The 2008 season for the Pittsburgh Steelers was a legendary one, thanks to an all-world defense. It helped the Black and Gold add a sixth Lombardi Trophy to the Coca-Cola Great Hall’s display case following Ben Roethlisberger’s strike to Santonio Holmes in Super Bowl XLIII over the Arizona Cardinals.
That season, the Steelers’ defense was truly dominant under defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, turning in a season for the ages. In fact, it was so dominant that LeBeau decided to write a book about that defense.
But it could have all come crashing down without a wake-up call late in the season.
Fortunately for the Steelers, they received that wake-up call in Week 16 against the Tennessee Titans at LP Field in Nashville.
That day, Dec. 21, the Steelers gave up the most points they had allowed all season in a 31-14 loss. The Titans racked up 322 yards on the day, rushed for 117 yards and converted twice on fourth downs. They held the ball for nearly 30 minutes against the dominant defense, running away late with 21 unanswered points in the second half to knock off the Steelers.
All these years later, that loss still resonates with LeBeau.
In an interview on The Terrible Podcast with Steelers Depot’s Dave Bryan and Alex Kozora, LeBeau said that loss happened at a perfect time for the Steelers and helped reset them a bit leading into the playoffs.
“That was the only game that any team scored very many points on us. …I think that game also helped us from the standpoint of, as a coach, you’re always preaching take care and be alert and credit the opponent and prepare for a battle, because in the NFL, that’s what it’s going to be,” LeBeau said on The Terrible Podcast. “But having the loss of that game and by a significant margin, and by far the most points that anybody scored on us — we only gave up around 13 points a game. And we weren’t used to anybody putting anything on scoreboard like that. And it just gave me a good chance to hammer as we went into the stretch run of the season there, you really take nothing for granted.
“And, I don’t think our players…let’s put it this way: I think the loss happened at a perfect time in the season for us, because we played some great teams from there on in and won every one of them.”
After that loss, the Steelers shut out the Cleveland Browns to close the season, 31-0. In the divisional round, the Steelers defeated the San Diego Chargers, 35-24, before then defeating the Baltimore Ravens, 23-14, on Troy Polamalu’s game-clinching pick-six to head to Super Bowl XLIII.
Ultimately, the Steelers won that Super Bowl over the Cardinals, 27-23, thanks to some stellar defensive plays, like James Harrison’s 100-yard pick-six and LaMarr Woodley’s game-sealing strip-sack of Cardinals QB Kurt Warner. But even in that Super Bowl the defense had some hiccups, including wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald’s sprint untouched through the heart of the Steelers’ defense on a 64-yard catch-and-run to give Arizona the lead late in the fourth quarter.
Without that loss to the Titans in Week 16 though in which the Steelers really struggled, they might not have known how to bounce back after some struggles against the Cardinals.
In that matchup against the Titans, Tennessee struck first, taking a 10-0 lead in the second quarter on a field goal from Rob Bironas and a 34-yard touchdown pass from Kerry Collins to Justin Gage after the Titans had a free play after drawing Woodley offsides.
Pittsburgh stormed back to take a 14-10 lead thanks to a 31-yard touchdown pass from Roethlisberger to Holmes and a 21-yard touchdown pass from Roethlisberger to Ward. But the wheels fell off from there.
Late in the third quarter Tennessee running back Chris Johnson scored on a 21-yard touchdown run to take the lead for the Titans.
Early in the fourth quarter, running back LenDale White plunged home from a yard out to stretch the lead to 24-14 following a Michael Griffin interception of Ben Roethlisberger on a fluky bounce on a deep ball intended for wide receiver Nate Washington.
In the closing minute, Griffin tacked on another touchdown, racing home 83 yards on a pick-six to cap the win for the Titans.
Though the final points weren’t technically against the Steelers’ defense, it was a performance that was a rough one for LeBeau’s defense.
Pittsburgh’s defense didn’t force a single turnover while Johnson and White combined for 117 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Gage hauled in five passes for 104 yards and a touchdown, having great success against Pittsburgh, while Justin McCareins had 55 receiving yards on six receptions.
The loss undoubtedly woke up the Steelers, who went on to — as LeBeau pointed out — win every game they played the rest of the way.
