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On this week’s NFL schedule, two AFC teams fighting to qualify for the playoffs, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Indianapolis Colts, are slated to meet. This week’s Throwback Thursday post will highlight a playoff game played between them, the 1995 AFC Championship game. It was played on January 14, 1996 in Pittsburgh’s old Three Rivers Stadium. The game was expected to be somewhat of a mismatch, with the Steelers, considered a strong Super Bowl contender under coach Bill Cowher, a heavy favorite over the Colts, who snuck into the playoffs as a wild card with an underwhelming 9-7 record. Ted Marchibroda, who had some success as the franchise’s head coach when they were still located in Baltimore in the 1970s, had returned to lead the Colts after a successful stint as offensive coordinator in Buffalo, helping the Bills reach multiple Super Bowls. Neither team had what would be considered a “franchise” quarterback, with Neil O’Donnell manning the position for the Steelers, while the Colts rallied behind veteran warrior Jim Harbaugh. Harbaugh had earned the nickname “Captain Comeback” for leading the Colts to a few surprising come-from-behind victories in the regular season. Their wild card status meant the Colts would have to take the hard road of playing on the road in all playoff games for as long as they could stay alive, and they managed to pull off a pair of incredible wins, first defeating the defending AFC champion San Diego Chargers, then shocking the top seeded Kansas City Chiefs, 10-7, in as hard of a place to win as there is in the NFL, Arrowhead Stadium.

Meanwhile, the Steelers rolled over Buffalo 40-21 in the divisional round to advance directly into the title contest. Kansas City’s loss gave Pittsburgh the additional advantage of playing the game at home. Pittsburgh’s versatile weapon, Kordell Stewart, a former college QB who played multiple positions and was nicknamed Slash (because he was technically a halfback/quarterback/receiver) made some big plays to convert third downs and keep a drive alive which saw his club score on a 5 yard TD throw to Stewart from O’Donnell. Otherwise the teams traded field goals as the Steelers took a 13-9 lead. Early in the final quarter, Harbaugh connected with Floyd Turner on a 47 yard scoring throw and once again, it looked like Captain Comeback was leading his team to another surprising win. The Steelers weren’t going down easily, however, and O’Donnell led them on a 67 yard drive, capped by a one yard touchdown run by Bam Morris, to put Pittsburgh back on top 20-16 with a minute and a half left. Harbaugh would now have one more chance for a miracle comeback, and he proceeded to put together an impressive drive that reached the Pittsburgh 29 yard line with 5 seconds left. Needing a touchdown to win, Harbaugh launched a high, lofting “Hail Mary” pass into the end zone into a crowd of players from both clubs. The ball eventually landed in the chest of Colt receiver Aaron Bailey, but he couldn’t hold on and the Steelers secured the win by the narrowest of margins.

The ensuing Super Bowl proved to be too big of a stage for O’Donnell, who threw a pair of interceptions to the game’s MVP, Dallas cornerback Larry Brown, helping Dallas win their third Super Bowl title of the decade.

Colts’ last second Hail Mary falls short

Two old American Football League rivals, the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs, play on the NFL’s schedule this weekend, and this week’s Throwback Thursday feature will travel back in time to 1967, when these two clubs met to decide not only the AFL championship for the 1966 season, but also who would represent the upstart league in the very first AFL-NFL Championship game, which of course, was the very first Super Bowl. The game was originally scheduled for December 26th, the day after Christmas, but when merger talks between the two leagues were completed, the new title game was created and this matchup was moved to New Year’s Day.

The Chiefs, under coach Hank Stram, were a powerhouse AFL team that year, blending a creative offensive attack with a menacing defense to post an 11-2-1 record, dominating the Western Division. Stram was a true innovator, from his team’s use of their unique “choir huddle” to their use of different formations and motion to confuse opposing defenses.  The Bills were two-time defending AFL champs and a league dynasty at the time, but the ’66 season had been a bit of a struggle. Lou Saban, who coached the Bills to their consecutive titles, left abruptly following the previous season in a dispute with owner Ralph Wilson, and his top assistant, Joel Collier, took over as head man. Collier did a decent job of keeping the Bills afloat even though they were decimated by injuries to the defense, while quarterback Jack Kemp was getting up in years. Also, even though he’s widely considered one of the top defensive minds in pro football history, Collier was a bit in over his head as a head coach. The media’s feelings about this game showed up in the fact that even though Buffalo was a two-time defending champ and the game was being played in their home stadium, they were three point underdogs.

There was an omen of sorts for the Bills on the game’s first play, as they fumbled the opening kickoff, which the Chiefs recovered, setting up a touchdown pass from K.C.’s veteran QB, Len Dawson, to tight end Fred Arbanas. The Bills, trying valiantly to play like defending champs, countered with a 69 yard touchdown throw from Kemp to Elbert “Golden Wheels” Dubenion, to tie the score. However, that would be the Bills’ only shining moment in this game. They turned the ball over three more times and the Chiefs’ offense made them pay, riding the passing of Dawson and the running of Mike Garrett, who scored a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns, to an easy 31-7 win. The Bills were clearly a team in decline, starting to show signs of age, and their fortunes dipped considerably in the years to follow. The Chiefs were just getting started. Although they lost to Green Bay in that first Super Bowl, they remained an AFL power the rest of the decade and a few years later stunned the Minnesota Vikings to win their first (and only) Super Bowl.

 QB Len Dawson calls the play in the Chiefs’ unique “Choir Huddle”