vs. Cincinnati Bengals
November 30, 2003

The 2003 season was supposed to be a good one for the Steelers. They were coming off of three consecutive winning seasons and were favorites to win their division again. However, after a great opening game, the Steelers started to falter. The short-comings of the 2002 team started becoming worse, especially on defense, and the Steelers dropped five games in a row during the first half of the season. Still, the fans in Pittsburgh are strangely optimistic in times of trouble. The Steelers started to win a few games here and there, and although they had a 4-7 record, many fans still held out hope that the Steelers could somehow eek out a playoff berth. The fact that the AFC North was so pitiful that year actually made this dream a possibility. The Steelers trailed first place Baltimore by a mere two games, and they had already beaten them earlier in the season. The sports talk shows were rampant with talk of how if this happens and that happens, the Steelers could be in the playoffs. Things were about to change for the better - we could feel it.

That set the stage for a big divisional game with the Cincinnati Bengals at Heinz Field. Cincinnati, the perrenial doormat of the NFL, was in the midst of a miracle .500 season, and needed a win to keep pace with the Ravens in the division. At first it looked like the Steelers were up to their old ways, allowing Cincinnati to grab a 14-3 lead at halftime. But in the second half, the Steelers came out ready to save the season. They fought back to cut the lead to 14-10, and then in the final minutes they put together a memorable 80 yard touchdown drive. Hines Ward took a knee to the spine (ouch!) early in the drive but caught a 16 yard touchdown pass from Tommy Maddox to give the Steelers a three point lead with just 65 seconds left in the game!

This was going to be THE game that turned the 2003 season around. All the football announcers were going to be talking about the "amazing" turnaround during the Steelers first playoff game, and how that Bengals game started it all. Sure, there were still 65 seconds on the clock, but this was Cincinnati. The worst that could happen was that they would get into field goal range and maybe send the game into overtime. Certainly they weren't going to get a touchdown, right?? Well, think again. In one of the most despondent drives in Steelers history, the defense laid down while Jon Kitna drove the length of the field in FOUR plays. Yes, that's right - four freakin plays!! The drive was capped with an 18 yard touchdown pass that won the game for the Bengals, and just like that, the Steelers season went up in smoke.
Final Score: Steelers 20, Bengals 24

The Aftermath: The Steelers would finish the season at 6-10. They never had a real shot at the playoffs when this game began. That was just us fans fooling ourselves. We falsely believed that this team was capable of something it clearly was not capable of doing. The Steelers had everything to play for in those final seconds and they simply played like a team who didn't want to win as badly as the other team. It was a sorry day and a reminder of how truly embarrassing the team was that season.

Personal Memory: I was so excited when the fall of 2003 began. Both the Steelers and the Pitt football team were destined for greatness. The Steelers were Super Bowl contenders while Pitt started the season ranked in the top ten with Heismann candidate Larry Fitzgerald leading the charge. This was going to be the best year ever for Pittsburgh football. But then it all fell apart for both teams. The whole fall was nothing but a series of mass disappointments. Ironically, the following seasons of both those teams was expected to be miserable. Pitt had lost all of its good players and the Steelers were supposed to be in rebuild mode. So what happens? The Steelers go 15-1 and Pitt wins the Big East! It just goes to show you that you never know what to expect in sports.

vs. Philadephia Eagles
November 12, 2000

The first half of the 2000 season saw a remarkable turn of events for the Steelers. After starting out 0-3, the team had reeled off a series of victories and was 5-4 when NFC powerhouse Philadelphia came to town. The Steelers needed a win to keep pace in the intense AFC Central division, where defending AFC champion Tennessee was battling eventual Super Bowl champion Baltimore.

The Eagles jumped out to a 13-6 lead but the Steelers came back to tie the game in the 4th quarter. The Steelers defense had been the primary reason for their recent resurgence, and they made what should have been the play of the game in the 4th quarter. Safety Lee Flowers hit Eagles RB Stanley Pritchett, kocking the ball loose. LB Joey Porter scooped up the loose football and jogged in for a 32 yard touchdown, giving the Steelers a 7-point lead. The Eagles were stunned and the Steelers had all the momentum. Kordell Stewart led the offense on a time-consuming drive late in the 4th quarter, and a Kris Brown field goal gave Pittsburgh a comfortable 23-13 lead with just three minutes remaining in the game.

At this point, it seemed like Philly had no chance. They needed two scores and did not have any timeouts left. It was in the bag - or was it? QB Donovan McNabb led the Eagles right down the field for a quick touchdown to cut the lead to 23-20. Then the Eagles recovered the ensuing onside kick, which should have been illegal because an Eagles player interfered with Hines Ward's ability to catch the kick (the NFL later sent the Steelers a hollow apology). Philadelphia got into field goal range and tied the game on a David Akers field goal. Before the Steelers had a chance to even catch their breath, the Eagles won the overtime coin toss, marched down the field for the 3rd consecutive time, and won the game on another Akers field goal. Just like that, Philadelphia had stolen victory away from the Steelers.
Final Score: Steelers 23, Eagles 26 (OT)

The Aftermath: It took the Steelers defense two weeks to recover from this loss, as they played an absolutely horrible game the following week at home, allowing Jaguars RB Fred Taylor to run for a record 234 yards. Eventually the Steelers finished the season at 9-7, one game shy of making the post-season. This should have been that one game.

Personal Memory: When Brown kicked the field goal to give the Steelers a 10-point lead at the three-minute mark, I did something I have never done before at a Steelers game - I turned to my dad and said, "It's over." I am usually superstitious about saying stuff like that, and it turned out to bite me in the butt. After Akers won the game, I dejectedly walked out of Three Rivers Stadium vowing never again to prematurely claim victory before the final whistle.

2001 AFC Championship Game
vs. New England Patriots
January 27, 2002

After a 13-3 season and a huge playoff win over their division rival Baltimore, Steelers fans were all set for a trip to New Orleans for Super Bowl XXXVI. The only thing that stood in their way was a New England Patriots team who had come back from an 0-2 start and the loss of franchise QB Drew Bledsoe to win their division. A miracle playoff win over Oakland granted the upstart Patriots a trip to Pittsburgh for a shot at the AFC title. New England was the heavy underdog. First-year starter Tom Brady was doing a great job, but most people thought he would have his hands full against the NFL's #1 defense.

The 2001 Steelers were a great team with one massive weakness - special teams. Five missed field goals had cost them a key divisional game earlier in the season. Kick return touchdowns had nearly cost them a game against Jacksonville in the regular season, and threatened to allow the Ravens back in the game during the Divisional Playoffs. However, solid defense combined with an effecient offense is usually enough to overcome special teams blunders. After all, special teams plays account for maybe 10% of an entire game. Surely special teams wouldn't be the deciding factor at this level of play, right?

Right away, the Steelers' weakness caught up with them. Troy Brown returned a punt to give New England the game's first touchdown. The play should have never even happened. The Steelers initially stopped Brown but a stupid Troy Edwards penalty allowed for a re-kick and subsequent score. In the second half, the Steelers were down 14-3 when Kris Brown attempted a a field goal which was blocked and returned the other way for a New England touchdown. That made the score 21-3, and a late comeback was too little too late as the Steelers fell at home in the AFC title game for the third time in eight years.

The fact that the Steelers lost to a "cinderella" team was hard to deal with at the time, but it didn't seem so rediculous after the Patriots went on to win three of the next four Super Bowls. It wasn't WHO they lost to in this game, but rather HOW they lost. The Steelers gave up two special teams touchdowns - TWO! - in one game. In the end, their one glaring weakness did them in.
Final Score: Steelers 17, Patriots 24

The Aftermath: The special teams got their act together the following season under new coach Kevin Spencer. The Steelers and Patriots would have an AFC Championship rematch three years later, but this time it wasn't even close as New England blew out Pittsnurgh on their way to yet another world championship.

Personal Memory: The special teams were so bad at the end of that season that they made you nervous every time they came onto the field. When Brown was about to attempt the field goal that was supposed to cut the lead to seven and put the Steelers right back into the game, the guy who sits next to me at Heinz Field turned around and refused to watch. When he heard the collective screams which followed Brown's kick, he asked me what was happening. "They blocked the field goal," I uttered in horrific disbelief. "And now they're running down the field with the football.... And now they're in the endzone." It was an extremely disheartening way to lose a game, much like the next game on the list.

2002 AFC Divisional Playoffs
at Tennessee Titans
January 12, 2003

For years the Houston Oilers were one of the Steelers most hated rivals. The rivalry featured some nasty moments, like Chuck Noll telling off Jerry Glanville at midfield and Oilers safety Marcus Robertson trying to rip Mike Tomczack's head off. But all of that changed when the club moved to Nashville in 1997. This was a new team, and although we tried really hard to hate them, it just wasn't possible. How could you hate players like Steve McNair, who practically played games without legs or arms? This new Titans team had class and an old-fashioned work ethic. Combine that with the fact that they were always underrated (their 2002 team did not feature one all-pro even though they made it all the way to the AFC Championship Game), and it was hard to deny that the Titans had slowly developed into the NFL's most admirable team.

Another strange thing happened when the franchise moved to Tennessee - they all of a sudden became unbeatable whenever they played Pittsburgh! From 1998 thru 2003, the Titans went 7-2 against the Steelers. That included a hefty spanking earlier in the 2002 season, so when the Steelers came to Tennessee for the divisional playoffs that January, the odds were stacked against them.

However, the Steelers came out and played with great heart. Although their defense that year was flimsy at best (they had given up 30+ points in each of their previous two wins), the offense was scoring enough points to make it a game. The two teams battled back and forth all day. Pittsburgh overcame a 14-0 deficit and after a barrage of scoring, the game was tied at 31 in the final minutes. The Steelers had a great opportunity to win the game at the end of regulation. They had 1st and 10 on the Tennessee 40, but Tommy Maddox threw three incompletions and Plaxico Burress had one of his infamous "you can sum up my entire career with this one play" drops, and the Steelers never got any closer.

The Titans won the overtime coin toss, and McNair wasted little time. The defense had given up 31 points in the game but had still managed to make some big plays to keep the Steelers in the game. However, in overtime, the defense's biggest weakness - the secondary - folded quickly. CB Dewayne Washington got smoked twice on the same play. First he got caught giving Titans WR Justin McCareins too big of a cushion, and then he let McCareins blow past him after he made the catch. That huge yard play put Tennessee in position to win the game, but kicker Joe Nedney missed the 31 yard field goal attempt! It was a miracle - almost. A flag was down - roughing the kicker on Dewayne Washington. It was such a cheap and petty call. There is an unwritten rule in sports that refs try their best not to decide games. For example, back when they used to play NHL hockey, you would NEVER see a penalty called near the end of a playoff game, even if a guy broke his stick over another guy's head. Those same standards usually apply for football too. Ticky-tack judgement calls are not meant for overtime of the divisional playoffs. Washington barely bumped into Nedney, but the referees determined that it was enough to justify ending the Steelers season. Nedney made the second kick, and the Steelers went home losers.

To add insult to injury, Nedney joked after the game that he should have "won the Oscar" for his little performance. And that's what makes this one of the worst games ever. Two proud teams battled it out for 60 minutes plus overtime. In the end, the Steelers poor defense killed them, and even if they had pulled it out, offenses never win Super Bowls. So I would have been satisfied with the season had Nedney made that first kick. But instead the game had to be marred by that little arrogant piece of crap boasting about the fact that he cheated to end the Steelers season. All those great players, all that proud tradition, all that hard effort - it all came down to a little portentous nobody kicker and his little "Oscar winning" fall. It was a total shame that it had to end that way.
Final Score: Steelers 31, Titans 34 (OT)

The Aftermath: The Titans got blown out the following week in the AFC Championship Game against Oackland. In what could best be described as poetic justice, Joe Nedney got injured (for real this time) and has only played one NFL game since the 2002 playoffs. He recently got cut by the Titans, so maybe now he can pursue his film career.

at Cleveland Browns
September 17, 2000