Thirty years ago, Chargers stole Super Bowl spot from Steelers
By John Sacco
For the Observer-Reporter
newsroom@observer-reporter.com
The heavy, constant, rain washed away a promising season and championship opportunity for the Steelers on Jan. 15, 1995, at Three Rivers Stadium.
It was the underdog San Diego Chargers that threw water all over the Steelers and the Super Bowl plans of the team and its legion of fans.
San Diego won, 17-13, in the AFC Championship.
Disgusting. Infuriating. Frustrating. Shocking. It was all of that.
The loss ranks up there on the Pittsburgh sports heartbreak chart with the Pirates’ 1972 NLCS loss to Cincinnati on Bob Moose’s wild pitch, Sid Bream’s slide into home safely to lift the Atlanta Braves past the Pirates in the 1992 NLCS and David Volek’s overtime goal in 1993 to push the New York Islanders past the two-time Stanley Cup champion Penguins.
Yes, it was THAT bad.
With Chargers quarterback Stan Humphries and receiver Tony Martin joining Bream and Volek as dastardly playoff villains, San Diego stole a Super Bowl appearance from the favored Steelers.
The Steelers featured a defense with two future Hall of Fame players – linebacker Kevin Greene and cornerback Rod Woodson and two other Pro Bowl players in linebacker Greg Lloyd and safety Carnell Lake. Tight end Eric Green also was a Pro Bowler that season. Pittsburgh went 12-4 during the 1994 regular season and earned the AFC’s top seed as the Central Division winner.
Pittsburgh’s coaching staff stood out with Hall of Famers in head coach Bill Cowher and defensive backs coach Dick LeBeau and former NFL head coaches Chan Gailey (wide receivers), Dom Capers (defensive coordinator) and Fort Cherry High School graduate Marvin Lewis (linebackers) and Ron Erhardt (offensive coordinator). John Mitchell was Pittsburgh’s defensive line coach and longtime assistant head coach.
AFC West Division champion San Diego was the second seed but entered the game as a six-point underdog.
The Steelers were far from their best and couldn’t produce much offensively.
Some speculated the Steelers were overconfident or not focused. Some talked in the days leading up to the game that some Steelers were preparing a Super Bowl video – like the 1984 Bears famous “Super Bowl Shuffle.”
Lewis and Steelers tight end Jonathan Hayes discounted that speculation.
“I never felt that way,” said Hayes, a South Fayette graduate. “I felt like we were preparing like we always had. We understood the importance of the game. There’s always going to be things going on especially as you get deeper into the season.
“I thought our team really had a good week of practice. It was very up-tempo, very physical. It was quick pace. I felt like we were sharp in our execution.”
This wasn’t vintage Steelers this day, however.
Added Lewis: “I think Bill did a great job of never allowing the team to be overconfident. Yet, you know they played with a certain swagger all the time. He never was going to allow them to be overconfident.
“I can remember the pass play where the Chargers scored the winning touchdown and I was sitting next to Dom Capers in the press box. … it was as though he had just seen a ghost.”
Lewis admitted the offense sputtered and things didn’t go as planned.
“Yeah, I mean it didn’t,” Lewis said. “When you lose that game, you know no matter how successful your season was, it’s like you fell off a cliff. That was the feeling.”
The Chargers’ defense held San Diego in the game, not allowing the Steelers to build a lead or momentum.
“We didn’t play really well the first half and our defense kind of held us in there, making them kick field goals,” said Humphries, who played six seasons in San Diego. “The second half, we hit basically two big plays.”
That total included his 43-yard TD pass to Alfred Pupunu to pull his team to within 13-10.
“That is about all we had,” Humphries said. “Most of the game was two big plays.”
The Chargers scored 14 unanswered points in the second half. In one of the greatest games in his Hall of Fame career, the late Junior Seau recorded 16 tackles while playing with a pinched nerve in his neck. Although Pittsburgh held advantages in total plays (80-47), total yards (415-226), and time of possession (37:13-22:47), it was San Diego making the big plays.
Humphries threw a pair of 43-yard touchdown passes – the second to Martin over Steelers defensive back Tim McKyer – to give the Chargers their first lead at 17-13 with just over five minutes remaining.
“We had talked about it all week because the defensive back liked to bite on some things,” Humphries said. “Because they were bringing zone blitzes, they were able to get there a lot of times. He knew that they were going to get there, so he would sit.
“If you go back and watch it, he sat just for a second, and (Martin) kept going. I just put it up and he made a play on it.”
The play left the Steelers sideline in disbelief.
“I think everyone always has to remember when you’re playing for the AFC championship, it is brutal to lose,” Hayes said.
“We were the home team and we had the lead. It was a couple plays, especially late in the game. We got beat deep down the field and were playing cover three corners. You should never get beat and he ends up letting the receiver run by them. Not that it’s the only play in the game.”
To their credit, the Steelers bounced back and drove 80 yards in 12 plays.
But on fourth-and-goal from the three-yard-line, quarterback Neil O’Donnell’s pass to running back Barry Foster was knocked down by San Diego linebacker Dennis Gibson with 1:04 left.
A silent Three Rivers Stadium crowd of 61,545 was in complete disbelief.
The only sound heard was the Chargers celebrating.
“I remember seeing grown men crying in my section,” said Robert Marsilli, the head of security for the Heinz History Center and a Washington County resident. “It was the most heartbreaking game I personally witnessed.”
Grove City College sports information director Ryan Briggs watched at home in disgust.
“I remember I was eating a hard pretzel when Dennis Gibson knocked down the pass,” Briggs recalled. “I was so pissed I remember sidearm firing it off my bedroom wall and it went into about 80 pieces. I was born in 1979, so as a little boy, I got to see some of the Super Steelers and they had some decent teams, but the magic was gone.
“The ’94 team was the best chance to get ‘One for the Thumb’ and then that game happened.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: Mike Mastovich, a sports reporter and columnist for The Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, contributed to this story. He interviewed Humphries, who played in the Senior championship at Sunnehanna this fall and shared his quotes.