We painstakingly synced this recording of the CBS TV broadcast with the iconic WTAE radio call of the late, great Jack Fleming and Myron Cope, making a great matchup between Terry Bradshaw and Archie Manning even better!
The Saints play their hearts out in a very entertaining game which probably should've been much higher scoring for both teams. Bradshaw (16 of 23, 200 yds, 2 TDs) and Manning (22 of 32 for 344 yds, 1 TD) are both outstanding.
The Steelers play very well offensively when they're on the field, but the Saints are able to capitalize on turnovers and drive-extending penalties to keep the Steeler offense on the bench for much of the afternoon. Amazingly, the Steelers have only 3 possessions during the entire first half.
Despite dominating time of possession, the Saints find points tough to come by. Jack Lambert ends one promising drive with a leaping INT at the Steeler 17. Then with just 12 seconds left in the half and the Saints poised to take a 14-3 lead at the Steeler 5-yd line, great coverage by Mel Blount forces a HUGE sack/fumble of Archie Manning (who has a jailbreak of 6 Steeler defenders converging on him) and Joe Greene recovers to end the threat and the half.
The 3rd quarter begins with Bradshaw engineering a textbook 12-play 77-yd TD drive highlighted by a pair of great Lynn Swann catches (the first a leaping grab for 21 yds on 4th & 4, the second a tipped ball in tight double coverage for the TD) and Gerela later adds a FG for a 13-7 lead.
But early in the 4th, a red-hot Manning brings the Saints storming down the field on an 80-yd drive to retake the lead. With time running short, Bradshaw coolly rallies the troops and caps a brilliant 8-play drive with a 3rd down swing pass to Rocky Bleier for the 24-yd winning TD (surprisingly, the first regular season TD reception of Rocky's career) in the final 2 minutes to preserve a Steelers victory.
3 янв 2023