The top 3 most memorable Steelers moments of the last decade
While we’re into the New Year, we’re far from into a new year of the NFL season yet. That’s why I wanted to reflect on the top Steelers plays of the 2010’s. With many to pick from, I wanted to whittle everything down to just three plays. Of course, in doing so, I had to make the criteria the “most memorable” plays.
While many might argue that Steelers performances throughout the 2010’s could have been better, they were certainly far from boring. With 2020 promising many gripping moments across various sports, including UEFA Euro Championship and Tokyo Olympic Games, let’s look back at the plays that Steelers Nation will remember years from now, when looking back at the last decade’s teams.
The Immaculate Extension
There is no play which encapsulates the last decade than the Immaculate Extension. Period.
Played on Christmas Day in 2016, and with one week remaining in the regular season, the Steelers would host the Baltimore Ravens at Heinz Field in a game that would pretty much determine who would win the AFC North.
The game was back-and-forth throughout. The Steelers would jump out to a 7-0 lead, then chase the Ravens for most of the second half, first falling behind 14-7, then 17-10 and 20-10, before taking a 24-20 lead with 7:27 remaining in the game.
The Ravens would answer with 1:25 left, going up three points, 27-24. This would lead to one of the most famous plays in Steelers history. Ben Roethlisberger would drive the Steelers 75 yards in 1:09, capped off by an improbable Antonio Brown touchdown with 13 seconds left in the game.
Brown appeared to hit a brick wall of Ravens defenders, one of whom even gets away with a facemask penalty (not called), but the Steelers receiver stretched his arm out with the football to cross the plane of the end zone, effectively finishing the game and giving the Steelers the division title.
Bryant’s Flipping Touchdown Catch
When you think of the “top Steelers plays”, only one other touchdown catch of the 2010’s could possibly rival the aforementioned Immaculate Extension.
That play? Martavis Bryant’s flipping catch, which actually happened in January of 2016 but was connected to the 2015 NFL season. The play, which occurred in a Wild Card playoff game against the Cincinnati Bengals, busted a streak of Steelers drives that ended in field goals: three of them, to be exact.
With around five minutes left in the third quarter, the Pittsburgh would score the first touchdown of the game from either team. Up 9-0, Ben Roethlisberger stepped back to pass on the Bengals ten-yard line and fired a pass into the corner of the endzone toward Bryant.
Bryant would contort, flip and somehow contain the football on his way to the ground – in-bounds no less.
It was just enough to help propel the Steelers into position to win the game with a last-second Chris Boswell field goal, by a final score of 18-16.
Jesse Caught It
In a hotly contested 2017 Week 15 clash between the top two AFC teams, the Steelers would host the New England Patriots with the postseason’s home field advantage on the line. Both teams entered the game 13-3 and it was all but a formality that the winner would hold onto the top spot.
In another back-and-forth clash, the Steelers found themselves down 27-24, with 52 seconds remaining in the game for Big Ben to work his magic.
Amazingly, it took only a single play for the Steelers to strike: a 69-yard dart to then rookie JuJu Smith-Schuster would set the Black and Gold up on the Patriots ten-yard line.
One play later, history would be made. While the play only counts in the game log, and not the stat sheet, it will stand the test of time as one of the most memorable Steelers plays of the decade.
Roethlisberger would step back to pass and find his tight end Jesse James, who would catch the football, extend his body over the goal line and come to the ground for what was ruled a touchdown on the field.
After nitpicking slow motion replay, which failed to show viewers at home a definitive “no catch”, referee Tony Corrente announced to the world that the play was reversed, and the touchdown nullified.
Fans, as in all football fans and not just Steelers fans, were perplexed at the decision. Cries for “what is a catch” forced the league to reword the rule for the very next season – to where Jesse’s catch would’ve counted.
The Steelers would lose the game by a final score of 27-24 and finish the season as the AFC’s second seed.
