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Welcome to the first edition of the Pittsburgh Steelers All-Time Greatest Plays Bracket. In honor of March Madness, we at BTSC have decided to select, what we thought, the top 16 Steelers plays of all-time. Once we made the selections, we ranked them in order of importance.
Friday we saw Lynn Swann's legendary Super Bowl X sideline catch trump Rocky Bleier's leaping go-ahead touchdown in Super Bowl XIII. Swann's catch now joins Ben Roethlisberger's shoe string tackle as two of the Final Four.
Today's contest will be between two remarkable intercpetions. No. 2 seeded James Harrison's Super Bowl XLIII 100-yard interception return for a touchdown vs. No. 13 seeded Troy Polamalu insane finger tip interception in 2008 against the San Diego Chargers.
One play on the biggest stage, and another the type of play you may never see again. Take a look and be sure to vote below!
2. James Harrison's interception return for a TD in Super Bowl 43
On the biggest of stages, James Harrison took a gamble. Supposed to blitz on the play near the Steelers' goal line, Harrison backs into coverage and picks off the Kurt Warner pass intended for Anquan Boldin, and well, the rest is history. Take a second to relive this magic.
13. Troy Polamalu's insane finger tip interception of Philip Rivers
Troy Polamalu has made some incredible plays in his tenure in the NFL, but this ranks up among the greatest. Early in the game vs. the Chargers, Philip Rivers throws a pass which is deflected and looks to hit the turf. A diving Polamalu picks up the ball, and without a whistle starts running the ball back. Even announcer Jim Nantz doesn't believe it is an interception, until replay shows Polamalu got a finger tip underneath the football for one of the more incredible interceptions in NFL history. Polamalu would later say he was most disappointed in falling down on the run back, as he had nothing but daylight in front of him. Plays like these make you realize just how special a player Polamalu was for the Steelers.
Although Harrison's INT might be considered the greatest play in Super Bowl history, Polamalu's INT can't be underscored in terms of plain athleticism. No one said choosing these plays would be easy, but these two interceptions are some of the more amazing plays in Pittsburgh Steelers history.
The matchups will get more difficult as the Elite Eight will wrap up Tuesday when the Immaculate Reception goes against Santonio Holmes' Super Bowl XLIII touchdown catch.
We hope you continue to enjoy the Sweet 16 bracket - Steelers style.