I can’t think of a Steeler who started with such promise, excitement… remember him going 80 yards for a td v. Carolina as a rookie (?) with Cowher kissing him as he came off the field?…only to come plummeting down a few years later.

The one stat that sticks in my mind, and I may not be rembering correctly, but wasn’t 1997 the year he threw for 20 td’s and ran for 10? I thought he was the only qb to do that up to that point. Again, little help from anyone if they know…

I thought that loss really effected Kordell. I believe for the rest of his career, even his pro bowl season (yr?), he was way too cautious and the play calling was woefully predictable and conservative. He went from being this care-free, playmaker to a read half the field, I can’t make a mistake qb.

I remember the Denver LB Romanowski mocking Stewart after one of his interceptions, probably the third one he threw, in that ‘97 game. I don’t think he ever really recovered mentally. He was never the same.

Another tuff one to lose. For me ’94 hurt the worst. Kordell ???? I agree he seemed to lose some confidence after that game, however, IMO the consistent changes in OCs could not have helped him too much either.

How can you talk about this game, and not mention the one play that sent the black & gold spiraling down the tubes. There’s 4 minutes to half, Steelers, up 14-10, have 2nd & 1 at the Denver 35. Bettis is on his way to a rare playoff 100-yard rushing performance.

Strategy, particulary with the oppositon having John Elway at QB is simple right. Hand the ball to JB, get the first down, run the clock, run the damn thing down to at least 2 minutes. Get at least a FG, maybe run out the whole clock. Go in at half up at least 17-10, maybe 21-10.

Instead, Chan effin’ Gailey instructs Kordell Stewart, who had twice thrown into double coverage, narrowly averting interceptions, to throw deep. Kordell throws, it’s picked….two PI’s later, Denver is up 24-14 at halftime.

Ballgame.

1) still feel that ‘94 was worse
2) i’m guessin that the ‘04 loss is coming…and i think that’s not as bad as this ’97 loss

‘94 AFCCG was the worst, and the fact that 9ers would have been heavily favored in SB did little to assuage the sting. It’s a matter of expectations. We KNEW Steelers were going to the SB…Steelers dominated the game in yardage, TOP, but incurred 111 penalty yards to 15 for San Diego. Early 7-0 lead, driving for more…Barry Foster loses his first fumble of the season.

There was no way we were losing this game….10 point lead….at home…..in the 3rd quarter….and then we lost. MOST heartbreaking…no doubt.

1. 1994 Season: Chargers 17 Steelers 13
My whole body just went limp after the “3 more yards” play. Hadn’t happened b4, haven’t happened since (except for Bussie’s fumble against the Colts in 2005, but the Steelers won, YES).

2. 1997 Season: Broncos 24 Steelers 21
I had already planned for a Super Bowl victory against the Packers before this game started. Silly me!

3. 1989 Season: Broncos 24 Steelers 23
They had it. You just want that chance. The Browns were going to be toast.

4. 1984 Season: Dolphins 45 Steelers 28
Won the AFC Central with a 9-7 record and made it to the AFC Championship Game against Miami (sorta like the Cardinals did last season). The 49ers went 15-1 in 1984 and beat the Dolphins in Super Bowl XIX. Guess who the ONLY team was that beat the 49ers that season? Yep, the Steelers. “You just want that chance.”

5. 1976 Season: Raiders 24 Steelers 7
Lost to the Raiders in the AFC Championship Game. Going for the then untitled and unprecedented “3-peat.” No excuses but sure would have liked to see a healthy Franco and Rocky in that game.

By the way, Kordell was far from perfect but he provided some great moments in Steeler history as a QB, RB, WR and Slash. He still roots for and puts the Steelers first in his employment position as an ESPN analyst so let’s call the shots as they are but let’s also respect him for that. He’s a Steeler4Life.

“I remember that! Eh, if the Steelers had run, we’d be saying that Gailey was too conservative.

by Cols714 on Jul 3, 2009 8:13 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs "

I don’t think so, 714. Ideally, we play our cards right, we score a touchdown AND keep the ball away from Elway, preventing any further Denver scoring going into the half.
Run Bettis on 2nd & 1, run the clock down to about 3:20, then mix it up, hopefully get a first down around the 20 at the 2 minute mark…THEN….go to work aiming for the end zone, while exhausting the clock. Other factor, again…..was that Kordell had already shown that he wasn’t on his game as far as putting the ball in the air.

I must admit that during the Cowher years my primary complaint was too much predictability and an unwillingness to take a chance now and then. I longed too see them take a shot on second and one like every other pro football team. But at that point, in that game, the “steeler football” script was working. The Broncos couldnt stop the Bus, and the Steelers were controlling the game. I’ve always thought that game was there for the taking, but Cowher put Kordell in a position to fail uneccesarilly. Kordell didnt have the experience to see and avoid the doubleteam. The Sleelers blew the chance to have a 7-10 point lead and instead went into half down 10. Thats a 20 point swing, and they still had a shot, even after the third quarter Kordell pick in the end zone. Sickening.

Gotta agree with others that 1994 was worse.

Even at the time of the 97 game I thought it was arguable that Denver was a little better than us.

But there was no argument that San Diego was better in 1994.

Match those two teams up 100 times at 3 Rivers with the B&G carrying a ten point second half lead and the Steelers win about 97 of those games.

I was about 11 at the time. I was watching with my grandfather (a Lions fan) and my stepfather (a Jets fan). At the end of the third quarter, they started telling me how “over” the game was, and I started crying, and my grandfather (who has never come out and said it, but has an obvious hatred toward the Steelers) yelled at me, telling me how it was only a game and all that crap.

Twelve years later, my team has won two more rings, and neither of theirs has won a single one. And it makes me glad.

It’s the holiday weekend, so why not spend some time having Steeler fun on this blog today for a moment, finish my personal list and post it, right? Great job with this piece, guys. I dropped in for the first time a couple days ago and thought it was interesting. I won’t be able to make it back before the votes are tallied, so here’s my total vote. Thank you for allowing me to drop in.

1. 1994 Season: Chargers 17 Steelers 13
My whole body just went limp after the "3 more yards" play. That had never happened b4 while watching a Steelers loss, hasn’t happened since (except for Bussie’s fumble against the Colts in 2005, but the Steelers won, YES).

2. 1997 Season: Broncos 24 Steelers 21
I had already planned for a Super Bowl victory party planned against the Packers before this game started. Silly me!

3. 1989 Season: Broncos 24 Steelers 23
The Steelers had this one. You just want that chance. The Browns were going to be toast.

4. 1984 Season: Dolphins 45 Steelers 28
Won the AFC Central with a 9-7 record and made it to the AFC Championship Game against Miami (sorta like the Cardinals did last season). The 49ers went 15-1 in 1984 and beat the Dolphins in Super Bowl XIX. Guess who the ONLY team was that beat the 49ers that season? Yep, the Steelers. "You just want that chance."

5. 1976 Season: Raiders 24 Steelers 7
Lost to the Raiders in the AFC Championship Game. Going for the then untitled and unprecedented "3-peat." No excuses but sure would have liked to see a healthy Franco and Rocky in that game.

6. 1982 Season: Chargers 31 Steelers 28
This was in some ways the last hoorah for "The Team of the ‘70s" as LC and Mean Joe retired before the season started and this would be Swanny’s, Ham’s and basically Terry Bradshaw’s last season. This was a strike year in the NFL. Steelers ended the regular season up 6-3 and on a little roll. I think the NFL called it Round 1 of the Super Bowl Tournament. I won’t forget two things about this game: Being up 14-3 early with a gift turnover and up late in the 4th (28-24) with a 4th and inches around the 50 and Coach Noll decided to punt the ball back to Dan Fouts and the high-powered offense of San Diego as Terry Bradshaw walks of the field wondering why (I wondered, too). I simply wanted the remaining heroes of the ‘70s team to have one last hoorah and one last chance at "One For The Thumb." They get the first down on that 4th and inches and who knows.

7. 2001 Season: Patriots 24 Steelers 17
Because this was an AFC Championship Game, there was a slight, initial sting because the boys were so close. However, September 11, 2001, The Pentagon, The Twin Towers and all who perished on "911" eventually made the loss seem not as important. That date remained in my mind afterwards and still does to this day. God Bless America, My Home Sweet Home.

8. 1972 Season: Dolphins 21 Steelers 17
AFC Championship Game and the next game at Three Rivers after the "Immaculate Reception" game against Oakland. Sure would’ve been nice to bust up that "Perfect Season" of the Miami Dolphins then claimed The Lombardi Trophy against the Redskins.

9. 2004 Season: Patriots 41 Steelers 27
15-1 regular season and another AFC Championship Game home loss to the Patriots.

10. 2002 Season: Titans 34 Steelers 31 OT
When I think about this game, I put aside the running into the kicker call to virtually give the Titans a second chance to win the game. I think about the year Tommy "Gun" Maddox had and how it could’ve ended a little better. I think about Plaxico Burress dropping a pass in the 4th quarter of a tied game which would’ve helped put the Steelers in field goal range. Who knows what happens after that. The Hall of Famer Rod Woodson and the Raiders were hot and up next, though.

11. 2007 Season: Jaguars 31 Steelers 29
INTs, INT ran back for a TD, Jones-Drew runs back a KO to the Steelers 1 yard line, attempting a 2-point conversion from outside the 10 yard line, a QB sweep (what, are you kidding me?) on a 3rd and 6 which if converted ends the game and the Steelers go on to Boston (who knows, maybe they get the Patriots before the Giants), the blatant whistle swallowing while the Jaguars’ player was holding and doing a "doce doe dance" with Deebo on the Jaguars 4th and 2 play. Is that it?

12. 1993 Season: Chiefs 27 Steelers 24 OT
The key points were made earlier by maryrose: Didn’t trail until the last whistle blew and the Steelers had beaten the Bills 23-0 during the regular season. No disrespect to the Bills but they just couldn’t win Super Bowls. Maybe Neil and Steelers would’ve fared better against the NFC East foe, Washington Redskins, in the Super Bowl.

1.SB 30 Cowboys 27-17…We had em on the ropes, outplaying them. 2 weeks of hearing how great the friggin’ cowbys were – about to turn the football world on it’s head…and…well…you know

2.1994 AFC Championship game Chargers 17-13 lost a 10 point lead in the 4th quarter – something cowher just never did. chargers didn’t belong on the same field with the Steelers. Ran for 300 yards the week before against Browns. Probably would hve lost to the niners in the SB, but still it would have been a better game than the human sacrifice the chargers offered them

3.2001 AFC Championship game Pats 21-17 Heartbreaker considering what we did to the Ravens the week before and the expectations we had going into this game. Lost because of 2 frggin’ special teams plays. troy Brown Punt return and blocked FG tD. Unforgivable. Ok I forgive em

4.1982 playoffs Chargers 31-28 Strike shortened season. I was at that game. Again the Steelers blew a 10 pt 4th qrtr lead. Bradshaws last playoff game

5.2004 AFC Championship game Pats 41-27 . 15-1 regular season. Big Ben was riding high all year. Just a whole year of nothing but success comes crashing down in a dominating loss to a better Pats team – one we had beaten convincingly earlier that year. Just a yerrible way to end a great season

No question that ‘94 was worse than ’97. San Diego was an inferior team that we should have finished off in the first half. Pittsburgh went into that game way overconfident (remember Eric Green’s SB video) and blew it. While ‘97 was disappointing, it doesn’t compare at all to the S.D. loss. Denver was a great team, as evidenced by their back to back SB championships, S.D. was a joke…just ask Steve Young.

Kordell Stewart’s career is a classic example of over-coaching. When you have an athlete with that kind of talent, you let him go out and make his mistakes. He will learn, and you have someone who will win games for you for 15 years. He can’t be worried about mistakes in the game, and that’s exactly why Stewart became so tentative after his early success. Instead of letting the ball fly on a pass, he would try to pinpoint it to avoid an interception. Can’t be done. He started worrying about “should I run?” instead of allowing his instincts to work for him. The coaching staff had him worried about screwing up instead of going out and enjoying himself as he so obviously was doing his first couple of years. Does anyone remember all the mistakes Bradshaw made early in his career? So many that at one point Noll benched him for several games and started Joe Gilliam. There are athletes with minimal skills who need to be coached on every minute detail at their position. Those with the enormous skills of a Kordell Stewart need to be allowed to play through their mistakes.

Much as I hate to say it, a big downer in Kordell’s development was the exodus of Gailey to Dallas. In came Ray Sherman, year later he was gone, in came Kevin Gilbride.

Gotta say though, once Maddox came in to beat Cleveland in ’02, we were all fairly amazed that he we had a “real quarterback,” one that had the ball in the air prior to the receiver making his break……something that Kordell rarely, if ever, was able to do.

1. I see a lot of posters blaming Gailey for that 1997 AFFCG loss to the Broncos. I understand the frustration with Stewart throwing that interception on 2nd and 1 near the end of the half with the Steelers in Denver territory, especially when Bettis was running well.

But you know what? Gailey didn’t force Stewart to throw into double coverage. I’m sure there are other wr options on the play. And if nobody is open, he could have scrambled or thrown it away. You usually can’t win Super Bowls if you have to cover up for your qb. It’s not a coincedence that the Steelers have won Super Bowls with Bradshaw and Ben but couldn’t with O’Donnell and Kordell.

2. Kordell didn’t fail because of over coaching or under coaching. He failed because he wasn’t good enough. The Steelers stuck with him longer than probably any other organization would have. Look at Bradshaw. He had his early struggles, was benched at times and what not. But he eventually developed into a championship qb. Kordell never did. And look at what Kordell did after leaving Pittsburgh. Nothing. The Steelers extracted more from Kordell than anyone else. And when Kordell left Pittsburgh, he was still relatively young (for a qb).

Kordell was primarily responsible for that 97 AFCCG loss. If he plays just halfway decent, the Steelers win that game going away. And in the 2001 AFCCG, he had two chances late in the game to bring the Steelers back. Instead, his passes were woefully off target and you could see that he was not going to be able to lead the team back. Compare that to Ben leading the Steelers back in last year’s Super Bowl.

This is the first Steelers game that i had ever went to. All of the anticipation of the big game and the opportunity to be part of that history. Looking back at this game and seeing John Elway do what he has done so many times really makes me happy to have a quarterback like Big Ben. As much as i hated seeing Denver win that game and the miserable ride home, it was Johns year. I enjoyed seeing him win the Super Bowl, he desirved it. I knew our time was coming because the Steelers are too great of a franchise to not get back to winning the big game. LOOK AT US NOW!

You’re right, 1275, no one forced Kordell to throw into double coverage, but his performance at that point during the game suggested that no one s hould have been surprised that he would do so. He had narrowly averted 2 picks up to that point with similar bad tosses into double.

Again though, given the QB on the other side, and I’m not one to usually talk about “scoring too early,” believing generally that you take the points when, and how, they’re there, but the ideal would have been to burn more time off the clock, make sure Denver went in at the half with just their 10 points, Steelers with either a 7, or 11 point lead, AND receiving the 2nd half kickoff.

All your points about Kordell not being good enough are valid. I look at Cowher’s coaching acumen in two ways re: Kordell.
a. Kind of amazing that he brought his team to a pair of AFCCG’s with this guy at QB
(might be able to extend the convo to O’D as well….but we’ll save that one)
b. But…Cowher wanted Kordell in there. His choice of Plaxico in the 2000 draft instead of Chad Pennington was seen as an endorsement of Kordell.
In the end, thank God we didn’t take Pennington; Ben woulda never come to Pittsburgh.

I felt the most devastated after the Charger loss in the 1982 season.

I thought the team of the seventies was coming back after missing the playoffs in 1980 and 1981.

Losing a 28-17 lead made it worse (especially when Fouts was picked off, but the play was overruled due to a penalty, they wound up scoring on the drive and it was 28-24.

I still remember walking home after the game with a very empty feeling, knowing the team of the 70’s was officially done.

SD 1994 was tough…but I was kind of worried about them having to play SF in the super bowl…made me fell a little better that they did not…

I remember all the PI calls at the end of the half. It was like every throw you expected Elway to get that call if it wasn’t caught. I don’t remember if they were legit or not but man that pissed me off then.