
14:49
SPEAKER_00: So now all all all John Alway has to do is get in a field goal range.
14:52
SPEAKER_00: So Stewers are done here, right?
14:55
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
14:56
SPEAKER_08: Who was the who's that was Denver Rich Carlos?
14:58
SPEAKER_08: Was did they have the barefoot kicker guy?
15:01
SPEAKER_08: I wonder.
15:01
SPEAKER_00: Probably at that point, yeah, but I don't don't quote me on that.
15:04
SPEAKER_08: In January in Denver, kicking barefoot.
15:07
SPEAKER_08: That sounds like a great idea.
15:11
SPEAKER_08: But that is what happened.
15:13
SPEAKER_08: Um, so uh let's uh show what happens right here.
15:17
SPEAKER_04: Gary Anderson's missed on the 26-yard field goal attempt.
15:21
SPEAKER_04: What's the pressure on the Steelers defense now?
15:24
SPEAKER_03: The wingman on the right side from the shotgun.
15:26
SPEAKER_03: Milloway throws it down the middle.
15:28
SPEAKER_03: Pick the wing, he's up in the 25th, 20 minutes, 50 minutes, pin the pin the pin on the side of the line, pick the window in the zone, pin the pin on the five yard line.
15:38
SPEAKER_03: OP, you bump it.
15:41
SPEAKER_04: We needed a big defensive play.
15:43
SPEAKER_04: It wasn't exactly a defensive touchdown, but it's pretty much as Oh, you can get to heaven.
15:48
SPEAKER_04: What?
15:48
SPEAKER_03: Stop hugging me.
15:49
SPEAKER_03: People are looking.
15:50
SPEAKER_04: Two minutes and forty-five seconds remaining.
15:52
SPEAKER_04: I'm hocking my terrible pal is what I'm hocking.
15:55
SPEAKER_08: Wow, what an uh interesting turn of events, Tim.
15:59
SPEAKER_08: We didn't see Eric Wohns interception return to the two for uh if you had that on your bingo cards, uh yeah, fill that in.
16:08
SPEAKER_08: Uh big play, um, forgotten about playoff game and forgotten about play by Eric Williams, who's a kind of a forgotten player.
16:16
SPEAKER_08: He only played for the Steelers for I think two or three years, and then after that was out of the league after another year.
16:23
SPEAKER_08: So uh you know, one of the rare playoff wins in Denver for us, I think this in the um AFC Championship game in '95.
16:35
SPEAKER_08: Is that the only two playoff games we've won in Denver?
16:38
SPEAKER_00: 2005, yeah.
16:39
SPEAKER_00: I I think that I I think so.
16:42
SPEAKER_00: I I I I think we've only beaten them three times total.
16:46
SPEAKER_00: We did a whole episode about the history of that series.
16:50
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, that Eric Williams was like uh and I think when we talked about this before, I think I said it's like the greatest play in Steelware history that absolutely no one would ever remember.
17:00
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
17:00
SPEAKER_00: Because it's like it's a it's a divisional playoff game that's tied in the final minute, and Eric Williams intercepts John Elway, returns it to the two, the Steelers punch it in for a touchdown and they win.
17:12
SPEAKER_00: It it's like By the aforementioned Frank Pollard.
17:15
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, by the aforementioned Frank Pollard, yeah.
17:18
SPEAKER_00: And it it's it's it's a shocking upset at the time to beat John Elway at Denver in in you know in the middle of the that era.
17:27
SPEAKER_00: Uh and Eric Williams is the guy that did it, so go figure.
17:32
SPEAKER_00: Go figure.
17:34
SPEAKER_08: I guess maybe a little Mel Blunt, he left some magic in his walker there for him.
17:39
SPEAKER_00: Apparently so.
17:41
SPEAKER_08: And this this is definitely a Betamax classic from from the hard drive.
17:45
SPEAKER_00: It is a betamax classic, yeah.
17:47
SPEAKER_00: I had that game on tape uh for a lot of years.
17:50
SPEAKER_00: Um I I I what I always remember is the very end of it was cut off.
17:55
SPEAKER_00: So I didn't get it.
17:58
SPEAKER_00: I had that, I had the Pollard touchdown, but then there was still a little bit of time where they had to kick off to the Broncos, and the Broncos weren't able to do anything.
18:06
SPEAKER_00: That part got cut off.
18:08
SPEAKER_00: That always bothered me.
18:09
SPEAKER_08: Record over with like an episode of Pound Puppy.
18:17
SPEAKER_08: Um moving on to I don't know how forgotten this play is, but it's in here.
18:22
SPEAKER_08: Um Deshay Townsend's interception in 2008.
18:26
SPEAKER_08: This is a uh the 2008 team.
18:29
SPEAKER_08: Well, we're gonna they're they're on this list a couple of times because boy, that defense made some plays that really won the game.
18:36
SPEAKER_08: That that team was just clutch.
18:38
SPEAKER_08: And they played a tough schedule, so they had to be.
18:41
SPEAKER_08: And um so Dallas is a pretty good, I forget what their record was, but they were a playoff team.
18:46
SPEAKER_08: They're very good.
18:47
SPEAKER_08: And uh Tony Romo's pretty decent to good quarterback, depending on your opinion of him.
18:53
SPEAKER_08: And um, I think they were leading at that point, Tim, or Ty?
18:58
SPEAKER_00: So so the the Cowboys were in the lead, the Steelers had just driven all the way down the field, and Heath Miller scored a touchdown to tie the game.
19:06
SPEAKER_08: Yeah, that's it.
19:07
SPEAKER_00: But but now there's like two minutes left, and the Cowboys get the ball back.
19:11
SPEAKER_00: So the best you're hoping for is okay, let's stop them and get to overtime, right?
19:16
SPEAKER_00: Because it's like you're you're not you're probably not gonna get the ball back.
19:19
SPEAKER_00: Uh just just try to hold them to not get let not let them get in field range, but nobody, I think, expected what happen next if you're gonna play that.
19:28
SPEAKER_08: Yes, we'll play it now.
19:30
SPEAKER_11: Slot to the wideside right.
19:32
SPEAKER_11: TO to the boundary left.
19:33
SPEAKER_11: He's back.
19:34
SPEAKER_11: He waits.
19:34
SPEAKER_11: He looks.
19:35
SPEAKER_11: He founds the intercepted.
19:36
SPEAKER_11: He was headed at the 25.
19:38
SPEAKER_13: Mache Thompson to the 10.
19:40
SPEAKER_13: To the five.
19:40
SPEAKER_13: He bounced for the ball line.
19:42
SPEAKER_13: Big third touchdown.
19:44
SPEAKER_13: The Shay Thompson.
19:46
SPEAKER_12: Puts a hurt on the cowboy.
19:48
SPEAKER_12: Unbelievable play by Shay.
19:51
SPEAKER_12: You talk about one of the smartest guys on defense.
19:54
SPEAKER_12: Has a mat when he plays underneath, especially in sub.
19:59
SPEAKER_12: He's always on the uh slot receiver, just drops the result, picks it up, and boy, this is you talk about putting a heart a dagger in the heart of a cowboy.
20:08
SPEAKER_08: Wow, so Renegade, this is actually one of the times Renegade really worked.
20:13
SPEAKER_08: Like if you see like fan video of it, they play Renegade right before this, so oh my.
20:19
SPEAKER_08: It was uh and Tony Romo was, you know, he didn't quite see this one coming like he does on TV.
20:25
SPEAKER_08: They're gonna blitz right here.
20:26
SPEAKER_08: I'm gonna throw it right to number 26.
20:28
SPEAKER_08: Um that kind of propels the Steelers on their way to the Super Bowl.
20:33
SPEAKER_08: There's another bigger plays in that season, obviously, that may or may not make this list.
20:40
SPEAKER_08: There's a lot of great defensive plays that year.
20:43
SPEAKER_08: I as I was making this list, I realized that.
20:45
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I I I remember watching that game with a group of people, and just everybody was going absolutely crazy.
20:54
SPEAKER_00: I mean, people were already psyched up because they had come back to tie the game, and then when that happened, it was just so unbelievable.
21:01
SPEAKER_00: That pass just kind of he was throwing that for I think yeah, he was throwing that for Jason Witten, and it just kind of got away from him, uh, Romo.
21:09
SPEAKER_08: And it and it it went Well, there was a blitz, I think.
21:11
SPEAKER_08: I think, or somebody got pressure on him, I can believe it.
21:15
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and it just um yeah, it just got away from him, and then and then DeTay Townsend, another one of those like underrated guys that like did a lot of key things that you know was never a star.
21:28
SPEAKER_00: Uh he was just kind of Johnny on the spot and he returned it all the way.
21:31
SPEAKER_00: And um and that's like you said, Steve, that was kind of that team uh won a couple of big games that way all the way up until the end of the season, which like you said, we'll talk about later, I'm sure.
21:45
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
21:46
SPEAKER_08: So sticking with Forgotten, and this is a play that happened in the Super Bowl.
21:49
SPEAKER_08: You would think how to play in the Super Bowl be Forgotten, but I I feel it is.
21:54
SPEAKER_08: I mean maybe Tim, you'll feel differently, but um that would be this Mike Wagner interceptions.
22:00
SPEAKER_08: In the Super Bowl 10.
22:05
SPEAKER_14: And a little pickoff by the Steelers Mike Wagner and down to the five yard line.
22:15
SPEAKER_01: The name of the game is defense.
22:18
SPEAKER_08: Boy, another Super Bowl where the Steelers were losing in the fourth quarter.
22:22
SPEAKER_08: They had to come back, huh?
22:24
SPEAKER_08: That's hard to believe.
22:25
SPEAKER_08: They've done that three different times in their Super Bowl history, huh?
22:28
SPEAKER_08: Wow.
22:29
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
22:30
SPEAKER_08: That's that's wow.
22:31
SPEAKER_08: We are really spoiled here in Pittsburgh.
22:33
SPEAKER_08: Yeah, we are.
22:35
SPEAKER_08: It sucks to be you, Cleveland.
22:36
SPEAKER_08: There's a random Cleveland shot, just for fun.
22:41
SPEAKER_00: Hey, on the bright side, they've never been on the losing end of a Super Bowl, you know?
22:45
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
22:45
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
22:46
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
22:46
SPEAKER_08: That's true.
22:47
SPEAKER_08: You can't say they've never lost one.
22:49
SPEAKER_08: Then the Steelers have lost two, so they have that over us.
22:52
SPEAKER_00: We've been down, we've been down in the fourth quarter three times in the Super Bowl.
22:55
SPEAKER_00: They've never been down in a Super Bowl at all.
22:57
SPEAKER_00: So ever.
22:58
SPEAKER_00: Ever.
22:59
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
23:00
SPEAKER_08: Neither is Jacksonville or Houston, so.
23:03
SPEAKER_08: Or Detroit.
23:06
SPEAKER_00: Nope.
23:07
SPEAKER_00: Perfect, perfect records.
23:10
SPEAKER_08: Um, so Mike Wagner gets a crucial interception and returns it.
23:15
SPEAKER_08: And um the defense was really good that year.
23:19
SPEAKER_08: And they'd actually the Cowboys were the only team to score in the first quarter of that season on a play.
23:25
SPEAKER_08: And Mike Wagner in the interview says that he was a little cautious in the first quarter because he just wanted to play back and play it safe.
23:33
SPEAKER_08: And Drew Pearson did score an early touchdown.
23:38
SPEAKER_08: But this time he believed in what he was seeing.
23:40
SPEAKER_08: He was prepared.
23:42
SPEAKER_08: And uh Stahlbach went back to it.
23:44
SPEAKER_08: Think they could fool him again, and he went right up and picked it off and made probably a play that turned the tide in this Super Bowl that you know got the Steelers, you know, the winning points.
23:58
SPEAKER_08: And um, you know, hey.
24:02
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's that's a huge play.
24:04
SPEAKER_00: Um and and kind of like we said about the maybe similar to the Ike Taylor interception, the the like shifting the momentum is so important in a game that's close, and a game where you're playing a a you know, it's a Super Bowl, so you're not playing a slouch team and you're playing against Roger Staubach, and uh that's pretty significant uh play that, like you said, yeah, isn't as remembered as probably it should be.
24:30
SPEAKER_08: We're talking about Deshea Townsend maybe being underrated.
24:33
SPEAKER_08: Is Mike Wagner underrated, Tim?
24:35
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, probably, probably.
24:38
SPEAKER_00: Um again, uh like Deshey and Wagner were both overshadowed by a lot of other bigger, huge names.
24:47
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, not Donnie Shell.
24:49
SPEAKER_08: He's not Mel Blunt.
24:51
SPEAKER_00: Right.
24:52
SPEAKER_08: Yeah, so I yeah, he is kind of like a that guy, like a um not even like a Ryan Clark, or probably like a Ryan Clark, or who's the guy um uh opposite uh Troy in Super Bowl 40?
25:06
SPEAKER_08: Chris Hope.
25:07
SPEAKER_08: Chris Hope.
25:08
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
25:08
SPEAKER_08: There's another, like he was another solid, like the Steelers kind of have like just these solid, you know, free safeties and well, I guess, yeah.
25:18
SPEAKER_08: The the safeties that stay back, you know, to allow the other, you know, Donnie Shell to go, you know, hurt poor Earl Campbell.
25:28
SPEAKER_08: Yeah, that's okay.
25:29
SPEAKER_08: That's true.
25:30
SPEAKER_00: That's true.
25:31
SPEAKER_08: Same thing with Paul Malu.
25:33
SPEAKER_08: He had you know, Ryan Clark was probably his best, you know, kind of safety mate there.
25:38
SPEAKER_08: But he also had uh Chris Hope, who was pretty pretty well too.
25:42
SPEAKER_08: So um does any uh the first points in the Super Bowl by the Steelers, um, if you remember this, you're a Steeler official aficionado, because rumor has it that there was um Stan Savern was asking who scored the first Super Bowl points in Steeler history to this player, and this player did not even know that he had done that.
26:14
SPEAKER_08: Now in this player's defense, he had lost about 10 pounds and had the flu all week and been sick, but still played.
26:21
SPEAKER_08: But you know, that that person is of course one Dwight White who is Dwight White still with us, or did he No, he passed away.
26:28
SPEAKER_08: He passed away, I thought so.
26:30
SPEAKER_00: So, so so Steve, I'm gonna play the clip of this one because I have a really good clip uh where it's the it's the Jack Fleming and Myron Cope broadcast, and Myron Cope makes a little prediction here.
26:43
SPEAKER_00: Let me play it.
26:44
SPEAKER_01: And you have the way the feeling that the way this football game is going, the two defenses bugging it out, that a break could very well be decided.
26:52
SPEAKER_01: For example, a nice fumble here on your second down play at the ten-yard line.
26:58
SPEAKER_10: All right, let's see what he can do now.
27:00
SPEAKER_10: Rubin's both ten-yard line.
27:01
SPEAKER_10: Tark lines them up.
27:02
SPEAKER_10: Split end of the left flanker set to the right side.
27:05
SPEAKER_10: Tarkinson calling the single.
27:07
SPEAKER_10: And here's Tarkinson handing it off.
27:08
SPEAKER_10: There's a fumble.
27:09
SPEAKER_10: The ball is loose.
27:09
SPEAKER_10: Parkinson goes for it in the end zone.
27:11
SPEAKER_09: It's an automatic safety.
27:12
SPEAKER_09: Two points.
27:13
SPEAKER_09: The hand off was fumble to went back into the end zone.
27:16
SPEAKER_09: Parkinson recovered it to present the touchdown.
27:19
SPEAKER_09: As Lambert came into covering, it was an automatic safety.
27:22
SPEAKER_09: He recovered it in the end zone.
27:23
SPEAKER_09: Two points.
27:24
SPEAKER_09: Pittsburgh and the Steelers have a two nothing lead in the Super Bowl.
27:27
SPEAKER_09: And what did I say?
27:28
SPEAKER_01: I got a place with that very well.
27:30
SPEAKER_01: decide this game.
27:31
SPEAKER_01: I said, for example, a nice weak fumble on his second down place at the ten yard line.
27:36
SPEAKER_08: Wow, you didn't see that coming.
27:38
SPEAKER_08: Uh that was Joe Pasarkic-esque.
27:41
SPEAKER_00: I guess Myron, Myron saw it coming.
27:43
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
27:45
SPEAKER_08: Well, Myron saw a lot of things coming that we didn't, so I don't think we even had a terrible towel yet.
27:51
SPEAKER_08: Did we?
27:52
SPEAKER_08: Did we have the terrible towel by then?
27:53
SPEAKER_08: I don't know.
27:54
SPEAKER_00: No, I don't think in '74.
27:55
SPEAKER_00: No.
27:55
SPEAKER_00: I I think that was still like a year away.
27:58
SPEAKER_08: But um, you know, Dwight White did not even know that he scored the first points.
28:02
SPEAKER_08: And uh this Super Bowl's, if you've watched it, it's pretty um, pretty a rough watch.
28:07
SPEAKER_08: It because it's two to nothing at the half.
28:11
SPEAKER_08: The only thing I remember, I remember you got like the Super Bowl on VHS back before like the internet was really big time.
28:18
SPEAKER_08: And do you remember I just remember like a commercial with like Fran Tarkington all telling us all the drive.
28:23
SPEAKER_08: We all gotta drive 55 miles per hour and turn our lights off at night, like because it was like the energy crisis.
28:29
SPEAKER_08: Oh wow.
28:30
SPEAKER_08: I remember that PSA.
28:32
SPEAKER_08: Like, and it's just like Fran Tarkinington sitting in like a 70s style shirt and like like in somebody in his living room.
28:40
SPEAKER_00: Nice.
28:41
SPEAKER_08: The Super Bowl was totally different in 1974.
28:44
SPEAKER_08: Super Bowl, what was this?
28:45
SPEAKER_08: Nine.
28:46
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
28:47
SPEAKER_00: Very different time, yep.
28:49
SPEAKER_08: But yeah, very important play.
28:51
SPEAKER_08: Like, this is probably one of the biggest plays in Steeler history, the first points ever scored.
28:56
SPEAKER_08: And um, I mean, it wasn't the deciding margin, was it?
28:59
SPEAKER_08: No, because they ended up kicking a field goal, I think.
29:01
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was the final score was 16-7.
29:05
SPEAKER_00: But um, but it will it was it was uh nine to seven late in the game before Bradshaw kind of got the clinching touchdown.
29:13
SPEAKER_00: And without that safety, it would have been seven to seven.
29:16
SPEAKER_00: So yeah.
29:17
SPEAKER_08: So uh good for Dwight White, even though he didn't remember he did it, but he might have an excuse with the flu there.
29:24
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
29:24
SPEAKER_08: What a what a gutsy performance by him playing with the flu.
29:27
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, for sure.
29:30
SPEAKER_08: So next up, this would be Joey Porter and James Harrison's sack on Peyton Manning.
29:35
SPEAKER_08: They actually Joey Porter got a sack.
29:37
SPEAKER_08: Now to set this up, this is the AFC playoff game in 2005, and the Troy Palomalu interception that was, wasn't.
29:47
SPEAKER_08: And the Colts have now come back to make it uh 21 to 18, and they have the ball, and it looks like they have all the momentum, and Dick Lebeau gets smart and just kind of turns the defense loose on him.
30:00
SPEAKER_08: They stop sitting back, and Joey Porter just has like a great run.
30:05
SPEAKER_08: On third down, he sacks Peyton Manning.
30:08
SPEAKER_08: Then on fourth down, it's actually more of Farrier.
30:11
SPEAKER_08: Like we're we've talked about how James Farrier is very underrated.
30:15
SPEAKER_08: Like Farrier makes a big play, but him and Farrier both sack him on fourth down.
30:19
SPEAKER_08: And I think these two plays kind of go together.
30:22
SPEAKER_08: And if what would if Bettis wouldn't have fumbled, this would have been the end of the game.
30:28
SPEAKER_08: Because this is it is one of the biggest plays by in Steeler history.
30:33
SPEAKER_02: Do they rush three and drop eight?
30:35
SPEAKER_02: Or do they bring Heat again?
30:37
SPEAKER_02: Now or never.
30:39
SPEAKER_02: Here comes Heat.
30:41
SPEAKER_02: And then they got him at the two-yard line, and the Steelers, the Tugelman sidelines, and Bill Power's team came up with a big play again.
30:51
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you're right.
30:52
SPEAKER_00: It's it's it's it doesn't get the credit it deserves because um Bettis fumbled and then all that stuff happened after it.
31:00
SPEAKER_00: But what should have happened is Bettis takes him into the end zone, and then that's the end of the game.
31:05
SPEAKER_08: Or it gets stuffed three times, we kick a field goal.
31:08
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we run out the clock, basically.
31:11
SPEAKER_00: And and and him getting stuffed three times, I think, probably would have been better in terms of killing the clock.
31:16
SPEAKER_08: So well, it would have got rid of their timeouts.
31:18
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
31:19
SPEAKER_08: And they only had those timeouts because they didn't call the interception.
31:22
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's true.
31:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
31:24
SPEAKER_00: So so you're right.
31:25
SPEAKER_00: That that that was that could have been the end of the game.
31:29
SPEAKER_00: And so you're right, it's forgotten.
31:30
SPEAKER_08: Even if they would have called the interceptions, let's say Peyton Manning still gets together and drives them down the field and gets it to 18 to 21, then they don't have those timeouts, and then you're just taking knees.
31:41
SPEAKER_08: Right, right.
31:41
SPEAKER_08: So yeah.
31:43
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was it was I mean, I'm glad it worked out the way he did because it makes it all that much more memorable.
31:50
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it took, I don't know, five, six years off my life, but it was, you know, it was it was it was memorable.
31:56
SPEAKER_00: So uh but you're right, that this that series of plays was so dominant and and Peyton Manning was so frustrated because he couldn't get any time to throw.
32:06
SPEAKER_00: He he was so used to just sitting back in the pocket and calling his audibles and and you know, the the Stewart's defense just they had hit the number of the Colts offensive line that day.
32:16
SPEAKER_00: And I think didn't didn't Peyton kind of get himself in some hot water, he kind of threw his offensive line under under the bus after the game.
32:23
SPEAKER_00: Remember, he was like, well, we had some problems with the schemes or something.
32:27
SPEAKER_08: Yeah, the way they tried to block, like they tried to have the guards come out and help the tackles, and it didn't work.
32:32
SPEAKER_08: Like Tarek Glenn, I I don't remember of all the people's names I've forgotten today.
32:37
SPEAKER_08: I remember Terry Glenn, the tackle for the Colts.
32:40
SPEAKER_08: Like Joey Porter just abused him that day.
32:42
SPEAKER_08: That was that was not a good play.
32:44
SPEAKER_08: And Tarek Glenn was a pretty good player, so.
32:47
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
32:48
SPEAKER_08: But big plays on the way to another Super Bowl, so another big play by the defense no longer forgotten.
32:55
SPEAKER_08: Um, another play that we'll have some video for is of a gentleman named Brian McFadden, who I think actually has like somewhat of a media presence now.
33:03
SPEAKER_08: He does like a podcast and such.
33:05
SPEAKER_08: Um, but he he was a rookie from Florida State, and uh he was playing in the same AFC playoff game, and this is after the Bettis fumble.
33:15
SPEAKER_08: The Colts are driving, and they actually get close enough to where Peyton thinks they're in field goal range, so he starts taking shots in the end zone.
33:25
SPEAKER_08: And uh we'll watch this play of McFadden on Reggie Wayne.
33:30
SPEAKER_02: Many's going for it all to Wayne.
33:33
SPEAKER_02: In comes in rookie Bryant McFadden with a coverage.
33:39
SPEAKER_02: Whoa! Talk about a rookie having to step up to the big time.
33:44
SPEAKER_08: So wow, it doesn't look like the strongest defensive play, but it had to happen, and he knocks the ball away.
33:50
SPEAKER_08: And it is Reggie Wayne was really good.
33:53
SPEAKER_08: And he knocks the ball away, and like if he doesn't knock the ball away, boy, is the Steelers' lore in history a little bit different, huh, Tim?
34:02
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and McFadden was a rookie.
34:04
SPEAKER_00: I mean, like, for him to be in that position in that time of the game when, like you said just a few minutes earlier, the defense didn't even think they would have to come back on the field, other than like, oh yeah, they're gonna try to throw a couple like Hail Mary type passes.
34:19
SPEAKER_00: But they were they were supposed to be up by two scores at that point, they weren't even supposed to be playing anymore.
34:24
SPEAKER_00: And then you have this rookie on you know the Colts receivers who were like like Harrison's a Hall of Famer, Reggie Wayne's a I don't remember if he's in the Hall of Fame or not, but he's pretty close.
34:37
SPEAKER_00: So uh yeah, that's a that's another kind of underrated huge play.
34:42
SPEAKER_00: And and like you said, Manning was throwing for the end zone because well, we're already in field goal range and we play in a dome, so we've we've definitely got the field goal locked up with like the most accurate kicker in league history.
34:53
SPEAKER_00: You know, I'll just take a bomb for the end zone, see if we can win the game right here.
34:56
SPEAKER_08: It wasn't a bad decision by Paige Manning, really.
35:00
SPEAKER_08: It wasn't a terrible play.
35:01
SPEAKER_08: Like Reggie Wayne had, I think, caught a two-point conversion that was unbelievable earlier, yeah, if I remember correctly.
35:08
SPEAKER_08: I mean, he he was on he was on fire like that that that fourth quarter.
35:13
SPEAKER_08: So it wasn't a bad idea, but a great play by Brian McFadden and kept him out for, of course, the idiot kicker from Canada via WVU.
35:24
SPEAKER_08: So look at that.
35:26
SPEAKER_08: I got a Cleveland Browns rip and a WVU rip in the same podcast episode.
35:32
SPEAKER_00: Nice.
35:33
SPEAKER_00: Now, if you can somehow work in the Philadelphia Flyers, we'll be you'll have those in Trinity.
35:38
SPEAKER_08: I'm sure they're they're they're idiots somehow in there, too.
35:41
SPEAKER_08: Um, I'm saying another I'm I'm listening to this under Forgotten Plays.
35:46
SPEAKER_08: Maybe people will remember this.
35:47
SPEAKER_08: So it's Super Bowl 43.
35:49
SPEAKER_08: It's at the very end.
35:50
SPEAKER_08: The Steelers have the lead, and I think there is like, I don't know, how many, how much time was left after the Holmes catch?
35:58
SPEAKER_08: Like 15, 20 seconds?
36:00
SPEAKER_00: 35, actually.
36:02
SPEAKER_00: 35.
36:02
SPEAKER_08: So wow.
36:03
SPEAKER_08: That's that's nice that you remember that number.
36:05
SPEAKER_08: Yes.
36:06
SPEAKER_08: So um we'll watch some video of this play.
36:08
SPEAKER_15: Three receivers to the right.
36:12
SPEAKER_15: Warner.
36:13
SPEAKER_15: Stepping up, buying time, under pressure, trying to sling it away.
36:18
SPEAKER_15: Was the arm coming forward?
36:20
SPEAKER_15: That's Lamar Woodley who got there.
36:22
SPEAKER_15: And Lamar Woodley creates the fumble and a Pittsburgh recovery with five seconds left.
36:29
SPEAKER_08: So after kind of playing peekaboo with Kurt Warner, Lamar Whidley hits him as he's about to throw, and he, yes, he fumbles the ball.
36:37
SPEAKER_08: Like, have you heard that controversy?
36:39
SPEAKER_08: Oh, Kurt never fumbled, blah, blah, blah.
36:42
SPEAKER_08: He fumbled.
36:43
SPEAKER_08: Brett Keiesel recovers it, and that's the end of the game.
36:46
SPEAKER_08: And you think, well, you know, it's kind of a nondescript end to a great game.
36:50
SPEAKER_08: Not really, because I have watched Larry Fitzgerald since he was 18 years old.
36:58
SPEAKER_08: If you are going to throw a Hail Mary, the one person in football history that I would want going up for that Hail Mary outside of like Calvin Johnson would be Larry Fitzgerald.
37:10
SPEAKER_08: Because if there's you could put all 11 guys on Larry Fitzgerald, if the quarterback puts the ball anywhere near, and it could be like the crap, it could be Drew Stanton throwing the ball.
37:20
SPEAKER_08: Larry's gonna come down with it.
37:22
SPEAKER_08: Would you like a jump ball is he's the best jump ball wide receiver in the history of the National Football League, and we're about to have a jump ball in the end zone with Ike Taylor, the worst jump ball covering corner in the history of the NFL covering him.
37:40
SPEAKER_08: That could have been complete disaster.
37:43
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it it absolutely could have been.
37:45
SPEAKER_00: It could have been, or or you could have had an interference call, or you could, I mean, uh heck, it just it's one of those things where you just never know.
37:52
SPEAKER_00: If they have a chance, they have a chance.
37:54
SPEAKER_00: And and if if I'm picking guys to be back there, yeah, Larry Fitzgerald's gonna be the guy I want back there.
38:00
SPEAKER_00: So uh another kind of, like you said, Steve, underrated play because it's everybody everybody remembers that that Super Bowl kind of ended with the with the Holmes touchdown, but it didn't.
38:11
SPEAKER_00: There were there was still a chance, albeit a slim one, there was still a chance for the Cardinals after that.
38:16
SPEAKER_08: I think they were in like he got close enough to where he would have made the end zone from there, I think.
38:22
SPEAKER_00: I think he would have, yeah.
38:23
SPEAKER_08: It wasn't like he was throwing it from the five.
38:25
SPEAKER_08: He he was on like the 40 or the 40, their 40 or 45, which wouldn't have been an impossible throw.
38:32
SPEAKER_08: Yes.
38:34
SPEAKER_08: So thank goodness Lamar Woodley in his one or two good seasons picked the Super Bowl for that.
38:42
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
38:43
SPEAKER_08: So another underrated play.
38:45
SPEAKER_08: We're going to the AFC Championship game in 1995.
38:49
SPEAKER_08: Um this is uh Captain Comeback, Jim Harbaugh.
38:53
SPEAKER_08: Do we have any other good nicknames that we can rip on Jim Harbaugh with?
38:56
SPEAKER_08: Uh Captain Captain Khaki.
38:59
SPEAKER_08: I don't This is before he was Captain Khaki.
39:04
SPEAKER_08: He was just Captain Comeback.
39:06
SPEAKER_08: The Colts have this magical run.
39:08
SPEAKER_08: Um I don't even think they had I think Marshall Falk was hurt.
39:11
SPEAKER_08: They didn't even have Marshall Falk, but Harbaugh tail off and gets him to the championship game.
39:17
SPEAKER_08: And um they actually have the lead in the fourth quarter, but um the Steelers retake the lead on the uh Bam Morris touchdown.
39:25
SPEAKER_08: And uh they're driving and they get the ball with I think was it five or six seconds left at the Steelers 28?
39:34
SPEAKER_08: So the ball is definitely gonna make the end zone, and you know, our ball does exactly what you should do.
39:40
SPEAKER_08: He just kind of throws it up for grabs, and um some of us, so not some of us, one announcer who was a former NFL quarterback, thought Lamont Jordan had caught it, but he did not, it hit the ground.
39:55
SPEAKER_08: And it was because a guy named Randy Fuller, who no one will ever remember, who was wearing number 29, ironically enough, knocked the ball out of his hands as he was rolling around with the ball on his chest.
40:08
SPEAKER_08: Randy Fuller came over and kind of knocked the ball away.
40:11
SPEAKER_08: I'm giving him credit.
40:12
SPEAKER_08: Nobody else will.
40:14
SPEAKER_08: And I know it's not maybe the prettiest play in Steeler defensive history, but that's what I'm calling it.
40:21
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it wasn't it wasn't like a skill play.
40:23
SPEAKER_00: It wasn't like Randy Fuller was like, uh, oh, there's the ball.
40:27
SPEAKER_00: Let me let me see my body this way.
40:29
SPEAKER_00: Jumping over.
40:30
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
40:30
SPEAKER_00: It was a mass of bodies kind of a thing.
40:33
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
40:33
SPEAKER_00: But that you're right.
40:34
SPEAKER_00: It's it's if Randy Fuller is not there, and yeah, that could have been caught.
40:39
SPEAKER_00: I mean, like you said, and like you said uh on the NBC broadcast, they thought it was caught because it looked like it looked like he caught it, but fortunately it hit the ground.
40:50
SPEAKER_08: So uh to wrap this up in a nice bow here, we're gonna go with legendary plays.
40:56
SPEAKER_08: These are plays that everybody knows and remembers.
41:00
SPEAKER_08: So so Willie Williams, going back to the 1995 AFC Championship game, Willie Williams makes a very under the radar play, like on a third and long.
41:11
SPEAKER_08: He runs in and tackles, I think it was, was it Lamont Warren, the running back, yes, by his shoestrings.
41:18
SPEAKER_08: And it's not the prettiest tackle in the world, but not a lot was with that 95 team, but they were clutch and they got the team, got the job done.
41:25
SPEAKER_08: It was like it wasn't was it like it wasn't a long third down.
41:30
SPEAKER_00: No, it was actually third and one.
41:31
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
41:32
SPEAKER_08: And he had all he had like the all of Three River Stadium out to like, you know, Wexford to run.
41:46
SPEAKER_16: The tackle of the year by 27 William Williams, the quarterback slashing through to get him around the ankle.
41:54
SPEAKER_00: And that's when the Colts were still winning the game.
41:56
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
41:57
SPEAKER_00: So that would have sealed it.
41:59
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that would have sealed it.
42:00
SPEAKER_00: That would have absolutely like they would have, they would have you because he wouldn't have just got one yard, he would have got about 40 or more.
42:06
SPEAKER_00: He could have gone all the way, actually.
42:08
SPEAKER_00: And and they would have just um they would have run the most of the rest of the clock off, they would have gotten it probably at worst a field goal.
42:17
SPEAKER_00: And uh the Stewart just probably wouldn't have had time to make the the drive that they that they made to take the lead.
42:23
SPEAKER_00: So um and and and it's not just that Willie Williams stopped the guy, it's that he literally like ran around the corner of the line from the other side of the field.
42:33
SPEAKER_08: Well, he wasn't even supposed to be playing that defense, he just like didn't know what to do.
42:37
SPEAKER_08: He was like, Well, I'll just run in here and make a tackle.
42:40
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and he got the guy by like his shoestrings.
42:42
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
42:43
SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
42:44
SPEAKER_00: It wasn't like he stuffed him in the hole or something, he was chasing him from behind.
42:48
SPEAKER_00: And and you're right, he he had the entire field in front of him.
42:52
SPEAKER_00: It was it was one of those plays again.
42:55
SPEAKER_00: You remember that the Steelers came back, you remember the Hail Mary, um, but none of that ever happens.
43:01
SPEAKER_00: And then they lose the AFC championship game two years in a row at home to a team that they shouldn't have.
43:07
SPEAKER_00: You know, and Bill Cower's legacy is very different if Lily Williams doesn't make that play.
43:12
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
43:13
SPEAKER_08: Willie Williams, uh I mean he had a good season too, as the other corner, not named Carnell Lake or Alvoid Mays.
43:21
SPEAKER_00: So Yeah, that's right.
43:22
SPEAKER_00: He was only playing because Woodson had gotten hurt.
43:25
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
43:26
SPEAKER_00: And he, you're right, he he was uh very good player that year.
43:31
SPEAKER_08: So uh continuing with our legendary plays here, um here we'll play uh play from Super Bowl 43 here.
43:41
SPEAKER_08: Uh let's see if you recognize it.
43:43
SPEAKER_15: From the gun.
43:44
SPEAKER_15: Steelers show blitz.
43:46
SPEAKER_15: Here they come.
43:46
SPEAKER_15: He gets it away and it's picked off at the goal line.
43:49
SPEAKER_15: There's a flag thrown on the run back.
43:51
SPEAKER_15: James Harrison to run it back, and Harrison is past midfield.
43:56
SPEAKER_15: Harrison going down the sideline.
43:57
SPEAKER_15: Harrison still on his feet.
43:59
SPEAKER_15: Harrison is going to go all the way and waiting for the official to get there.
44:05
SPEAKER_15: Touchdown is signaled.
44:07
SPEAKER_08: Okay, everybody's seen that play like a million times, right, Tim?
44:11
SPEAKER_00: So it's my first time.
44:12
SPEAKER_00: I just that's that's crazy.
44:14
SPEAKER_08: When did that happen, Steve?
44:16
SPEAKER_08: Well, if you're under a rock, uh, this is Super Bowl 43, that 2008 team.
44:21
SPEAKER_08: Um Kurt Warner decides to throw a pass, and um it they're at it's right before the half, and I think it was what was it, 14 to 7 at that point?
44:33
SPEAKER_00: I think or uh it was 10 to 7.
44:36
SPEAKER_08: 10 to 7?
44:37
SPEAKER_08: Okay.
44:38
SPEAKER_08: So 10 to 7.
44:40
SPEAKER_08: They can either kick a field goal and tie or maybe even take the lead going to the half.
44:44
SPEAKER_08: It's a big play, either way.
44:47
SPEAKER_08: And uh James Harrison makes a play for the ages, kind of like freelances a little bit instead of blitzing.
44:53
SPEAKER_08: He drops back and Kurt Werner throws it.
44:56
SPEAKER_08: Two of him he makes a nice play and an even better run for a hundred yards.
45:00
SPEAKER_08: He ran literally a hundred yards on an interception.
45:05
SPEAKER_08: It's like the stories of like you know, him being totally out of gas at the end, and like Mike Tallman coming over and saying, Are you okay?
45:12
SPEAKER_08: And he said, Just give me a minute, boss, I'll be fine.
45:16
SPEAKER_08: He's the guy from the green mile, you know.
45:21
SPEAKER_08: I mean, you know, and then like you know, Deshay Townsend trying to get him to lateral the ball, and he's like, Nope, not doing it.
45:27
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
45:28
SPEAKER_08: I mean, Larry Fitzgerald like running on his own sideline, almost making the tackle with the one.
45:34
SPEAKER_08: I mean, it's just an unbelievable play from beginning to end, and um probably one of the greatest plays in Steeler defensive history.
45:42
SPEAKER_08: It happened in the Super Bowl.
45:44
SPEAKER_08: I think if it wasn't for the Santonio Holmes play, this probably be it is well remembered, but it will probably be a little bit more higher up.
45:55
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I totally agree.
45:56
SPEAKER_00: I think it's I think it's not only one of the greatest plays in Steeler defensive history, I think it's one of the greatest plays in Super Bowl history, period.
46:03
SPEAKER_00: And like you said, it's not even the greatest play of this game because of what happens later with San Antonio.
46:08
SPEAKER_00: So that that's kind of unfortunate.
46:10
SPEAKER_00: Because what should have happened there is that was a 10-point swing, yeah, or 14-point swing, like you said, they could have scored a touchdown there.
46:18
SPEAKER_00: And then if the Steelers would have um, yeah.
46:22
SPEAKER_08: Yeah, they just wouldn't have gotten that safety late in the game if they would have let they completed that pass and the game just kind of ends like a normal football game.
46:32
SPEAKER_08: Like it's like, oh, everybody remembers the interception.
46:34
SPEAKER_08: That's the NFL film's highlight of that game.
46:38
SPEAKER_08: Yeah, because then that plays the game winner, and so um, yeah, I mean it's up there with like, what would you say, the Immaculate Reception, the you know, the ha the Antoine Randwell reverse pass, the you know, the catches by Lynn Swan, the you know, all the other.
46:56
SPEAKER_08: Whatever happened in Super Bowl nine, you know.
47:00
SPEAKER_08: Joe Green like getting an interception, and so I don't know.
47:03
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
47:05
SPEAKER_08: Um, so uh another uh here's a legendary play by a player who you would not expect.
47:14
SPEAKER_08: So he's an honorary member of the defense on this one, huh, Tim?
47:18
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, well, he became a defensive player as soon as this happened.
47:22
SPEAKER_08: Yeah, so well, well, let's let's see if he can pick this out and uh try not to have a heart attack.
47:29
SPEAKER_07: First and goal, Pittsburgh.
47:30
SPEAKER_07: Lumpless Burger and Company break the bump.
47:34
SPEAKER_07: And Kimber lumps in the mic to the right, mumps the deep bank, must get to the camera, Ben is lumping.
47:40
SPEAKER_06: Fumble loose.
47:41
SPEAKER_06: Harper's got it.
47:42
SPEAKER_06: He's running 10.
47:42
SPEAKER_06: 15.
47:43
SPEAKER_06: One man to beat at the 25 side thirty.
47:45
SPEAKER_06: He's wing wagging, he's run up the middle, and Raffles Rugger troops him up at the forty yard line with one oh nine to go.
47:52
SPEAKER_06: Are you kidding?
47:54
SPEAKER_06: Wow.
47:55
SPEAKER_08: So wow, thank goodness uh Ben uh made the choice of going backwards on that play and tracking him down and uh and uh another shoestring tackle, much like the Willie Williams.
48:08
SPEAKER_08: It wasn't the greatest tackle in the world, but it's the tackle we needed at that time.
48:12
SPEAKER_08: And uh, I mean it it's funny that one of the top defensive plays in Steeler history was made by a quarterback, but here we are, huh?
48:21
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
48:23
SPEAKER_08: Ben's a special player, and that you know, great players make great plays when they need to, even if it's a tackle.
48:31
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, pretty, pretty, pretty good.
48:33
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's like Franco Harris's most famous play was a cat, right?
48:36
SPEAKER_00: And he was a running back, so yeah.
48:38
SPEAKER_00: He just, you know, that that happens sometimes.
48:40
SPEAKER_00: And and Ben, um once again, I I don't think they win the Super Bowl that year if he didn't make that tackle.
48:46
SPEAKER_08: Oh, that would have that would have been devastating.
48:48
SPEAKER_08: That would have been the end of we talked about that before.
48:52
SPEAKER_08: That would have been such like Jerome Bettis would have like been like up there with like you know, the Bill Bachner and you know Ernest Biner and although even Ernest Biner played at least won a Super Bowl later, so yeah, that that would have been you're you're right.
49:08
SPEAKER_00: I you just don't even want to think about I know we did the what if on it and the alternate history and everything, but it's like thank goodness that it didn't uh turn out that way.
49:18
SPEAKER_08: Yeah, thank goodness.
49:20
SPEAKER_08: Um so going to uh our last one here, um it's the 2008 season.
49:28
SPEAKER_08: How many uh how many is this in the 2008 season?
49:31
SPEAKER_08: Like four, five, three?
49:33
SPEAKER_08: I don't know.
49:34
SPEAKER_08: Um so it's the AOC championship game.
49:39
SPEAKER_08: Um the hated Ravens are in town, and the Steelers and Ravens are playing for the right to go to the Super Bowl.
49:46
SPEAKER_08: Pretty small stakes between two teams that you know are kind of meh for each other, right?
49:51
SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
49:52
SPEAKER_08: So obviously, you know, this is a heated rivalry and a heated game with everything on the line, and Joe Flacco is the quarterback, and Willis McGaey scored a touchdown, and the defense has made all these plays all year, and it's you know, coming down to the end of the game.
50:09
SPEAKER_08: I think there was like what three minutes left.
50:13
SPEAKER_08: And Joe Flacco goes back to pass, and then this happens.
50:17
SPEAKER_11: Flacco in the gun.
50:18
SPEAKER_11: Projector each way.
50:20
SPEAKER_11: He's back.
50:21
SPEAKER_11: He looks.
50:22
SPEAKER_11: He waits.
50:22
SPEAKER_11: He throws the pass.
50:23
SPEAKER_11: And it's intercepted.
50:25
SPEAKER_13: Troy Polomato at the 40.
50:26
SPEAKER_13: 35-30.
50:27
SPEAKER_13: Flock is at the 25.
50:29
SPEAKER_13: He's running wide right at the 15.
50:31
SPEAKER_13: He turns and goes for the goal line.
50:33
SPEAKER_13: And he's in with a pitch for Steven.
50:36
SPEAKER_13: Touchdown.
50:37
SPEAKER_13: Troy Polomalo with a big defensive pick.
50:41
SPEAKER_13: And this place is on fire.
50:44
SPEAKER_08: Wow, Kerr.
50:45
SPEAKER_08: Uh you know, Troy Polomolo really cutting across The you know, that's two this season that you know, two big interceptions by the defense for touchdowns that literally won like helped win playoff games.
50:58
SPEAKER_08: You're lucky if you see like one of those in a season, Tim.
51:02
SPEAKER_08: Never mind in like a playoff run.
51:05
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's true.
51:06
SPEAKER_08: And it's just yeah, it's crazy.
51:08
SPEAKER_08: I just what a great defense that 2008 was.
51:12
SPEAKER_08: It's one of the greatest all times for sure.
51:15
SPEAKER_08: In in my you know, seasons of watching the Steelers, that's definitely probably the best defense they've had.
51:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was an all-time great legendary defense.
51:27
SPEAKER_08: And was Renegade responsible for this one too?
51:31
SPEAKER_08: Oh gosh.
51:32
SPEAKER_00: I was at that game and I can't I I do know.
51:34
SPEAKER_08: Well, you said the renegade guy kind of got started early.
51:37
SPEAKER_08: Like he he he he went a little bit.
51:39
SPEAKER_08: Yeah, he might have he might have been.
51:42
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly.
51:44
SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah, that was a great moment.
51:46
SPEAKER_00: Uh I've never been I've I think I've said this on the show before, but I've never hugged as many strangers in my life as I did.
51:54
SPEAKER_00: In that and not not like hugged, but like nice to see you like jumped into the arms of and had them jump into my arms kind of celebration.
52:02
SPEAKER_08: Um sports is fun like that, yeah.
52:04
SPEAKER_08: It just brings total random people together and well and it it was the Ravens.
52:09
SPEAKER_00: Like it just the Steelers have won big games before, they've won championship games before.
52:13
SPEAKER_00: But but that was the Ravens.
52:15
SPEAKER_00: And and Flacco, you know, a couple of things people might not remember about that season is one, you know, Flacco was a rookie, and it's like, oh okay, he just you know he was a rookie and he made a rookie mistake there at the end.
52:28
SPEAKER_00: The week before that, they had upset Tennessee in Tennessee.
52:33
SPEAKER_00: Tennessee was number one seed that year, and that game was tied like in the final minutes, and Flacco from basically like his own end zone led a drive all the way down the field to beat the Titans.
52:45
SPEAKER_00: So Joe Flacco was no slouch, and here he was only down by two.
52:50
SPEAKER_00: So he could have let a drive again to get in the field goal range, and they could have won the game and gone to the Super Bowl.
52:57
SPEAKER_00: So I mean that was such a huge moment.
52:59
SPEAKER_00: And then the other thing that people might not remember, Steve, to your point about how many plays on this list were from the 2008 season.
53:06
SPEAKER_00: Like, take a guess at what the Sea Ors' offense was ranked that year out of 32 NFL teams.
53:13
SPEAKER_08: Uh running the ball, I know they were dead last or second to dead.
53:16
SPEAKER_08: Them and the Cardinals were dead last.
53:18
SPEAKER_08: Total offense.
53:18
SPEAKER_08: Total offense?
53:19
SPEAKER_08: I don't know, 25, 26, 19.
53:21
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, 2022.
53:23
SPEAKER_08: Wow.
53:24
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and and and up until that point, when they were in the divisional round against San Diego, at that point, it was it was the lowest ranked offense to ever make it that deep into the playoffs.
53:36
SPEAKER_00: To even to the divisional round.
53:39
SPEAKER_08: But they had that good running that running day against San Diego for no apparent reason, which was weird.
53:44
SPEAKER_08: They did, yeah.
53:45
SPEAKER_00: That was yeah, that was probably their only good running game.
53:47
SPEAKER_00: They had a terrible offensive line that season.
53:49
SPEAKER_00: Ben was always running for his life.
53:51
SPEAKER_00: And I think, you know, they won, it wasn't like, you know, they weren't the 2000 Ravens, right?
53:56
SPEAKER_00: They they Ben was a an all-time great quarterback, and he won a lot of games late, especially like that first game against Baltimore, or that um, sorry, the second game against Baltimore that got them the division.
54:08
SPEAKER_00: That was a Ben last second drive.
54:10
SPEAKER_00: Obviously, he had a last second drive in the Super Bowl.
54:13
SPEAKER_00: So he was he was winning them games because he was Ben, but the offense just wasn't that efficient, or really wasn't efficient at all.
54:22
SPEAKER_08: Well, they lost the game to the Colts that year because they couldn't get a yard on fourth down that would have put the game out of reach.
54:27
SPEAKER_00: Yes, because their offensive line was so porous.
54:31
SPEAKER_00: And you know, they had a lot of injuries.
54:33
SPEAKER_00: Kendall Simmons had gotten hurt, and they had let Allen Fanica go in free agency, which, you know, at the time it was like he was old and he wanted this big contract and it made sense.
54:43
SPEAKER_00: But they had like nobody to play guard.
54:45
SPEAKER_00: They had Chris Kiyomatu and and Darnell Stapleton, who never played again after that year.
54:51
SPEAKER_08: You know what they both have?
54:52
SPEAKER_08: Super Bowl rings.
54:53
SPEAKER_00: Super Bowl Rings, yeah.
54:54
SPEAKER_00: Not really, not really uh from them.
54:57
SPEAKER_00: But you know, Jeff Hardings had retired and they had Justin Hartwig was the center.
55:01
SPEAKER_00: He's the one that got the holding call in the end zone in the Super Bowl that got that safety.
55:05
SPEAKER_00: Like they just said it it was just the worst offensive line, I think, in the history of probably of the Steelers in the time I've been watching them anyway.
55:14
SPEAKER_00: And and and so anyway, that that just that's why that the defense was so important that year, because they just needed big plays from the defense, and they got it, like you said.
55:24
SPEAKER_00: You're right, Steve.
55:25
SPEAKER_00: What other what other team can say they got like this massive uh pick six in both the AFC championship game and Super Bowl in the same year?
55:34
SPEAKER_00: That's that's kind of hard to believe.
55:35
SPEAKER_00: I never really thought about that until you said it.
55:37
SPEAKER_08: Yeah, it's it's it's definitely odd.
55:40
SPEAKER_08: It definitely proves the character of that team and that defense.
55:43
SPEAKER_08: I think too, that team just had so much character.
55:46
SPEAKER_08: Like a lot of other teams would have quit or given up, and they had they played a tough schedule.
55:50
SPEAKER_08: I think that too.
55:51
SPEAKER_08: I think uh that's why I think I like when a team I mean, sometimes it's like uh you know, you're hoping your team comes together in the last half of the season, but sometimes playing a tough schedule kind of prepares a team for being down, and at some point you're gonna struggle in the playoffs.
56:06
SPEAKER_08: There's gonna be a time when you have to make a play when the chips are down.
56:10
SPEAKER_08: You're not gonna play all cupcakes the whole way through.
56:14
SPEAKER_08: So you know, that that definitely prepared them.
56:17
SPEAKER_08: And um you know, the all through, you know, hopefully, you know, our defense is definitely, you know, they say defense wins championships.
56:25
SPEAKER_08: Well, it definitely won a championship that year.
56:28
SPEAKER_08: Although the offense, you know, everybody remembers that play, and we wouldn't have run without it, but you know, Ben making a tackle the one year, and you know, Mike Wagner making a big interception.
56:38
SPEAKER_08: And like I said, I think uh mean Joe Green actually made an interception on a tipped pass in the one Super Bowl too.
56:45
SPEAKER_08: And uh yeah, there's just been a lot of great defenses.
56:48
SPEAKER_08: It's a shame like the 94 and 95 defenses didn't get more love, but they didn't really win much anyway.
56:56
SPEAKER_08: 98, even in 98 in that championship game early on, like I think LeVon Kirkland had an early interception off of uh Elway.
57:04
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, yeah, you're right.
57:08
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it definitely makes a difference when um the the the defensive play led to something bigger.
57:16
SPEAKER_00: So, or at least, or at least like won a playoff game, like even like the Eric Williams thing, they didn't make the Super Bowl that year, but that won a playoff game.
57:23
SPEAKER_08: So well, um I hope you agree with them.
57:27
SPEAKER_08: If you're not, um sure feel free to email Tim.
57:30
SPEAKER_08: Um he's the he's completely responsible.
57:34
SPEAKER_08: Uh I just want to thank you for tuning in.
57:36
SPEAKER_08: Uh give us a review on uh your favorite uh podcast service, and um it always helps us out.
57:42
SPEAKER_08: Word of mouth is great.
57:44
SPEAKER_08: Um keep those Facebook comments coming.
57:46
SPEAKER_08: You know, we're always happy to hear from uh anybody listens who finds us a fan.
57:50
SPEAKER_08: You know, if you guys you think there's a play I missed in the uh defensive plays here, please let us know.
57:56
SPEAKER_08: Thanks for tuning in, and uh, we'll catch you next time in God bless.