This is why I still consider Noll the best coach I've ever seen: Taking a team with Malone, Abercrombie and Pollard in the backfield and a patchwork defense and almost getting to the Super Bowl is more impressive than taking a loaded team and winning it all. This might have been Noll's best coaching performance.
As a then 11-yr old Redskins fan, I instantly became a sometime fan of those MARK MOLONE Steelers after the dynasty of the '70s as an AFC rooting interest.. (Plus the Seahawks back in their former AFC days...I love the "eff U" their former starting QB Jin Zorn to Dave Krieg gave to my beloved REDSKINS decades later, when he did that bizarre field goal as an obvious middle-finger to evil Daniel Snyder). PS--but NEVER The Penguins, GO CAPS!
@@AZDC99 I remember watching football in the ‘80s and getting aggravated when Art Monk beat some loser cornerback for a touchdown on more than one occasion. I was 11 in 1985.
RIP, Fran Polsfoot...you had the best seat in the house, when John Elway finally brought the Lombardi Trophy to Broncos Country 13 years later in San Diego! (and he beat the Steelers in the '97 AFC title game, in the same place where he began his NFL career...it was also the last NFL playoff game in 3 Rivers Stadium history!)
This game was definitely one of the biggest upsets of the '84 season (Pittsburgh Steelers beating Denver Broncos @ Denver, 24-17). The Steelers were 9-7 during this regular season & the Broncos were 13-3 this same season. Yes, the Steelers may have beaten the defending 1984 Super Bowl Champ, the LA Raiders on the last game of this regular season, but, the Steelers were also the only team in that same season to beat the San Francisco 49ers, 20 -17. (The 49ers were 15-1 during this regular season & Super Bowl Champs this same season as well) .
The 84 Steelers were better than their record. They lost on a fluky final play at Indy and by only 2 points in the 4th quarter at Cincinnati. They were basically an 11-5 squad IMO. They, as you said, were good enough to beat in the same season, the defending SB champ Raiders and the eventual SB champ 49ers and were the only team to to beat SF all year. They just couldn't matchup with a prime Marino in the reg or post season. Had they found a way to upset Miami in the AFC title game, you know, one of those fluky wins where you get tipped interceptions and special teams TDS etc. they would have had a chance against SF in the SB. Not because they had beaten them in the reg season, but because they just matched up with them well.
Heck, it wasn't even the biggest upset of the day. The Bears were around 9-point dogs in Washington vs. the Redskins and upset them in RFK right before this game. If memory serves, the Steelers were 4 or 4.5 point dogs in this game.
A favorite Steeler team of mine. Very underrated. Much like 83' a team that was a QB and some key injuries away from being Champs. If only Lambert, Erenberg hadn't gotten hurt and Larry Brown and Chris Kolodjeski hadn't had their careers ended in that costly win in SF. Noll was brilliant in 84', 87' and 89'.
UGLY HELMETS, UGLY UNIFORM, ROYAL BLUE-ORANGE TERRIBLE ORANGE/BLUE COMBO...NO WONDER WHY THEY CHANGED THOSE LOSER DUDS!! AND IMMEDIATLEY WON MORE SUPERBOWLS (3-1) THAN THEY LOST, HUGE MISTAKE MAKING ORANGE THEIR PRIMARIES IN SB 2013 43-8 LOSS TO "THE LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEGION!!
The 84 Steelers were better than their record. They lost on a fluky final play at Indy and by only 2 points in the 4th quarter at Cincinnati. They were basically an 11-5 squad IMO. They, as you said, were good enough to beat in the same season, the defending SB champ Raiders and the eventual SB champ 49ers and were the only team to to beat SF all year. They just couldn't matchup with a prime Marino in the reg or post season. Had they found a way to upset Miami in the AFC title game, you know, one of those fluky wins where you get tipped interceptions and special teams TDS etc. they would have had a chance against SF in the SB. Not because they had beaten them in the reg season, but because they just matched up with them well.
Sir, your work is wonderful. I've enjoyed watching your posts. Do you have the Broncos week 2 game from 84 against the Bears, either in highlight form or the whole game?
Marty McDonough Yeah, I grew up in Pittsburgh and he was “Automatic Anderson.” I remember watching this game as a seven year old. I forgot he missed three times. He kicked mainly off turf, Cincinnati, Houston and Pittsburgh were all turf teams, so maybe the grass in Mile High affected him.
It's a damn shame that we didn't get Dolphins-Broncos for the AFC title. That seemed to happen a lot in the 80s and 90s - the two best teams in the conference would not meet in the conference title game because one of them would screw up in the divisional round.
I don't remember Gary Anderson ever miss 3 field goals ever again!! To think that the Steelers could've drafted Marino! I was a little kid , but I remember visiting my Babushka outside The Burgh & all my uncles & cousins goin on & on about this Fan Marino guy???? Lol!
He currently works for Steel City Mortgage Services in Pittsburgh, and was the co-host of a weekly Steelers-themed radio broadcast on ESPN Radio 1250 AM.
Yes this win was the apex moment of The 80’s Steelers and certainly for Mark Malone. They led briefly against Miami in the championship game but couldn’t stop Marino’s passing.
No, Steelers beat the Oilers in the 1989 playoffs. That was Chuck Noll's last playoff win and the Steelers won their next playoff game in 1994 against the Browns.
He got them a ring about as much as Cowher got them a ring .....Noll took a team worse than the Browns ever thought of being to 4 championships and got 4 rings ......Tomlin had a hall of fame quarterback for 15 seasons and produced one ring ....I'm thinking Ben got that ring for him just as he delivered Bill Cowher and Jerome Bettis a ring .....I know to you not having a losing season is big .....but coming in third in ur division is on big to those that grew up shining those participation trophies....you know who you are
@Jesse LeBlanc boy...who the f are you...this is about a game in the 80s...u were still shitting in your diaper..stop writing paragraphs..no one cares boy
You can say not a chance all you want but the year the 49ers when 15 and 1 and won the superbowl it was the Steelers that put that 1 in the lost column....
@@davidmitchell6873 I wasn’t talking about Sam “Nover”Malone. Try to figure out what I did there 😆. I was talking about Mark Malone. The Olympic athlete. Now for being a smarty (can’t swear on RU-vid these days), you get me singing to you. If you be my bodyguard, I can call you Betty and Betty won’t you call me 🤙 Al! Mmmmmm mmmmm mmmmm nah nah nah nah
