AFC Championship Memories

As a football fan I feel pretty fortunate. I’ve been watching Steelers football for 30 years now, and this will be the 10th AFC Championship game for me personally as a fan. Some have been thrilling, some have been crushing.

The first year I started watching the black and gold was 1978, at the age of 9. I remember spending the divisional game at my “girlfriend’s” house on her birthday, trying to “break away” from the party to catch part of the Denver game with her dad. So after missing that, I did NOT want to miss the Steelers-Oilers title matchup. The Oilers were one of just two teams to beat the Steelers that season, and one of the teams in the NFC game, the Rams, was the other. I remember hoping the Cowboys would get in.

As fate would have it…we had a huge storm, and the power was knocked out for the entire day. I listened to my first AFC Championship game on a battery powered radio. But I was thrilled to listen to the Steelers crush the Oilers and Earl Campbell, 34-5.

The Steelers went back to the AFC Championship in the 1979 season. In the divisional round, if the Chargers would beat the Oilers, San Diego would host the AFC title game. They had blown out the Steelers that season, and even though Houston had their backup QB in, they upset the Chargers.

So at my young age, I was making posters, hanging them all over the house, decked out in my Steelers outfit…and Terry Bradshaw throws a pick six to Vernon Perry…and my heart was crushed. Fortunately, the Steelers game back, won 27-13, and kept my childhood Super Bowl record clean.

The 1980s were pretty thin. The Steelers played in just one championship game. That was in the 1985/86 season. I was 15 at the time, and I remember having no expectations for that game. The Steelers were lucky to have beaten Denver on the road in the playoffs, and had to take on the high-powered Miami Dolphins and Dan Marino. I wasn’t surprised, or really that disappointed when the Dolphins won 45-28.

By the 1994 season, three years out of college, I was ready for some football championship action. The Steelers had it all. They beat Cleveland for the 3rd straight time to get to the title game. They were playing a weak Chargers team, and a trip to Super Bowl 29 seemed inevitable.

This was the most crushing loss of my life as a fan. The 10 point lead..the two long touchdowns, the failure on 4th and 3. This was more devastating than the loss in Super Bowl XXX.

The next season was the Super Bowl season. I lived in Dayton, Ohio now which is really Bengals country. But a buddy of mine from work and I got together at my apartment to watch the game. When the Colts completed a long pass to take the lead, it looked bleak. The Steelers had a 4th and 3..just like the year before…but this time they converted and scored…

Then there was that last hail mary play from Jim Harbaugh. That ball hung in the air forever..and for 10 seconds after the play, my buddy and I still didn’t know if it was safe to celebrate a win, or live through an even more difficult loss. But moments later, we celebrated.

2001 was a lot like 1994. The Patriots weren’t supposed to beat the Steelers. But when Tom Brady went down and Drew Bledsoe came in, I just had “that feeling”. It was that “Francisco Cabrera” Braves feeling…and it all came to pass. The Steelers would not win that day.

2004 was the 15-1 campaign. But I had some low expectations going into this championship game. Ben looked really bad against the Jets, and the Steelers should not have won that game. I knew it might be a rough day again, so I was not shocked or all that crushed when the Patriots beat Pittsburgh again 41-27.

2005 was amazing. I didn’t know what to expect going into the Broncos championship game. I didn’t like the fact that this game was on the road and that the Steelers came off of such an incredibly emotional win over the Colts. But I did like that the Steelers were facing Jake Plummer. Once the Steelers pulled ahead, confidence was high…and rewarded.

2008…what are my expectations? It’s something closer to the ’70s Steelers-Oilers matchups. Those were hate-filled contests…the teams just did not like each other, but they respected each other because they were so similar.

I wouldn’t be surprised if neither team scored a touchdown this game. My disappointment level if they lose? Probably medium range, because I can’t say in this game that they -should- win. Baltimore had a great team that has refused to give up, and they do belong in this game with the Steelers.

I do think the Steelers will find a way, because in the end, Cinderella Flacco’s clock will strike midnight…finally.

But I’ll say this…I’ll be surprised if this is the last time these two teams face off in the playoffs.