It has to go down as one of the greatest plays in football history. It was ruled a touchdown and remarkably, Pittsburgh took a 17-7 halftime lead. He just kept going! Finally, he was dragged down from behind by two hustling Cardinals’ wideouts as he hit the pylon. Red and white jerseys fell all over the place as Harrison scooted along the near sideline. Pittsburgh showed a blitz look, but at the last moment, Harrison dropped into coverage, picked off the pass at the goal-line and began his long trek the other way. Warner took the shotgun snap and fired a pass over the middle. The Cardinals had the ball on the two-yard line with 18 seconds left and no timeouts. That is when this game got straight up nuts. Arizona then got a late 2nd quarter interception to set them up to take the lead late in the half. One play later, Ben Patrick scored to cut the lead to 10-7. The Cards answered with a huge catch and run by Boldin. Bruce Arians’ Steelers’ offense got off to the better start, however, as they went up 10-0 on two productive drives. Harrison’s Miraculous TDĪrizona’s red-hot offense against Pittsburgh’s rock solid defense was a dream battle. Mike Tomlin’s Steelers were off to the Super Bowl. Polamalu snatched the game-clinching interception that caused Heinz Field to go ballistic. Harrison, Polamalu, Ed Reed and Ray Lewis in one game is about as good as defensive football gets. The AFC championship win over Baltimore was a nail-biter between the two best defenses in football. Pittsburgh claimed two exciting home victories in the playoffs over the Chargers and Ravens. On offense, wide receiver Hines Ward had another excellent season. The Steelers had two first-team All-Pros in Troy Polamalu and James Harrison. Dick LeBeau’s defense finished #1 across the board. The Steelers were in the mix all season long. The unbelievable Kurt Warner was headed back to his third Super Bowl as the Cardinals shocked the football world! Pittsburgh Steelers 9 Years Ago Tim Hightower scored the winning touchdown setting off a crazy celebration in the desert. Kurt Warner put his team on his back for a thrilling go-head scoring drive. However, the game Eagles fought back to take the lead 25-24 in the fourth. They led 24-6 at the break as Fitzgerald scored three more touchdowns. The next day, the Eagles upset the Giants which meant the 4th-seeded Cardinals would host the 6th-seeded Eagles.Īrizona exploded in the first half. Fitzgerald had 8 receptions for 166 yards. The trend continued in the Divisional round as the Cardinals stunned the 12-4 Panthers. Fitz responded with perhaps the greatest stretch of games a receiver has ever put together. Warner launched passes to Fitzgerald whether he was covered or not. In the Wild Card round, Arizona bested Atlanta due to some huge plays by Boldin and Fitzgerald. But, nobody could have picked the Cardinals to make the Super Bowl especially after their embarrassing 47-7 loss to the Patriots at the end of the regular season. Fortunately, they played in a weak division. They had not even hosted a playoff game since 1947! The Cards got off to a solid start in ’08, but faltered down the stretch. McClain also has appeared in eight movies: The Rookie, The Longest Yard, Spring Breakers, Secretariat, Invincible, Cook County, The Game Plan and Make It Rain.The Cardinals had the worst history of any of the longtime franchises of the NFL. He also appears on numerous sports talk shows around the country. McClain can be heard six times a week on the Texans' flagship station Sports Radio 610 in Houston. In 2019, he was voted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame's second class of media honorees. In 2015, he was named as a Gridiron Legend in Texas, becoming the third member of the media behind Dave Campbell and Mickey Herskowitz. He's a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee, the Pro Football Hall of Fame Seniors Committee and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame Selection Committee. In 2019, he was voted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame’s second class of media inductees and also received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Baylor Line Foundation. He is past president of the Pro Football Writers of America. McClain has a plaque in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio as the 2006 winner of the Dick McCann Memorial Award (now the Bill Nunn Memorial Award) presented annually by the Pro Football Writers of America to a writer for his long and distinguished coverage of the NFL. to cover the original Houston Aeros of the World Hockey Association. He worked for the Waco Tribune Herald from 1973-76, when he accepted a job with the Chronicle. John McClain, a Waco native who graduated from Baylor in 1975, covered the NFL, including the Oilers and Texans, for 47 years at the Houston Chronicle until his retirement in March 2022.
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