vs. Miami Dolphins
November 20, 1994

When Mike Tomczack entered the league in 1985, he was destined to be a career backup. Sure, he had his moments starting for the Bears and the Browns, but when the Steelers acquired him in 1993, they hoped he could come in and win a big game if ever Neil O'Donnell went down. That's exactly what happened in week 12 of the 1994 season. The Steelers were 7-3 and in a tight race with the hated Cleveland Browns for the AFC Central division when Danny Marino and the Miami Dolphins came into Pittsburgh. Earlier that week the Steelers had defeated the Buffalo Bills 23-10 in a Monday night game. It was a big win, but O'Donnell was injured and would miss at least two starts. Tomczack's ability to respond to this crisis was key to deciding the division, and he responded with the best game of his career up to that point. Tomczack completed 42 passes for 343 yards, and that was impressive because the offense had been criticized all year for not producing. In fact, the offense had not scored in the previous two games. The story of 1994 was the "Blitzburgh" defense, but Tomczack led the offense to 423 total yards. However, they only managed to score 13 points, and Miami hit a FG in the final seconds to send the game into overtime (remember Dolphins LB Brian Cox insanely pounding his head with his helmet?). This was the Steelers third overtime game in the last four weeks! In overtime, both teams didn't move the ball very well. The Steelers had a chance inside the Dolphins 40 but got stuffed on 4th down. What happened next demonstrates something that had gone on in the NFL for years - that Don Shula had every single call go in his favor. Dan Marino dropped back, was hit, fumbled, and a little known third-year linebacker named Levon Kirkland picked it up and ran unimpeded towards the endzone. As Kirkland ran it in for the apparent game-winning score, the referees began blowing whistles. Unbelievably, the play was called an incomplete pass. Marino's arm was not in the process of throwing at the time of the fumble, but since the whistle-happy refs had already blown the play dead, nothing could be done. It was the same gift-wrapped crap that the officials had given Shula for 30 years. So the Steelers were robbed, but not finished. They got the ball back and Tomczack drove them into FG range. Gary Anderson kicked the 39 yard game winner, and the Steelers won with just over 3 minutes left in OT. Tomczack had his best day ever, and outshined Marino, who was having a record season. Best of all, Shula lost despite the fervent attempts by the refs to give him the game.
Final Score: 16-13 (OT)

The Aftermath: The next week the Steelers traveled to Los Angeles for another big game against the Raiders. Again Tomczack got the start and again the Steelers won 21-3 thanks to two fourth quarter TD's. The Steelers went on to win their division. They almost had a rematch with Miami in the championship game, but the Dolphins blew a 21-6 lead to the Chargers in the divisional playoffs. There were a lot of people who wanted Tomczack to replace O'Donnell as the starter after this game. In 1996, Tomczack got his chance and played fairly well, but was not good enough to keep the job the following year.

at Chicago Bears
November 5, 1995

After a miserable 3-4 start in 1995, the Steelers were trying to salvage a broken season. They were 4-4 heading into Chicago, a place they had never won before, to play the first-place Bears. Chicago had one of the top offenses in the NFL. If the Steelers were to lose this game, they'd drop back under .500 and be in real bad shape. Suffice it to say, this was the game that would save a Super Bowl season, and what a wild game it turned out to be! The lead changed several times in the first half. Big plays set up scores. Greg Lloyd had a 52 yard return off of an interception (right) which set up a TD. The Bears had a long kickoff return to set up one of their scores. At halftime, the Steelers led 17-10. The second half was even more of a shootout. Erric Pegram fumbled on his own 32, and Erik Kramer tied the game with a TD pass to Curtis Conway. Chicago then took the lead on a drive that resulted from a shanked Ron Stark punt. After that the Steelers and Bears traded field goals. Down 27-20 in the 4th, the Steelers mounted a 44 yard drive. Pegram ran it in for a 6 yard TD and the game was once again tied. However, on their next possesion, the Steelers almost blew the game. Neil O'Donnell, who had a great game (34 for 52, 341 yards), dropped back in his own endzone and threw a pass which was deflected and then picked off by Barry Minter for a TD. With just six minutes left, the Steelers trailed 34-27. The Bears then actually had a chance to ice the game, but Conway dropped a big 3rd down pass and kicker Kevin Butler missed a 44 yard FG. Butler later blamed it on the Soldier Field turf, which he called "a piece of sh*t", saying that "the Bears have no pride, the city has no pride. " (that was Butler's last year with the Bears). The Steelers then showed the resolve that would make them AFC champions. O'Donnell put together a 65 yard drive. The WR's all came up big. Andre Hastings and Charles Johnson both had key 3rd down receptions to keep the drive alive. O'Donnell hit Ernie Mills for an 11 yard touchdown to cap the drive with just over a minute left. An odd thing happened next. Down by 1, the Steelers lined up for the two-point conversion. The Bears were of course confused and called timeout. This wasn't just a trick to confuse the Bears - Cowher actually wanted to go for 2 and the win! After the timeout, he decided that it'd be better to kick the PAT and go into overtime. The Bears got the ball first in OT but had to punt. The Steelers then mounted a long 13-play, 63-yard drive. The drive almost stalled when the Steelers were faced with 3rd and 11, but O'Donnell found Mills for a first down. The Steelers drove down to the Bears 8, setting up a 24-yard FG by Norm Johnson that won the game. This was truly an incredible game. There were four ties and five lead changes, not to mention a combined nine turnovers. In the end, the Steelers had their first win ever at Chicago, and moved into first place in the AFC Central, a position they never relinquished.
Final Score: 37-34 (OT)

The Aftermath: Off the momentum of this huge win, the Steelers won their next six games, finished the season 11-5, and won the AFC.

vs. Denver Broncos
December 7, 1997

I had to put these next two games together, since were both played in the span of six days. The first was this game, which occurred on the third to last week of the season. The Broncos came into Three Rivers as the best team in the NFL. They came out flying and took a 21-7 lead, but the 1997 Steelers were slow starters. The Steelers got right back into the game when Kordell Stewart hit Yancey Thigpen on a memorable 69 yard TD pass, in which CB Darrien Gordon was flagged for interference, and then stood there and watched Thigpen catch the ball and run for the TD. Another TD pass to Thigpen, the third of the half, tied the game at halftime. In the second half, the Broncos regained the lead 24-21, but Stewart could not be stopped. He ran in a TD. After a missed FG late in the 4th by Denver, the Steelers began eating the clock. On 4th and 2, Stewart ran for a first down. At the 2 minute warning, the crowd began to go nuts. It was announced that New England had defeated Jacksonville, leaving the Steelers the chance to be all alone in first place. With the ground level seats shaking, Stewart ran it up the middle for the clinching touchdown. It was a great moment. Everything that made you proud to be a Steelers fan came out in those final moments. It was by far the best game the Steelers played that year. Stewart accounted for all 5 TD's, throwing three to Thigpen and running for two. Denver cried all during the next few days about Bill Cowher being too far out on the field. In actuality, they were so soundly beaten by the Steelers that they just didn't know how to handle it. One of the constants for the Steelers in the 1990's is that they always seem to perform well in big regular season games. Whenever a great team came into Three Rivers, the Steelers almost always outplayed them. This game is a perfect example.
Final Score: 35-24

The Aftermath: The Broncos lost the following week to the 49ers, and have lost only twice since! They got their revenge on the Steelers by defeating them in the AFC Championship Game in Pittsburgh. They went on to win the Super Bowl in 1997, and again in 1998.

Personal Memory: As I said before, there was a lot of adrenalin running through the fans in that game. Late in the 4th quarter, the Steelers led 28-24, but the Broncos were slowly mounting a drive. It would eventually end with Lake sacking Elway and Elam missing a long FG attempt, but no one in near section 276, including myself, was even paying any attention to the drive. That's because this guy a few rows down had been standing up in the middle of plays all game long. Yeah, he was rooting for the Steelers, but it started to get old real fast. Everyone was patient with him, but finally everyone began, well, "verbally abusing" this obviously drunken guy. His response - to just stay standing for the rest of the game! Not a wise decision on his part. Things started to get heated. Finally, the guy made his final catastrophic mistake. Right around the time the Broncos were setting up for that field goal, a woman came down to the guy's seat to try to talk him into sitting down. He responded by punching her in the face, and all hell broke loose. At least three people dove on the guy. Everyone who was even close to the guy began pushing their way through people just to get a shot at him. He was dragged out of the row and up the steps, all the while getting the crap kicked out of him. Finally, some stadium security guys showed up and saved the poor sap. Now, every time I tell that story someone gets upset, but don't blame me - I was just there as a witness. You make your own judgement as to whether the guy deserved it or whether it was an unneccessarily brutal act by the fans. However, there is a moral to that story: never antagonize fans at Three Rivers. When a group of Steelers fans start to scream at you, just sit down and shut up!