Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Courtesy of The Pittsburgh Steelers"The Immaculate Reception" by Pittsburgh Steeler Franco Harris.
The Steelers today will show on their big screen in Heinz Field what they've chosen as the seventh top game in their history, as part of their 75th season celebration.
They picked a Top 10 and show one at each home game. No. 1 will be shown at the final game of the season Dec. 16.
Here's hoping No. 1 is not the same old cliche -- the Immaculate Reception game. That may be the best ending of any game in Steelers history, but it is far from the most important one.
The Steelers asked some of us to pick our Top 10 and supposedly that helped them come up with their Top 10. I made the Immaculate Reception game 10th on my list and might have kept it off altogether except I did not want to have to explain why I forgot to include that game.
I did not consider my list based on games that merely had fantastic finishes such as the IR game, or even how visually entertaining they might have been (if so, some losses would be included there, such as in Denver in the 1989 playoffs) or if they were among the Steelers great comeback victories.
I chose mine based on the importance to the franchise, weighted heavily with big-time games such as Super Bowls. There may have been a hundred more interesting games played in the regular season than in the postseason, but so what? Big games are big games.
In fact, I did not pick one regular season game in my Top 10. That may be a fallacy of my list because I've seen some great regular-season games, but the fact I can't remember one more important than any I saw in the postseason is enough for me.
For the record, I also consider the Immaculate Reception game way, way overrated. It may be the greatest play in NFL history and the franchise's first playoff victory, but it was a dud of a game overall, and I don't believe the victory meant as much to the organization as many say it did. They went out and lost their next game, the AFC championship to Miami at home, and then went out and had their Three Bricks Shy of a Load season in 1973, when they went 10-4 and lost to Oakland in their first playoff game.
Bouchette's Top 10
1.
Dec. 29, 1974
at Oakland
AFC Championship
24-13 W
2.
Jan. 12, 1975
vs. Minnesota
Super Bowl IX
16-6 W
3.
Jan. 18, 1976
vs. Dallas
Super Bowl X
21-17 W
4.
Jan. 21, 1979
vs. Dallas
Super Bowl XIII
35-31 W
5.
Feb. 5, 2006
vs. Seattle
Super Bowl XL
21-10 W
6.
Jan. 15, 2006
at Indianapolis
AFC divisional playoffs
21-18 W
7.
Jan. 4, 1976
vs. Oakland
AFC Championship
16-10 W
8.
Jan. 20, 1980
vs. Los Angeles
Super Bowl XIV
31-19 W
9.
Jan. 22, 2006
at Denver
AFC Championship
34-17 W
10.
Dec. 23, 1972
vs. Oakland*
AFC divisional playoffs
13-7 W
*-Immaculate Reception game
Some explanations: I chose No. 1 because few gave the Steelers a chance to go to mighty Oakland and beat the Raiders. By upsetting them, it put them in their first Super Bowl. I chose No. 3 because it legitimized them as a great team, No. 4 because they became the first to win three Super Bowls and No. 8 because it sealed their dynasty.
I picked No. 5 because they finally won one for the thumb after 26 years and No. 6 because it not only was an upset, but a great game, a great finish and it established the Steelers as the team to beat that year.
My weakest pick may be No. 9, but that completed the most incredible road run to get to a Super Bowl in its 40-year history to that point.
No comments:
Post a Comment