First and Goal on the 1-yard line of the Indianapolis Colts, holding a 21-18 lead with 1:20 left in the game, and needing a touchdown to put it away for good and punch their ticket to the AFC Championship Game, the Pittsburgh Steelers were in a great spot knowing that all they had to do was hand the ball off to Hall of Fame running back Jerome Bettis and put the game away.
It seemed simple, and on paper, it was.
Until it wasn’t.
As is well known, Bettis coughed up the football and led to a huge return from Indianapolis cornerback Nick Harper. Fortunately, second-year quarterback Ben Roethlisberger made a heads-up play, backtracking and making a key open-field tackle, helping force the Colts to settle for a field goal try that they ultimately missed.
Nearly 20 years later, Roethlisberger, during an appearance on former Steelers’ quarterback Bruce Gradkowski’s podcast “Alpha 5 Method” Tuesday, recalled what was going through his mind on the play.
“And so we end up having the lead…basically, if we score again, it’s pretty much over. And it’s like, give the ball to Bus. Jerome’s gonna score. And it’s game over. And I remember handing off and not carrying out my fake, which would’ve got me a lot of trouble just because I wanted to watch. I’m like, Jerome’s gonna score. It’s gonna be awesome to watch. And um, and I turned around and just watching that ball just, it was like slow motion that ball pops out, hits the ground, and I’m like, okay, I gotta go grab the ball real quick,” Roethlisberger said, recalling the initial moments after the fumble, according to video via the show’s YouTube page.
But going and grabbing the ball is the exact opposite of what Roethlisberger did.
Instead of taking a step towards the ball to try and pounce on it, Roethlisberger made the heads-up play to turn and run, getting distance on the Colts’ Harper, who had the ball bounce perfectly into his hands in stride, leading to a footrace.
With the Steelers in a jumbo package looking to put the game away, Roethlisberger was the quickest player on the field for Pittsburgh at the time, which isn’t exactly saying much.
Knowing that, Roethlisberger didn’t panic and instead tried to outsmart Harper, which he ultimately did.
“It bounces right to him. And I’m like, ‘Oh man, I’m the fastest guy on the field on our team. That’s not good.’ …I gotta figure this thing out. And so, it was like at some point, I can’t outrun this guy, so I gotta try and outsmart him,” Roethlisberger recalled in his conversation with Gradkowski. “So I kind of gave him the weave this way, and I’m like, ‘alright, shoot your gun.’ I just went for it. And I was able to hold onto his foot and get him to the ground.
“They still had a chance to go down and win it. But [Mike] Vanderjagt missed the field goal, and we won.”
Without that tackle by Roethlisberger, the storybook ending never happens for Bettis. Instead, likely the last play of his career is a fumble at the goal line, an area he’s converted into six points a number of times in his career.
For all the accolades he has throughout his career and the mind-blowing stats he put up during his time in the Black and Gold, one of the best plays of Roethlisberger’s career will forever be the tackle he made after a turnover, saving the Steelers in the end and keeping Bettis’ Drive for Five back home in Detroit alive.
Check out the full interview with Roethlisberger on Gradkowski’s show below.
