Since the Pittsburgh Steelers began calling Heinz Field home in 2001 there have been many memorable football games played there, and even though it’s only 10 years old selecting the list of the 10 most memorable Steeler games at Heinz Field was not an easy one with the Steelers being in playoff and Super Bowl contention every year.
From the Bill Cowher era to the Mike Tomlin regime, remembering the outstanding individual performances and great plays and of course, the twirling of all those Terrible Towels, here is the list of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 10 most memorable games at Heinz Field:
1. January 18, 2009 Pittsburgh 23 Baltimore 14 AFC Championship
The third time was the charm for the Pittsburgh Steelers. This was the first AFC Championship Game the Pittsburgh Steelers won at Heinz Field after losing two AFC title games at home to the New England Patriots in 2002 and 2005.
Baltimore scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter to cut the Steelers lead to a precarious two points with the Ravens now trailing 16-14. With momentum on the Ravens’ side, Baltimore got the ball back as one could feel the tension in the air.
Then Troy Polamalu sealed the game late with an interception off of Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco weaving his way for a 40-yard interception return across the field into the end zone raising the ball into the air with both arms as he crossed the goal line.
The game had some other very memorable plays as well. Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger scrambling buying time and then finding Santonio Holmes crossing the field for a 65-yard touchdown pass. Also, a ferocious hit by Ryan Clark on Willis McGahee knocked both men unconscious and on the field for some time.
Roethlisberger threw for 255 yards on the night outplaying his counterpart Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco who threw interceptions and was sacked three times.
2. January 23, 2011 Pittsburgh 24 New York Jets 19 AFC Championship
In a great display of Steeler football, the Steelers were seldom better than the way they executed in the first half of the 2011 AFC Championship game versus the New York Jets.
The Steelers jumped out to a 24-0 lead in the first half and hung on the rest of the game. Rashard Mendenhall started the onslaught scoring on a one-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and would rush for 95 of his game high 121 yards in the first half.
Roethlisberger would score on a two-yard touchdown run to put the Steelers up 17-0 and on the Jets next possession, Ike Taylor hit Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez and William Gay picked up the fumble and ran 22 yards to give the Steelers a 24-0 lead. The Jets would add a field goal right before the half for a 24-3 halftime score.
In the third quarter Sanchez would hit former Steeler wide receiver Santonio Holmes for a 45-yard touchdown. The Jets would add a safety in the fourth quarter tackling Roethlisberger in the end zone and then Sanchez hit Jerricho Crochery for a touchdown to cut the Steelers lead to 24-19 with momentum all now with the Jets.
On a crucial third-down play late in the game Roethlisberger hit Antonio Brown for 14 yards for a first down enabling the Steelers to maintain possession and run out the clock. On the sideline Jets head coach Rex Ryan threw his headset down in disgust as the Steelers were on their way to their third Super Bowl in six years.
3. January 23, 2005 New England 41 Pittsburgh 27 AFC Championship Game
Steeler fans were thinking that this would finally be the year. The Steelers had the best record in the NFL at 15-1. They finally had a franchise quarterback, a 15-game winning streak, the Bus, a great defense and home field advantage.
A then-record crowd of 65,242 Steeler fans braved the 11-degree temperature hoping their Steelers would avenge the 2002 AFC Championship Game loss to the New England Patriots. During the regular season, the Steelers beat these same Patriots 34-20 who were undefeated and riding the longest winning streak in NFL history having won 21 straight games.
The Steelers turned the ball over on their first two possessions and the Patriots took advantage of the Steelers’ mistakes, and would ultimately score 24 points on the day off Steeler turnovers.
New England jumped out to a 10-0 lead when Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady connected on a 60-yard scoring pass to Deion Branch and later Adam Vinatieri kicked a 48-yard field goal.
Brady would throw two touchdowns on the day with no interceptions while Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger looked like a rookie throwing three interceptions one for a pick six touchdown by Rodney Harrison for 87 yards to make it 24-3 late in the first half.
The Steelers fought back and were trailing 31-20 early in the fourth quarter and reached New England’s five-yard line, but were turned away on three consecutive plays. Steeler fans weren’t happy when head coach Bill Cowher decided to kick a field goal rather than go for the touchdown, and the Steelers momentum stalled and Pittsburgh was never in it again.
It was the Steelers’ fourth loss in five AFC title games under Coach Bill Cowher.
4. January 27, 2002 New England 24 Pittsburgh 17 AFC Championship Game
Pittsburgh came into the game as nine-point favorites but it was New England, especially the Patriots’ special teams that made the big plays and upset the favored Steelers 24-17.
The Patriots’ Troy Brown returned a punt 55 yards for the game’s first score. The punt return happened right after the Steelers had to re-punt due to Troy Edwards being penalized for stepping out of bounds and coming back in to the field of play.
Drew Bledsoe replaced an injured Tom Brady at quarterback for the Pats and with less than a minute to go in the second quarter Bledsoe threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to David Patten to give the Patriots a 14-3 lead. It was New England’s only offensive touchdown of the game.
Early in the third quarter New England would block a Kris Brown field goal attempt and return it 60 yards for a touchdown to put New England ahead 21-3.
The Steelers had their chances late in the game, but Kordell Stewart threw two interceptions in the final three minutes after Pittsburgh had cut into New England’s 21-3 lead and now trailed only 21-17. Stewart would throw three interceptions on the day.
Pittsburgh running back Jerome Bettis, hampered by a groin injury, carried only nine times for just eight yards.
The Patriots’ dynasty was about to begin.
5. January 5, 2003 Pittsburgh 36 Cleveland 33 AFC Wild Card Game
Yogi Berra is credited with having said “It ain’t over till it’s over” but Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Tommy Maddox proved it true leading one of the greatest comebacks in NFL Playoff history. Maddox threw three second-half touchdown passes as the Steelers scored 22 fourth quarter points coming back from a 17-point deficit to beat the Cleveland Browns 36-33 on a snowy January day.
The Browns led 24-7 late in the third quarter when the Steelers began mounting a comeback. Maddox hit Plaxico Burress on a 6-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to ten, 24-14 at the end of the third quarter. The Browns added a field goal stretching their lead to 13 and Maddox answered back quickly hitting Jerame Tuman for a 3-yard touchdown.
On their next possession the Browns scored again to extend their lead to 33-21. Maddox then led the Steelers on a 77-yard drive culminating on a five-yard scoring pass to Hines Ward with 3:06 left, reducing Cleveland’s lead to five, 33-28.
On a third-and-12 Browns’ wide receiver Dennis Northcutt dropped an easy pass forcing the Browns to turn the ball back to a red hot Maddox. On the Steelers final drive Maddox completed four passes to get the Steelers to the Browns’ three-yard line. From there, Chris Fuamatu-Ma’afala scored the winning touchdown with only 54 seconds left in regulation. The Steelers made the two point conversion giving Pittsburgh a three-point lead.
Maddox finished the day 30-of-48 for 367 yards and his counterpart Browns’ QB Kelly Holcomb threw for 429 yards and three touchdowns, but it wasn’t enough, not on this day.
6. January 15, 2005 Pittsburgh 20 New York Jets 17 OT Divisional Playoffs
This game had the Steelers on the precipice of post-season elimination not once, but twice and somehow the Steelers managed to stay alive and win.
The Steelers jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter on a Jeff Reed 45-yard field goal and a Jerome Bettis 3-yard touchdown run, only to have the Jets tie it before the half.
The Steeler defense did not surrender a touchdown as the Jets’ scores came on a Santana Moss 75-yard punt return in the second quarter, and a Reggie Tongue 86-yard interception return in the third quarter.
With 1:58 left in the fourth quarter and the score tied at 17, the Jets’ Doug Brien had a 47-yard field goal attempt which hit the goal post. The Jets had another chance to win it in regulation when defensive back David Barrett intercepted a Ben Roethlisberger pass. Brien, who kicked the winning field goal the previous week to beat San Diego in the playoffs, was this time wide right from 43 yards out on the final play of regulation. It was the first time in NFL post-season history that a kicker missed two field goal attempts in the final two minutes of the game.
Reed would make the most of the opportunity and won it for the Steelers with a 33-yard field goal at the 11:04 mark in overtime.
The Steelers were led offensively by Jerome Bettis who rushed for 101 yards and Hines Ward who had 105 yards receiving.
7. January 15, 2011 Pittsburgh 31 Baltimore 24 AFC Divisional Playoffs
There may be no better example of familiarity breeding contempt than the Pittsburgh Steelers against divisional rival Baltimore Ravens.
In this the third meeting of the year between the two clubs, the Steelers took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a Rashard Mendenhall one-yard touchdown run and after that the rest of the first half belonged to the Ravens. Baltimore would score 21 unanswered to take a 21-7 lead at halftime.
In the third quarter, the Steelers defense took over led by safety Ryan Clark. Clark’s hit on Ravens running back Ray Rice forced a fumble in which the Steelers capitalized on culminating in a nine-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to Heath Miller.
The second half belonged to the Steelers as the Ravens were held to minus four yards in the third quarter and only 28 yards of offense in the second half. Pittsburgh would strike again in the third quarter on an eight-yard touchdown pass from Roethlisberger to Hines Ward.
In the fourth quarter the Steelers would add a Shaun Suisham 35-yard field goal to take a 24-21 lead. The Ravens Billy Cundiff tied it up with a 24-yard field goal with 3:54 remaining.
With less than two minutes left Roethlisberger would hit rookie wide receiver with a 58-yard pass Mendenhall would score the game’s deciding points on a two-yard touchdown run with 1:33 left.
The Ravens last hope ended when T.J. Houshmandzadeh dropped Joe Flacco’s fourth-down pass with 1:03 remaining and the Steelers were on their way to another AFC Championship Game.
8. October 31, 2004 Pittsburgh 34 New England 20
Halloween turned out to be not a treat but a nightmare for the New England Patriots as it was the Pittsburgh Steelers who gave a then-record Heinz Field crowd of 64,737 a sweet treat, defeating the Patriots 34-20 ending the longest winning streak in NFL history. New England had won a record 21 straight games coming into the game, with an 18-game regular season winning streak and had a perfect 6-0 record at that point in 2004.
New England scored first on a 43-yard Adam Vinatieri field goal in the first quarter. Before the first quarter would end, the Steelers answer with 21 points. Rookie Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger would connect with Plaxico Burress for two scores and then Deshea Townsend intercepted Tom Brady and went 39-yards for the score and a 21-3 Steelers lead. The Steelers would convert four New England turnovers into 24 points on the day.
Brady would hook up with David Givens before halftime to cut the Steelers lead to 24-10, but early in the third quarter Jerome Bettis would score on a two-yard run to give the Steelers an insurmountable 31-10 lead.
Pittsburgh dominated the line of scrimmage and the time of possession 42:58 to the Patriots 17:02. The Steelers offense accounted for 417 yards, of which a whopping 221 came on the ground. Duce Staley rushed for 125 yards on 25 carries and Bettis added 65 more on 15 attempts.
9. December 7, 2008 Pittsburgh 20 Dallas 13
This one makes the list by virtue of the opponent, the hated Dallas Cowboys, and the comeback involved to win this game.
With the wind chill in the single digits, and after a defensive first half of football with both teams only managing a field goal, the Cowboys scored the game’s first touchdown in the third quarter on a Tony Romo 12-yard touchdown pass to Terrell Owens. Another Cowboy field goal extended Dallas’ lead to 13-3 going into the fourth quarter.
Midway through the fourth quarter a Jeff Reed field goal cut the Cowboys lead to 13-6.
Then in one of the most dramatic endings in Steelers’ history, the Steelers would score two touchdowns within 30 seconds and left the Cowboys wondering how the game got away.
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger connected with Heath Miller on a six-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 13 just before the two-minute warning and then on the Cowboys’ next possession deep in their own end Romo was intercepted by Deshea Townsend who returned it 25 yards for the game’s winning touchdown.
10. November 26, 2007 Pittsburgh 3 Miami 0
If you just say the score 3-0 to a devout Steelers fan, they’ll most likely remember the game and the conditions involved in it, which made it particularly memorable. In the wind, rain, and mud the Steelers defeated the Miami Dolphins 3-0 on a Jeff Reed 24-yard field goal to win it with only 17 seconds remaining in the game in what would be the lowest scoring game in Monday Night Football history.
It had been 64 years since an NFL game went scoreless for that long, and it was the league’s lowest-scoring game in 14 years.
After five high school and college games were played at Heinz Field the previous weekend, crews put down a new layer of sod atop the chewed-up turf for the game.
The game was delayed by lightning and the rain washed away nearly all the yard lines on the new grass field. The players had to contend with a field that had numerous puddles and soft spots. .
The most memorable moment occurred late in the third quarter when a punt from Miami Dolphins’ punter Brandon Fields came straight down and plugged in the saturated turf burying itself several inches into the ground.
On the winning drive, Ben Roethlisberger hooked up three times with Hines Ward to set up Reed’s game winning field goal.
Honorable Mention:
November 5, 2007 Pittsburgh 38 Baltimore 7
In front of a Monday Night Football audience and with the players chosen to the Pittsburgh Steelers all-time 75th anniversary team in attendance, Ben Roethlisberger and James Harrison gave virtuoso performances worthy of those all-time Steelers in a 38-7 thrashing of the Baltimore Ravens.
Harrison had nine tackles, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, three and a half sacks and an interception. Through the wind and the rain Roethlisberger threw five touchdown passes, all in the first half, as the Steelers stormed out to a 35-7 halftime lead that was never challenged.
December 11, 2005 Pittsburgh 21 Chicago 9
Everyone in Pittsburgh knows when the weather gets bad and it starts to snow you ride the Bus, including Bill Cowher and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Needing a victory to keep their playoff hopes alive, that’s exactly what the Steelers did versus the Chicago Bears.
Jerome Bettis plowed through the snow 17 times for 101 yards and two touchdowns as the Steelers defeated the Bears 21-9. It was Bettis’ first 100-yard game on the season, and the final one of his 13-year career. Bettis’ previous game high all season was 56 yards and he had rushed for only 186 yards in Pittsburgh’s first 12 games.
Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Hines Ward on the Steelers’ opening drive. After that, the Steelers got back to basics as the snow fell and rode the Bus ending the Bear’s eight-game winning streak.
After three consecutive losses, the game set the 8-5 Steelers on their way to making the playoffs as a wild card en route to a Super Bowl victory in Bettis’ hometown of Detroit.
December 20, 2009 Pittsburgh 37 Green Bay 36
In a match up of the game’s two best quarterbacks not named Brady or Manning,
This was a game that would ultimately come down to who had the ball last, Ben Roethlisberger or Green Bay’s quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
In a wild, back-and-forth game, in which both teams nearly totaled a 1,000 yards in offense, Roethlisberger set a franchise record throwing for 503 yards and three touchdowns and no interceptions. Rodgers would throw for 383 yards and three touchdowns. Both Hines Ward and Heath Miller had over 100 yards in receptions.
The game got off to a fast start as on the Steelers first play from scrimmage Roethlisberger hit Mike Wallace for a 60-yard touchdown pass. The Packers would answer back with an 83-yard touchdown pass from Rodgers to Greg Jennings. Steelers’ running back Rashard Mendenhall would run for a touchdown in an action field first quarter.
The fourth quarter was even more frenetic with four touchdowns and two field goals scored. What many remember is after the Steelers kicked a field goal to take a 30-28 lead with 4:03 left in the contest, Steelers’ coach Mike Tomlin had the Steelers attempt a controversial onside kick which failed. Rodgers led the Pack down the field and hooked up with James Jones for a 24-yard touchdown to give Green Bay the lead with 2:06 left to play.
Not to be outdone on this day, Roethlisberger took the Steelers 86 yards on 12 plays throwing a 19-yard touchdown pass to Mike Wallace on the final play of the game. Wallace extended and caught the ball just inches above the ground getting his feet in bounds in the end zone with no time left on the clock.
Both quarterbacks showed their brilliance that day as they totaled 886 yards passing, six touchdowns and zero interceptions A little over a year later, Roethlisberger and Rodgers would face each other again in Super Bowl XLV but that day would belong to Rodgers and the Packers.
January 5, 2008 Jacksonville 31 Pittsburgh 29 Wild-Card Playoffs
In Coach Mike Tomlin’s first playoff game as Steelers head coach, the Steelers jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. Jacksonville’s Maurice Jones-Drew returned the ensuing kickoff 96-yards which led to a Fred Taylor 1-yard touchdown run and then two more Jacksonville touchdowns to take a 21-7 halftime lead. Roethlisberger threw three interceptions in the first half, one returned for a 63-yard touchdown by Jaguars’ cornerback Rashean Mathis.
The Steelers trailed 28-10 early in the fourth quarter when in a span of less than five minutes Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger would throw two touchdown passes, a 37-yard touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes and then a 14-yard scoring strike to Heath Miller.
The Steelers would score a third touchdown in the fourth quarter as Roethlisberger was now on fire and would finish 29-of-42 passing for 337 yards on the day. Pittsburgh now led 29-28 and would attempt a two-point conversion.
Roethlisberger’s pass to Hines Ward in the end zone was nullified by center Sean Mahan’s holding penalty. Tomlin elected to go for two points again, this time from the 12-yard line and Roethlisberger scrambled and the conversion attempt failed.
With Jacksonville down to their final possession and final play perhaps, on fourth-and-two quarterback David Gerrard ran 32 yards on a quarterback draw as it appeared Steelers linebacker Larry Foote was held on the play.
Jacksonville kicker Josh Scobee would win it with a 25-yard field goal with 37 seconds left in regulation.
November 11, 2007 Pittsburgh 31 Cleveland 28
Native Ohioan Ben Roethlisberger hadn’t lost to the Cleveland Browns since he entered the league and he wasn’t about to let it happen on this day.
The Browns jumped out to a 21-9 halftime lead but the second half would be an entirely different matter. The Browns would manage only one first down as their offense would be shut out in the second half.
In the third quarter, Roethlisberger connected with Hines Ward on a 12-yard touchdown pass to cut the Browns’ lead to 21-16. Then in the fourth quarter, on a third-and-10 from the Browns’ 30-yard line Roethlisberger ran up the middle and didn’t stop till he hit paydirt. A pass to Ward for the two-point conversion put the Steelers ahead 24-21.
Before Steeler fans even had a chance to settle down, the Browns’ Joshua Cribbs returned the ensuing kicking 100 yards to put the Browns back on top 28-24. Roethlisberger answered back driving the Steelers back down the field hitting Heath Miller with a two-yard touchdown pass to put the Steelers ahead 31-28.
With just six seconds left Cleveland kicker Phil Dawson missed a 52-yard field goal that would have tied the game and sent it into overtime. Roethlisberger’s mastery against the Browns lived on.
John Baranowski is a sports historian and contributor to newspapers, sports publications and sports websites.
