All of the Pittsburgh Steelers fans at Three Rivers Stadium were on pins and needles. A year after losing the AFC Championship game at home to the underdog San Diego Chargers the Steelers had again put themselves in a bad position. But this time they were trying to defend their lead as time was running out instead of trying to overcome a deficit.
San Diego Chargers tight end Alfred Pupunu is well ahead of the Steelers’ secondary to score on a 43-yard pass play on Jan. 15, 1995 in the AFC Championship Game. The Steelers would lose the game. (Charlie Neuman/The San Diego Union-Tribune )
The Indianapolis Colts and quarterback Jim Harbaugh were driving as time was running out. They had made it the whole way into Steelers territory, but they had failed to get into a realistic scoring position. But there was still a chance. With :05 showing on the Three Rivers scoreboard there would be time for one last chance for the Colts.
From the Steelers 29-yard line Harbaugh would drop back. From that moment until well after the play had ended time froze. From everyone in the stadium that day to the fans watching on TV at home.
Former Steelers linebacker Chad Brown joined NFL Network on Friday and while discussing his time in Pittsburgh he was asked about the famous final play.
"You know I think like everyone else, I felt like that ball was in the air for 4 or 5 minutes. I was just trying to keep [Jim] Harbaugh in the pocket as a pass rusher. But yes, there was such a tangle of humanity in the endzone. I wasn't really sure exactly what happened," Brown said."
No. 87: 1995 AFC Championship Game - Colts vs. Steelers "60 Minutes" (Jan. 14, 1996) #NFL100 @steelers
— NFL (@NFL) September 28, 2019
📺: NFL 100 Greatest Games on @NFLNetwork pic.twitter.com/zeS247Ntyv
"There's me watching the replay of that Hail Mary situation," Brown says referring to highlights being shown on the screen. "So, once the play was over it wasn't a moment of 'oh my god we're going to the Super Bowl'. It was a 'what happened in this play, how's this replay going to come down.' But yes, we did make the Super Bowl and lost to the Dallas Cowboys unfortunately. But yes, one of those football moments that's burned into your brain forever."
It's a moment that surely isn't only entrenched in Browns memory, but all of Steeler Nation as a whole. You can also probably include some Colts fans that haven't been able to forget that day. The Steelers have lost several heartbreakers. That '94 AFC Championship game that we talked about earlier is surely one of the worst.
But the Steelers have gave plenty of heartbreakers to other teams. The Immaculate Reception, Santonio Holmes catches in Super Bowl 43, or even the Joey Porter/Pac-Man Jones game against the Cincinnati Bengals. All games that diehards surely had nightmares about for several years.
Where were you when the ball fell incomplete? Let us know in the comments!
