Miracle At Heinz Field

It has been a year of great uncertainty for all of us. The global pandemic that took control of the world in March brought a halt to many things we’ve always taken for granted, including… professional sports. The NBA season was suspended just a few weeks away from the start of the postseason; and would not resume play again until late in the month of July. Major league baseball delayed the start of their season until right about the same time that basketball started up again; and then nearly had to call off the season after several clubs reported outbreaks amongst ball players and other team personnel. There were many among us who wondered, and perhaps even doubted, if the National Football League would have a season at all in 2020.

Despite all the uncertainty, the NFL kicked off the regular season on time… and though there were a few hiccups along the way, here we are in December. All the scheduled games have been played, most of them at their originally scheduled times, and we are exactly three quarters of the way through with the playoffs just around the corner.

December 7th featured a double header for Monday night football, a rare occasion that is usually only reserved for the opening week of the season, but a schedule adjustment that was needed due to repeated postponements of a previous week’s game. The early game featured the Pittsburgh Steelers hosting the Washington Football Team at their home stadium, Heinz Field.

I’ve been a big fan of Washington (formerly known as the Redskins) since I first began following professional football in the 1990 season… they’ve been one of my three favorite teams, along with the New England Patriots and San Francisco 49ers. Washington won the Super Bowl following the 1991 season, but then followed up with nearly three decades of futility. The franchise had a high turnover rate at the head coaching position and routinely shuffled starting quarterbacks in and out. There was even a change at the very top of the organization in the late 90s, as the original owners of the franchise sold the team to Daniel Snyder. Losing seasons were more common than not; they have not had a single season since their 1991 championship run in which they won 11 or more games… making them the only team in the entire league who has not gone 11-5 or better at least once in that time period.

The Pittsburgh Steelers, on the other hand, have been the complete opposite. A model of consistency, they’ve only had three head coaches since 1969 and have kept the same starting quarterback since 2004. Their current coach, Mike Tomlin, has never had a losing season and the Steelers have gone to the Super Bowl twice so far during his tenure, winning one of them.

The Steelers entered this Monday night game as big favorites with a record of 11-0, the only remaining team in the league without a loss. Washington came in with a record of 4-7, and still very much alive in the NFC East division race despite their subpar record. Nobody gave Washington a chance to win this game, even with the Steelers being on just five days rest and Washington coming in with one of the top defensive units in the league, well rested after 11 days between games.

The game began and right off the bat, it was clear that the Steelers were the better team just as their record would seem to indicate. Whatever slim chance Washington had to pull off the upset win disappeared almost completely when Pittsburgh built themselves a 14-0 lead halfway through the second quarter. The only momentum Washington was able to grab came from a bizarre series of events that set up their first score of the game just before halftime. In field goal range but with no timeouts left, quarterback Alex Smith took a sack on third down with 10 seconds to play… necessitating a lightning quick shift in personnel as they’d have to get their offense off the field and put their field goal unit out there, snap the ball, then kick it.

In reality, there was really no way that Washington could have gotten the ball snapped in time unless there was a way they could stop the clock. As it happened though, the officiating crew called for a time-out. They were not able to find the ball so that they could place it at the line of scrimmage and get it set for the snap. The delay allowed Washington the extra time they needed to get their field goal unit on the field and ready for the snap. Play resumed and Washington’s kicker made the field goal, cutting the Steelers’ lead to 14-3 as the teams headed to the locker rooms for halftime. It would later be revealed that Smith took the ball with him went he went to the sideline after that third down sack, conveniently “forgetting” to give the ball to the official so it could be put into play, thus resulting in the officials calling time out.

It was a controversial end to the half, but the Steelers still had a comfortable lead. Nobody, except perhaps the most die-hard fans of the burgundy and gold, could have predicted what would transpire during the final 30 minutes of the contest.

Washington took first possession of the ball to start the second half, driving down the field to score their first touchdown of the game on a 1-yard run by backup running back Peyton Barber. They converted their first third down of the game in the drive, after going 0-8 in the first half. Pittsburgh answered with a field goal to extend their lead to 17-10, which would turn out to be their only points of the second half. Alex Smith led his team down the field again, tying the game with a touchdown pass to tight end Logan Thomas with just over nine minutes to play.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger drove the Steelers down the field again in the fourth quarter, getting deep into Washington territory before facing a fourth down and one with just five minutes to play. Instead of relying on their rookie kicker to make a field goal that would have put them back on top, the Steelers went for it. Ben’s pass to running back Anthony McFarland fell incomplete, and Washington took over on downs.

Smith once again led Washington down the field on the ensuing possession, the key play coming on third down… a one handed catch by receiver Cam Sims, wearing #89 on his jersey (same number that belonged to a former Washington all-pro receiver, Santana Moss). They took their first lead of the game on a field goal with two minutes remaining. On Pittsburgh’s first play of their next possession, former Steeler Jon Bostic intercepted a tipped pass… and Washington ran the clock down as far as they could before converting on another field goal attempt, extending their lead to 23-17. The game ended on the Steelers’ ensuing possession when tight end Eric Ebron caught a pass from Roethlisberger for a 22 yard gain and was tackled in bounds with four seconds left. With Pittsburgh out of time-outs, the game clock ran out before the offense could get lined up again and Washington emerged victorious!

Now, for a few fun and somewhat random facts…

-This was Washington’s first win over Pittsburgh since November 17th 1991. They’d beaten every other team in the league except one (Kansas City) in the years since then.

-Coincidentally, with that win over the Steelers in 1991, Washington improved to 11-0 on the season… the same record that Pittsburgh had going into last night’s game. The 11-0 start for Washington in 1991, as well as the 11-0 start for Pittsburgh in 2020… were the best records to start the season for each of the respective franchises.

-I was only 13 years old the last time Washington beat the Steelers. I’d never seen the movie “A Christmas Story” before… a movie I would watch for the first time just a few weeks later and one which became a favorite holiday tradition, having watched it every year at Christmas since 1991. Even now, all these years later, the movie still brings back memories of 1991 and Washington’s championship run.

-Washington’s last win over the Kansas City Chiefs, now the only team they have not recorded a victory against since their last Super Bowl, was in 1983… the very same year that the aforementioned “A Christmas Story” was released.

-Still, Washington has more Super Bowl trophies than Kansas City.

But I digress. Back to the point, I am still impressed with what I watched last night. The “Miracle at Heinz Field” was easily the best game of the 2020 season to date, and has likely earned a high ranking on my list of all time favorites. In a year full of disappointment and loss, it’s nice to have the occasional fleeting moment of jubilation… especially in a season that may easily have not happened at all.