Throughout his storied career as the defensive coordinator of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Dick LeBeau liked to give some freedom to key players. Most notably, that includes safety Troy Polamalu, who could freelance with the best of them and really disrupt plays for the Black and Gold.
He also gave some freedom to outside linebacker James Harrison, freedom on the field that ultimately led to one of the most iconic plays in Super Bowl — and Steelers — history.
Of course, I’m referring to the 100-yard pick-6 just before halftime of Super Bowl XLIII against the Arizona Cardinals.
On that play, according to LeBeau — who spoke during an engagement Monday promoting his new book “Legendary” about the 2008 defense that was co-written by Steelers Depot’s Scott Brown — the Steelers had a “max blitz” call on in an effort to pressure Cardinals’ quarterback Kurt Warner with a free blitzer in the hopes of forcing a quick throw and holding them to a field goal.
Instead, Harrison freelanced, and his feel for the play and the freedom to trust his instincts paid off.
“He said, ‘Well Coach, you always taught us to know the game situation, and they were out of timeouts and it was probably going to be the last play of the half. And I knew right away they couldn’t run the ball, ’cause if they ran it, we’d tackle ’em. The half was going to end up and they would get no points,'” LeBeau told our Scott Brown of Harrison’s play during an interview promoting his new book about that 2008 Steelers’ defense. “‘So, I knew they were thinking they had to throw the ball and if they threw the ball, they were going to incomplete, kick a field goal and come out for the tie game or score and take the lead.”
In that situation, facing a 1st and Goal from the 2-yard line, the Cardinals had no timeouts and couldn’t risk running the football in that situation against the Steelers’ defensive front. As Harrison relayed to LeBeau after the play, he knew the Cardinals couldn’t — and wouldn’t — run the football.
So, in that instance it was pass all the way, which had LeBeau drawing up that max blitz in an effort to try and create a free rusher on Warner.
“…Some people think I liked to blitz when I was coaching. I called a max blitz because I said, ‘well, that’s what got us here with a lead at the halftime in the Super Bowl, blitzing,'” LeBeau said of the play call in that situation. “I said, ‘let’s dump the family jewels on them.’ So I called out max blitz, and that is like a Checkers game. When you get one more guy than they got, you could trade ’em off down to the end, crown your guy, and you win the game. So you end up with a free blitzer when you max [blitz]. But James said, ‘I made sure, like you told us, always get your job done first. I made sure that my guy couldn’t help on anybody else. I occupied him. I knew they were going to throw the ball because of the game situation.
“‘He said, and I dropped back and looked at Warner’s eyes and he was looking right at me and he threw the ball right to me. So I intercepted and took off him and ran for touchdown. And I said, ‘good thinking!”
At the snap, instead of rushing as the play was designed, Harrison dropped back into a shallow zone, stepping right in front of Arizona wide receiver Anquan Boldin, where the ball was intended to go. Warner stared down the throw, never took his eyes off of Boldin and let it rip, right into Harrison’s gut.
One hundred yards later, an exhausted Harrison lay spread eagle in the end zone celebrating the moment that put him not only into the history books for the longest play in Super Bowl history, but into immortality in NFL and Steelers’ history, too, for the iconic play.
1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ yards the other way… #SBXLIII
Let’s all wish 2008 Defensive Player of the Year @jharrison9292 a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! pic.twitter.com/rs7IBpl4fh
— NFL Legacy (@NFLLegacy) May 4, 2020
It’s interesting to think what would have happened if Harrison blitzed like he was supposed to on the play. Lawrence Timmons rushed off to his left and drew the attention of the guard, though Timmons won quickly for a pressure. Arizona left tackle Levi Brown was in no-man’s land with Harrison not blitzing, while running back Tim Hightower had to come across the formation in front of Warner to try and get a hat on the free blitzer in LaMarr Woodley.
Maybe the Cardinals pick up the max blitz well enough and Warner hits an open Boldin. Maybe the Cardinals take a 14-10 lead into the half? Who knows what happens after that.
But thanks to Harrison’s football IQ and the freedom to lean on his instincts, one of the greatest plays in Super Bowl history happened, and the Steelers added a sixth Lombardi Trophy to the display case in the process.
Good thinking, indeed.
