Post Bradshaw the Steelers threw out Cliff Stoudt, David Woodley, Mark Malone & Bubby Brister as QB's. Yea they somehow made it to the AFC Championship game in 84 but didn't belong out on the field with the Dolphins that day.
They didn't match up well with Miami but they belonged in the game. They were the only team to beat the 49ers that entire season. The same 49ers who crushed Miami in the Super Bowl. Styles make fights. They also came a fumbled snap away from the 89 AFC title game with Brister and made the playoffs with Stout in 83.
The Steelers were actually leading the Dolphins in that 84 AFC Championship game early on before Dan Marino kicked the Dolphins into high gear. The Killer B's didn't exactly have that deadly sting that season, and it showed in SB19 when Bill Walsh/Joe Montana dissected them. I will say this, the Steelers of the 80's were certainly not as bad nor boring like they were in the 60's before Chuck Noll's arrival. But everyone involved knew they were in for some tough years after dominating the 70's. And especially all those years drafting at the bottom, the nature of the beast. Yet the Rooneys remained patient with Chuck, and he eventually laid the foundation for a 90's revival, which his successor Bill Cowher took full advantage of.
@@effend446 Very true. Still made the playoffs 4x that decade and maybe if they drafted that kid from Pitt in 83 it could have been different. Noll could have at least maybe stuck with Brister over Malone and tried to fix those special teams abominations that pretty much ruined 86-88.
4:55 Greatest fake punt in NFL history. The Dolphins successful fake punt in Pittsburgh in the 1972 AFC Championship Game was ultimately more consequential for how it affected Miami's season, but this one by Bengals punter Jeff Hayes was the best fake punt on its own merit. Trailing 19-14 in the 4th quarter, Hayes went 61 yards for a TD to give Cincinnati the lead in a game they wound up winning, 24-22.
