Nearly 30 years later, the pain of coming up short to the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XXX still stings members of the 1995 Pittsburgh Steelers team that came up short in the quest for the Steelers’ fifth Super Bowl in franchise history.
That night at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona, the Steelers’ defense was certainly good enough to win it all, but Steelers’ quarterback Neil O’Donnell and the rest of the Steelers’ offense certainly weren’t in the 27-17 defeat to the Cowboys, which saw the Steelers get within three points in the fourth quarter at 20-17.
O’Donnell, of course, threw three interceptions, including two to Dallas cornerback Larry Brown, causing the Steelers’ offense to come up short on key possessions, leading to some frustrations after the game from the Steelers’ defense led by legendary linebacker Greg Lloyd, who was the heart and soul of the Steelers’ defense back then.
Appearing on 1010 XL/92.5 FM in Jacksonville with former teammate Leon Searcy, Lloyd discussed coming up short in Super Bowl XXX, stating that now years removed from it, he has no hard feelings with O’Donnell, and knows that the Steelers had their chances in the big game but came up short on a night in which the Cowboys were just better.
“…On the real, I have no ill feelings, man. We can say OD [O’Donnell] did what he did. He threw interceptions and he did whatever. But as a defense, you can’t score, you can’t win,” Lloyd said to Searcy, according to audio via 92.5 FM in Jacksonville. “So as a team, we lost that game. We got to the Super Bowl as a team, so we lost as a team.
“I know we can start pointing fingers now, something however many years later. But at the end of the day, we had our chance. We had more than one chance to win that game. Things just didn’t go our way, man…Dallas was the best team that day.”
It’s certainly hard to argue against Lloyd’s outlook at this point nearly 30 years removed from the painful defeat. Looking back on the game though, O’Donnell’s two interceptions cost the Steelers late in the matchup with the Cowboys.
Pittsburgh fell behind 10-0 early in the first quarter to the Cowboys on a 42-yard Chris Boniol field goal and a three-yard touchdown pass from Troy Aikman to Jay Novacek. Dallas then stretched it to 13-0 on a 35-yard Boniol field goal midway through the second quarter before the Steelers showed real signs of life offensively.
O’Donnell found Yancey Thigpen late in the first half with 17 seconds left to make it a 13-7 game at the half, giving the Steelers a chance to reset in the locker room.
But, on the Steelers’ second drive of the second half O’Donnell was picked off for the first time by Brown, who returned it to the Steelers’ 18 yard line, setting up an Emmitt Smith 1-yard touchdown run two plays later for a 20-7 Dallas lead.
The Steelers, to their credit, chipped away as a 46-yard field goal from Norm Johnson early in the fourth quarter made it a 20-10 game.
A successful onside kick recovery by Deon Figures gave the Steelers possession once again, and the black and gold didn’t waste it as Bam Morris capped off a nine-play, 52-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown, making it 20-17 with 7:08 left in the game.
The Steelers’ defense then answered the bell with a quick forced punt by the Cowboys thanks to a key sack from linebacker Levon Kirkland. That’s when O’Donnell’s mistakes struck again as the veteran quarterback was picked off by Brown on the second play of the ensuing drive, leading to another Smith rushing touchdown two plays later, putting the game away.
The Steelers had two last gasps offensively, but an incompletion from O’Donnell on fourth and 10 and later an interception by Dallas safety Brock Marion on the final play of the game gave the Cowboys the 27-17 win on a day in which Lloyd believed they were the better team in the end.
Still, there’s no denying that O’Donnell’s two interceptions to Brown cost the Steelers in Super Bowl XXX, especially the second one with the Steelers trailing 20-17.
Searcy, who was the right tackle for O’Donnell in that game, didn’t take the same diplomatic approach as Lloyd did when discussing the loss in the big game.
“No, man. The hell with that. Those two picks cost us the game,” Searcy said in response to Lloyd. Of course, Lloyd added that the outcome of the game and the cause of the loss was something that would need to be discussed between them in private. It’s very clear though that Lloyd has tried his best to move on, letting bygones be bygones.
