A series idea I’ve been kicking around that I’ll explore until training camp begins. A set of Pittsburgh Steelers “what ifs?” that could’ve changed the course of a moment in time or the entire franchise’s history. Some questions are bigger than others and no one has a time machine to know the answers. Let’s dive right on in.
STEELERS’ WHAT IFS – WHAT IF James Harrison Didn’t Have A 100-Yard Return?
James Harrison’ 100-yard pick-six is one of the most iconic plays in Super Bowl history. Maybe the most memorable play. But let’s bust out our Etch-a-Sketch and shake up the return. Assume Harrison still dropped into coverage, fooled Kurt Warner, and picked off the pass.
But he didn’t score.
His runback was improbable. Already tired playing out the drive, a bulky linebacker like Harrison running the length of the field with an entire Cardinals offense chasing him is improbable. It’s something out of a bad movie, the “old guy running really hard” tripe. Jake Taylor busting out an infield single. Mr. 3000 laying down a drag bunt, that kind of thing (I’m realizing every baseball movie might be the same).
Anyway. Harrison got one heck of a convoy but still needed everything to go right to run it back. If you replayed that moment another 10 times, Harrison doesn’t end up in the end zone again. Larry Fitzgerald catches him. An offensive lineman gets in the way. A flag wipes out the score. Something happens.
Do the Steelers still win the game?
Perhaps it depends on the outcome. Pittsburgh led 10-7 prior to Harrison’s game-changing play. So they, at the least, rob the Cardinals a chance to tie or take the lead ahead of the half. But does Harrison get the Steelers in field goal range? What was Dick LeBeau’s first thought? If they go up 13-7, does the outcome remain the same? Or what if they come away empty-handed but still preserve their 10-7 advantage?
Of course, Pittsburgh won the game by four. Deduct Harrison’s score and extra point from the final and the Steelers are on the wrong end, 23-20. But that one play changes everything else, leaving us to guess at how the second half would go.
Maybe the Steelers win. Or maybe the Cardinals complete their comeback. There’s probably no Santonio Holmes toe-tapping catch. If Pittsburgh loses, how does that impact Ben Roethlisberger’s Hall of Fame resume, one Super Bowl instead of two? How does it impact Mike Tomlin’s future candidacy?
At the least, no Harrison touchdown wipes out a wildly iconic play. What happens from there is anyone’s guess but it’s a solid bet Holmes doesn’t make his game-winning play either. So another incredible moment, poof, gone and you never even know it happened. And Steelers history is shifted if not entirely changed if Pittsburgh ends up losing that day. Harrison’s interception could’ve been just a footnote in a loss, a moment remembered as triumph for the Cardinals, not one of the greatest plays in franchise history right next to the Immaculate Reception.
It’s what makes that moment so revered. The sheer number of things that had to go right that play for Harrison to run end zone to end zone is hard to calculate. That’s how you generate one of the greatest plays in football history, one that’ll be watched and re-watched by generations to come.
STEELERS WHAT IFS?
What If Russ Grimm Was Hired Over Mike Tomlin?
What If The Steelers Didn’t Draft Ben Roethlisberger?
