Cleveland Browns at Pittsburgh Steelers - January 2, 1983

three rivers stadium in pittsburgh and talk about a home field advantage the steelers are 83 and 18 here since 1970 and the browns have never won in this stadium 12 consecutive defeats hello and a belated happy new year everybody bob costas along with bob trumpy nfl 82 has gone over all those complex playoff possibilities for you suffice to say the steelers are in playing today possibly for home field advantage the browns are virtually assured of a spot in the playoffs but certainly not assured of a victory here today if their past record means anything terry bradshaw has always been the man that the pittsburgh steelers have kind of revolved around and two weeks ago in cleveland i think we saw terry bradshaw at his absolute worst he threw four interceptions on a very very muddy field that was part of the reason but this was the second of two terrible games that terry bradshaw have played and for dixon as you're watching here intercepts terry bradshaw three times four interceptions on the day for bradshaw and the cleveland browns beat the pittsburgh steelers 10-9 but what a difference a week makes last week here in three river stadium against the new england patriots first quarter action to stalwart six points bradshaw throwing with confidence in the third quarter to greg othorn six points they scored on four of their first five drives and terry bradshaw appeared to be healthy two weeks ago in cleveland i think it was just attitude team was playing up tight scared to make mistakes coming off the buffalo game where we played horrendously offensively we were playing well enough defensively to win but we weren't playing well enough offensively difference now i think it's obvious attitude the desire to go out and win games believing in herself practices have been good and it's really it's just it's just that simple change your attitude and you've got the talent you start winning again while terry bradshaw credits a change in attitude in cleveland a change in quarterbacks has led to two straight victories and an apparent playoff spot paul mcdonald now the quarterback of the cleveland browns and one of the interesting things i believe about paul mcdonald is that he has found a wide receiver in the person of dave logan eight catches in the last two weeks this for a touchdown and we find out why well since we're roommates he uh he tells me to throw him the ball the night before the game so that's basically the reason he's the leading receiver now being his paul is my roommate he said i threatened him a little bit i never had a chance to threaten brian but i've been on paul pretty good sam ratigliano and what a house of horrors three rivers has been for him in 1978 a 15-9 overtime defeat 33-30 in overtime in 1979. 16-13 a loss in 1980 as chuck knowles steelers won on a bradshaw at a swan pass with 11 seconds left then last year 13-7 pittsburgh the browns had a chance to win it paul mcdonald took them from their five to the pittsburgh 12 with two minutes left then was intercepted in the end zone 12 straight losses in pittsburgh for the browns robert some interesting stats on this pittsburgh steelers team they are 83 and 18 at home and 34-5 against afc central division opponents steve cox's kickoff is a short one walter abercrombie the first round draft choice takes it and barely gets across the 20-yard line good kick coverage by the browns and a 13-yard return for abercrombie bradshaw back on the beam a week ago against new england hollard and harris or his backs franco ran for over 100 yards last week stallworth with seven touchdown catches and his name in a different color indicates that he's in the pro bowl swann and cunningham are the other receivers swan with only 13 catches this year webster the center who hasn't missed an offensive play in the last three seasons also in the pro bowl for pittsburgh [Applause] from the 21 the game's first play from scrimmage hollard spins out of a couple of tackles and gets maybe a yard bob first thing i know at the cleveland browns start with a four-man front they are primarily a three-man front they want to get chip banks into the ball game and they want to get tom cousin oh and they want to get clay matthews when he's healthy watch banks here the rookie pro bowler from the cleveland browns only four browns rookies have gone to the pro ball and banks is really in select company the others jimmy brown paul warfield and greg pruitt and banks will go this year out of usc second down nine hollered in motion franco harris out to about the 28th stopped by clinton burrell who had a big game last week with two fumble recoveries at houston harris golick and baldwin will start up front golick with five sacks and 20 tackles in his last three games there are the linebackers cousino gets the biggest pay but banks is in the pro bowl and the secondary for the browns they've intercepted nine passes in the last three weeks and for dixon picked off three terry bradshaw passes two weeks ago judson flint is in number 20 as the nickelback that's the time for bradshaw but not a first down interesting defensive set by the cleveland browns they had bob coley who played linebacker in college and was drafted into the pros as a linebacker standing up he is generally the noseman but the first series for the pittsburgh steelers three downs and out last week of course they started very quickly that they scored on four of their first five drives and really put new england out of business in a big hurry john goodson the barefooted punter and trump you're critical of his technique yes he drops the ball much too far you'll watch the distance the ball drops from his hands before it touches his foot and at times he kicked poorly but when he hits it right it goes a long way white walker the rookie from nichols state returns to nearly the 40-yard line for the browns mcdonald company will have good field positions sam washington number 41 made the pittsburgh tackle the browns offense mcdonald with pruitt and white in the backfield logan feature and newsome are his targets logan a 56-yard touchdown reception a week ago doug deacon playing with a broken right hand which is hampered him all season long the punt by goodson by the way was good for 47 yards [Applause] white takes the pitch and gets seven on first down maybe eight [Applause] this is the first year that the steelers have gone with the 3-4 defense beasley is not starting edmond nelson is in for the second straight week a rookie from auburn at the right end spot beasley has a sprained neck but is available lambert is in the pro bowl for the eighth time ham taves and the rest of an excellent linebacking court donnie shell with five interceptions that's the most in the afc everson walls of dallas has six to lead the entire league for the steelers pruitt gets the first down mike pruitt is into steeler territory at the pittsburgh 44. let's watch jack lambert one of the great middle linebackers in this game to ever play he's playing the offset in this 34 defense and you can see that they're trying to double the nose man the center and the guard jackson jackson does an excellent job on lambert kind of roots him out of there threw it up through the middle for good yardage [Applause] he played about three minutes of the first quarter the browns on the move with their first possession fumble looks like the steelers have it and they do we talked in the set of this football game that cleveland has never won in three rivers stadium and one of the problems that cleveland has had playing here are the turnovers good hit by it appears to be ron's oh it's dwayne woodruff who hits the ball right on the tackle it's loose edmond nelson gets it pittsburgh ball first down their own 42-yard line and we've got a flag crack back block on cleveland refuse a penalty pittsburgh's ball ben dreif is the referee today there you look at chuck noll tied with hank stram for eighth place on the all-time nfl coaching victory list with 136 time out with 11 58 to play in the [Music] and first watch dwayne woodruff 49 come out of the left-hand side of your picture right there hits the ball the ball is loose and edmond nelson coming from the far side makes the recovery one turnover against cleveland pittsburgh with good field position edmund nelson a disc jockey on his college radio station where he went by the name of joe rock thank you franco harris for three on first down curtis weathers the right outside linebacker number 55 gets credit for the tackle this cleveland brown front seven are very very young weathers began his career in the nfl as a tight end cuzino of course his first season coming back from the cfl goalie a noseman has played making just his fourth start it knows and of course chip banks are rookie they have matured very quickly in this season in this shortened season and are playing reasonably well they send pollard one of their running backs out wide to the right leaving franco as the lone setbacks stalwart and swan both on the left side second and seven franco turns the corner big yardage for franco into brown's territory at the 36-yard line a gain of 17. the two longest runs in franco harris's entire career have come against the cleveland browns 75 yards in 1972 and 71 in 1979 bob watch number 50 tom cousino he tries to break up underneath there you see behind he is the pursuit linebacker i think he should be out there trying to make the tackle for a four or five yard game it's one of the things i think a young guy has to learn and he is a rookie even though he's played three years in the cfl those pursuit angles in the nfl i think are different than the cfl here in steeler country it's unseasonably warm for the second straight week temperature around 40 degrees at game [Applause] time that shawn first down wide open is lin swan [Applause] clinton burrell throws him out of bounds but not before a gain of 15 for lin swan who last week broke the record of lb nickel and became the all-time leading receiver in steeler history that's the 331st reception of his career bob i can't tell you what the key is but terry bradshaw appeared to notice man-to-man coverage and with the double receivers out to the left swan and stalwart swan just simply goes down about 15 yards breaks to the outside and you can see the single coverage burrell loses that matchup with lin swan first down steeler offense which is sputtered on the road has averaged better than 32 points a game this season at home franco only a couple of yards despite a good blockout in front of him by steve corson marshall harris number 90 with the tackle excellent pursuit that's one of the things that's characteristic of that 34 defense if the nose man being bob golic can consume two players they're going to have one linebacker from the inside who is free to pursue and of course marshall harris not very big defensive end very active jets lead kansas city three nothing matt leahy apparently is over his slump 30 yards on the field goal block winds down towards 10 minutes to play in the first quarter second down eight once a time again completion again this time it's stalwart it's gonna be first pittsburgh a gain of 15. single coverage again bob cleveland corners to this point are giving a pretty good size cushion to the pittsburgh steeler receivers from the defense bradshaw's primary receiver is this way notice the coverage and then stalwart on a simple out pattern 15 yards deep is open a week ago new england went primarily with man-to-man coverage against stallworth and swann and both steeler wide receivers burned the patriots [Applause] this year dan fouts leads the league with 16 for san diego gets a couple before being cut down at the three very characteristic of the pittsburgh steeler offense this set it try to run that trap up the middle the strength of this football team has historically been its offensive line even though this is the first year that two offensive linemen from the pittsburgh steelers are going to the pro bowl and webster and larry brown since 1961. brown finally after 12 years in the league makes his first trip to the pro bowl but not starting today replaced by twitch oaken number 62 at the right tackle spot there's the 16th touchdown pass on the tackle eligible to ray penny they tried that two weeks ago in cleveland and it didn't work a year ago they worked it against the browns to penny for a touchdown so they've tried it three straight times and it's worked twice interesting note on that is that ray finney must tell the officials that he is an eligible receiver and if you can do it quietly so that cleveland doesn't notice that you put another offensive lineman and he's lined up with a tackle you can get away with it that's exactly what happened watch once again good play fake kenny had trouble getting off the line of scrimmage it looked like 51 eddie johnson coverage but six and the extra point is good seven so at least temporarily terry bradshaw shares the league lead in touchdown passes this was his 16th and ray penny on the tackle eligible gathers it in it's seven nothing steelers with nine minutes and 33 seconds to play in quarter number one at three rivers today's game is brought to you by mazda who invites you to experience the all-new mazda 626 by gillette attra razer the twin blade razor that pivots for a close comfortable shave and by holiday inn the only hotel chain that gives you a no excuses room guarantee bob one note as you watch ray penny with that touchdown reception he appeared to hurt his shoulder fell on his shoulder or his neck hopefully he'll be all right [Applause] uncommonly short kickoff for gary anderson dino hall on the return out to nearly the 30-yard line a 19-yard run back let's go to new york this is mike adam in our nfl 82 studios in houston the cincinnati bengals fighting for home field advantage have scored first this one yard touchdown pass anderson to dan ross let's rejoin bob costas and bob trumpy gentlemen thank you mike ray penny who replaced the retired john cole that the left tackle spot called now on the steeler coaching staff if he can't make it ted peterson would be his backup today [Applause] audible obviously inaudible lots of movement mcdonald's scrambling a flag down and mcdonnell out of bounds just shy of the 30-yard line first thing i notice is that holding cleveland ozzie newsome the tight end had a great deal of difficulty getting off the line of scrimmage and mcdonald watch this robin cole and then jack lambert that's the one chuck you rule used to about as far as you can use it the penalty will go against cleveland and i do believe ozzie newsome was the primary receiver in that situation a hot receiver i think paul mcdonnell red blitz as ben drive walks this off let me ask you how much of an adjustment is it for the other offensive players switching from a right-handed to a left-handed quarterback offense 63. cody ryzen offensive tackle not really except that the ball of course travels in the opposite rotation and it takes a little while to get used to that ball of course any quarter any two quarterbacks no two quarterbacks throw the ball alike so you have to get used to that that's probably the biggest transition first and 20 from the 20. [Applause] short drop wobbly pass is nonetheless there and ricky feature makes the catch get about 14 yards on it it'll be second and six but bob i make this comment though in the early stages of the game either cleveland is having problems understanding what paul mcdonald is saying with the audible or pittsburgh's defense is doing great many things that they don't generally do you see a lot of confusion out there on the part of cleveland [Music] [Applause] bengal's leading early jets as we told you leading early [Music] [Applause] pruett makes the catch out of the backfield pruitt has now made receptions in 48 consecutive games for the browns and he gets them a first down across the 45-yard line a gain of 12. in that cincinnati houston game the first touchdown ken anderson to dan ross's tight end a one-yard scoring pass if two of these three teams should lose today san diego the jets and cincinnati if two of those three should lose and pittsburgh should win here today the steelers could get home field advantage in the playoffs defensive huddle over on the cleveland ground sideline inside eight minutes on the first quarter charles white only a couple if that excellent job by donnie shell and support strong safety of the pittsburgh steelers and he always keeps his nose right up at the line of scrimmage one of the leading tacklers on this team historically behind jack lambert what is this transition to a 3-4 this year due to some veterans like cole and lambert and people like that well woody weidenhofer their defensive coordinator said one of the reasons they went to the 34 was to get robin cole on the field all the time if they can knew some broken up they had double coverage and shell came over to knock it away [Applause] gary dunn was also in paul mcdonnell's face that's a double rotation zoom coverage by the linebacker and the safety shell comes back to help out the linebacker actually there's a fifth defensive back ron johnson's a free safety once again blitz by robin cole then it's just a foot race up the middle for some reason johnson was fooled but in completion third and eight now from just shy of the 49-yard line of cleveland white walker number 42 again has a third wide receiver for the browns out of the shotgun mcdonough this one for logan and it's picked off dwayne woodruff makes the interception well the browns coming into today's game had been plus eight on the giveaway takeaway table which is a very fine number but today they've turned it over twice in the first eight minutes of the first quarter bob in that situation i don't believe dave logan saw paul mcdonald throw the football and therefore he was late in making the adjustment you can see it's over its outside shoulder i believe logan is looking for the ball over his inside shoulder good coverage by woodruff we'll watch it from the outset there's a point in this pattern where dave logan looks back and the ball is already gone you see and then he can't adjust and of course the receiver's job in that situation is to make sure there's no interception woodruff's fifth interception and ty's teammate donnie shell for the conference lead comes back on the field trump we see ray penny number 74 is back in good news for the pittsburgh steelers they're already missing their number one tackling larry brown from his replacement first down pass from the 10. it'll be good for first down yardage to lin swan a gain of 13. [Applause] ron bolton on the coverage of course he's replacing lawrence johnson for the cleveland browns who's out with knee surgery swanee seems to be coming to life here in the last couple of weeks and the little smile on bradshaw's face now throwing the ball with confidence you see banks held by the play fake i believe he was supposed to have the underneath coverage that looks like zone like nevertheless first down followed you carry [Applause] a three-yard gain as he couldn't really turn the corner dick ambrose and tom cousino were both there for the tackle how do you assess cousino's progress trump well um it's a difficult transition from college and canadian football to the professional ranks that we see here in the nfl but cleveland is pleased with him he's learning i think he realizes that that it's a little tougher to play in the nfl than he might have originally thought the thing that surprises me is they generally take him out in passing situations and will bring clay matthews in now that he's back and healthy crusade was known as a very fast good coverage linebacker in the canadian football league because in all this practice late in the week suffering from the flu franco harris gets a first down at the 35-yard line there was some criticism up until last week that franco was a neglected man in steeler game plans but they got him the ball more than 20 times last week and he had his second 100 plus yard game of the year and whenever you talk about 100 yard games you got to talk about the offensive line of the pittsburgh steelers mike webster the pro bowl center facing bob golick let's watch the job double team wolfley and webster on golic and frankl o'hara's up through there for a first down excellent job six looks to your offensive line five carrich 36 yards already for franco with lots of time and in a crowded stalwart now he costs it up and the browns have it ambrose makes the recovery [Applause] first of all it was an outstanding catch and it was a gutsy throw by terry bradshaw in coverage but that's very characteristic of terry bradshaw he stays with the primary receiver he scans the field watch this excellent catch by stallworth and then when does he lose control of it oh it appears that it's hit by clarence scott dick ambrose with the recovery now two turnovers for the cleveland browns one for pittsburgh 4 55 remaining in the first quarter the browns have the ball back [Music] as you look at dick ambrose on the sideline that's not the 12th turnover the cleveland browns defense have got has gotten in the last three weeks they had nine interceptions and that was the third from fumble recovery logan in motion on first down white takes the deep pitch and is drilled for a loss john goodman and edmund nelson were there goodman primarily number 95. here comes the passing set now for the pittsburgh steelers they bring out three put in three better pass rushers better coverage men two linebackers come out uh defensive lineman comes out bob coors number 90 is one of those who comes in here's the steelers answer to players like aj dewey and ted hendricks in that he can play both linebacker and the defensive line pruitt carries on second and 12 for a gain of five just eight touchdowns in six post-strike games allowed by the steeler defense speaking of problem scoring the cleveland browns have come up with a grand total of one touchdown in the first half of the games they've played since the season has resumed and they trail here seven nothing late in the first quarter on third down mcdonnell again with a deep throw and donnie shell is there to break it up [Applause] newsom was the target and anthony washington number 42 who was in on the nickel defense was also there to help shell and everywhere newsom goes a couple of steelers follow they have single coverage shell on newsome and then washington is back there for the deep zone excellent job by donnie shell cox averaging just shy of 40 yards upon his name willie sydnor a rookie from syracuse who was awarded a game ball last week for his excellent punt returning efforts is back deep in pittsburgh [Applause] and falls on it good job we have a flag on the field bob illegal man downfield that was an excellent job i sydnor not trying to gain yards but regain possession of the football the head man of the pittsburgh dealer says no refuse that one we'll take legal man down field 59 decline of penalty pittsburgh's ball quite a contrast in the punters trump not only in that cox wears a shoe and goodson does it but cox is a very low drop and goodson drops it from the ceiling 324 to play in the first we're coming right back mike and again although it's complicated trump these games mean something to pittsburgh and to the jets and clubs like that even though they're sure to play off spots they'd like to be at home if not in the first round then maybe in the second depending upon who might be upset in the first round can i wait till keith had the nfl figure that out and read it probably the best idea okay 324 remains in the first quarter franco big opening period for frank o'haras he gets eight maybe nine yards before marshall harris makes the tackle for cleveland interesting thing about the pittsburgh steeler offensive line they're not extremely tall people they're all about the same size and what they do is they're great man-on-man blockers and they try to cut one defensive man off that is the pursuit and then allow franco harris to just pick his way up through the defense he's always done an excellent job second and about a yard and a half for the steelers holler [Applause] good block there by benny cunningham number 89 he managed to hook mr chip banks to the inside and pollard went right to the outside scores of other games in progress they'll appear shortly there they are cincinnati boost their lead to 14-3 over houston washington looking to finish with the best record in the nfc the redskins are seven and one they've taken a seven nothing first quarter lead against the cardinals in washington a joe feisman touchdown pass there chicago leads at tampa bay midway through the first john stallworth makes the catch that's another first down for the steelers a gain of 11. now bob the steelers are doing a very interesting thing when bradshaw reads blitz the receivers are simply going down 10 yards and turning around cleveland with man-to-man coverage because of the blitz are allowing a pretty good size cushion on the receivers and it's not really very difficult to complete passes you can see right there there's almost four yards of cushion between stallworth and the defensive man for the cleveland browns bradshaw now six of seven 78 yards he's hot remains in the first [Applause] quarter franco harris he's about halfway to a 100 yard game already bob last week we saw pittsburgh play new england and they chose to run at 10 sims the defensive end of the new england patriots this week it appears they're they are choosing to run a keith baldwin they are running primarily to the left-hand side of their offense mike robinson who normally starts at that spot left home in cleveland he's been ill all week baldwin the rookie from texas a m number 99 gets the start in his stead second and five from just across midfield look out bradshaw was not sacked last week at all by the patriots but curtis weathers gets sacked number one on the day for the browns two weeks ago in cleveland the browns blitz like crazy and they're going with the same strategy today i think terry bradshaw read it he was hoping that one of the receivers was hot you see banks he'll be blocked by harris but weathers comes free from the back side it appears that somebody missed an assignment somewhere bradshaw looking strong and there was no outlet receiver or what they call the business a hot receiver when he reads blitz look for the ball immediately three wide receivers with jim smith in on third and 14. five defensive backs for cleveland [Music] this time terry has time of the man is wide open jim smith brought first down deep in brown's territory at the 20. [Applause] 44 and yards on the coverage two weeks ago he had three interceptions and there was really a blown coverage somewhere jim smith one of the great third receivers in the game i think this is banned coverage dixon on smith all the way bradshaw has time to throw the ball a wobbly pass but again it's all gets it over dixon excellent catch by dixon first down or excuse me excellent catch by smith and he was in the first quarter seven of eight 112 yards and a touchdown correction on the last pass it went for 38 rather than 44 yards as the first quarter ended now for the browns 20. michael harris his total now at 56 yards after that carrick interesting call three wide receivers run frank o'hara's up the middle against the 34 set total domination by pittsburgh in the first quarter time of possession yards rushing and passing two turnovers by cleveland one by pittsburgh pittsburgh on the board for seven to nothing driving once again almost intercepted cousin got a hand on it stallworth was the target has done a good job down here generally the pittsburgh offense is very very efficient inside the 20-yard line you see the pressure by golic up through the middle franco has to hurry the throw he can't really look around and a good tip away by tom cousino and watch greg hawthorne here generally when he's in the offense he's the man that they want him to go to great talent he's open he's underneath cruzinho there jerry bradshaw throws it downfield cleveland now with four defensive linemen franco as the lone steelers set back on third and five three wide receivers franco first down first and goal at the six great call outstanding fall cleveland had four defensive linemen they had three linebackers they had four guys in coverage and man to man quick pitch to brad to harris on the outside the corners were covering receivers man to man they had her backs turned to frank o'hara's only one guy in pursuit at clay matthews and he's somewhat hurt excellent call by pittsburgh and it looks like franco could be on his way to that 42nd 100 yard game of his career to ty simpson for third place on the all-time list which was headed by jimmy brown with 58 and walter payton with 48 100 yard [Applause] games it didn't take long to get it a flag goes down stallworth has the reception which if it stands would be his eighth touchdown of the year offensive pass interference it will be called back you are correct mr trump that doesn't happen very often you don't generally see that call look at that face i don't know what chuck noll had for breakfast this morning but it wasn't quiche offense past interference 82. [Music] the science of being a receiver in the nfl is when you get down to the goal line and there is contact with the defensive man you want to be in control of the contact you try to have be in control so you can bounce off the contact and be open we will not see the contact but the official is right behind the situation he was there to make the call and for dixon was the man interfered with so it'll now be first down and 16 projects down [Applause] protection is good but not the pass intercepted might be ill-advised on the part of chip banks to run it out but the important thing is that the browns have the ball back and now each team has been guilty of turnovers twice i think if terry had his druthers he'd rather have that one back more choice in that particular situation banks back in coverage did an excellent job jerry appears to have time here although golic is pressuring him once again and it appears to be a pretty easy interception by chip banks chip banks the only browns player in the pro bowl this year the browns have not sent a defensive player to the pro bowl since the mid 70s when jerry shirk went that's chip banks who intercepted terry bradshaw and he's an all-star as a rookie mcdonald in trouble on first down flagged down holding cleveland if that's the case it makes no difference that pruitt dropped a very catchable ball mcdonald did a good job holding against cleveland mcdonald did a good job of reading the blitz it appeared to be an audible there [Applause] and mike pruitt was the hot receiver we'll watch again one thing i like about the kid you notice how he keeps his feet moving you see a lot of quarterbacks just anchor themselves back there as long as his feet are moving he can throw the ball quickly edmund nelson and robin cole with pressure on paul mcdonald but for holding call it'll now be first in 20. offense holding 73. how can he hold he's got a cast on just over 13 minutes to play in the first half pruitt carries and only to about the 10-yard line i believe them with second and long this is an unenviable spot now for any offense in the nfl regardless of who you play second down and 11 you were at the mercy of the defense uh it appears that pittsburgh is staying with their pass rush set figuring that cleveland is going to try to dink it out in the flat to a receiver it's more than 11. it's closer to 15. second and 15. nonetheless the browns are glad to be here a moment ago it seemed like they would trail 14 nothing penalty called back a steeler touchdown and moments later banks intercepted bradshaw to keep it at 7-0 mcdonald's pass is a wobbly one but again it's on target and dave logan has the first down for the browns great job by cleveland excellent call motion to the outside it appeared to be ricky feature made jackhammer in single coverage put jackhammer single coverage on dave logan just a simple out pattern mcdonald has the time to throw it and then you see the two deep zone jackham watch this single coverage the motion created this excellent job well thrown perfectly timed and the roommates connect for the cleveland browns logan and paul mcdonald first down [Applause] breathing room now at the 29. [Applause] nice little stutter step at the line of scrimmage a flag goes down and so does pruitt he got 12 on the carry and let's see if it stands up there's ben dreith's crew and there you get an idea of what some of these people do when they're not officiating football games and some people criticize that they say the official should be full-time league employees offense 63. ben dreif has been an official for 23 years isn't that something you would think that this would be a sport being an official that would run you out of this business in a hurry he's tied with jim tunney for the most tenure in the national football league guys unofficial rounds face first and 20 from their 19. flags again pruitt was the ball carrier but there was all kinds of activity along the line before the snap let's get back to that trump you think the nfl ought to hire the officials on a full-time basis during the week they'd work reviewing films which they all do conscientiously on their own anyway but some people think they should be full-time employees i don't agree i would subscribe to the instant replay theory use the camera use the facilities the television has now developed to help these officials as best they can i don't think making defense offside thank you i don't think making them full-time employees in the nfl is going to help you still have to suffer with the big bodies the speed of the game and i think if you charge a team a time out ask the coach for his appeal look at the instant replay camera it's going to illegally alleviate a lot of the problems in officiating in the nfl first and 15 now [Applause] cleveland using a great deal of motion to try to at least make the pittsburgh steeler defense think for a moment as to what might be happening create a little confusion hopefully someone will miss coverage somewhere and they will have a receiver open but very very well schooled three of seven now for mcdonald's 46 total yards incomplete he got it away but feature couldn't hold it woodruff was one of two people over there on the coverage great job too i do believe feature could have made that catch but woodruff knocked it out of his hands there's brian site 1980 most valuable player in the national football league and watch the job by woodrow it appears that it's about to be caught then woodruff well i take it back feature just couldn't quite hang on to that one a little bit overthrown big down here third down at about 13. if cleveland runs good screens this would be the place to do it shotgun five defensive backs pittsburgh three wide receivers cleveland coming after him with everything but newsom and he may go all the way woodruff is the only man with a crack at him and he brings him down at the 20. no flags [Applause] excellent job paul mcdonald keeping his presence got outside of the pass rush which was the first mistake by the pittsburgh steeler defense you want to keep those pass rush lanes keep that guy in the pocket watch him move to his left right outside there there's nobody between here and the receiver and then of course the defensive backs have to worry about the quarterback running and the receiver catching washington there was the man that was designed to cover ozzie newsome all over the field now watch washington he thinks he's going to run you see that little hesitation got the room for ozzie newsome giant game 54 yards and then this tackle by woodruff prevents a touchdown but it's a first down for the browns at the pittsburgh 21 with 10 46 to play in the first half thanks mike here at 7-0 the steelers over the browns and watch again the 54-yard pass and run between mcdonald and newsome excellent catch by ozzie newsome on a totally busted play he can't really fault pittsburgh except for allowing mcdonnell to get outside the pass rush motion on first down short drop by mcdonald newsome [Applause] not much of a gain perhaps four yards [Music] at this point on the field it seems that the fashionable thing in the nfl to do is run a lot of picks and this was the attempt and saw logan come inside to try to pick johnson off of newsome the outside receiver and it's good for about four yards but generally they hope for more seven or eight yards it's not designed really to get in the end zone that is unless the defensive man falls down mcdonnell now five of ten 105 yards good bangs down to about the 12-yard line and he is close to a first down [Music] excellent block by number 63 cody ryzen this is just a straight pitch student body right see if we can pick up the block by ryzen there he's on jack hamm gets him inside number 86 dan fulton also does a good job of blocking brings up the third down and one [Applause] we expected a good ball game here in three rivers stadium these two teams always play close regardless of what's at stake probably not a charitable spot might give it to it [Applause] lambert and cole 58 and 56 in on the stop used to be called the steel curtain now the solid steel defense anchored by one jack lambert for so many years interesting that i believe jack lambert plays at about 220 pounds one of the most fearsome linebackers there is in the game and yet hits like he's a lot heavier [Music] cleveland wants a timeout they're not going to have to measure they do not have the first down it's fourth and less than a yard and while sam ratigliano thinks it over we'll tell you there are nine minutes 48 seconds to play in the second quarter and will return to pittsburgh after this now for the cleveland browns with fourth down inches tell you what i do i'd go out there if i were paul mcdonald and of course this is the choice of the head coach tell the offense no matter how many times i yell hut do not move run one guy in motion after about the fourth hut and try to draw pittsburgh offsides to get a cheap first down their field goal kicker that bar is seven of 15. not sure that they want to prime right here let's see what happens white of the backs featuring newsome shifting they pass forward and get it charles white gives them a first and goal great job excellent call motion away into the formation have an extra man in there for pass protection and white an excellent receiver out of the backfield just over the outstretched arms of the defensive linebacker you'll see this thrown quick of course mcdonald left hand and that's throwing his way i couldn't really see who got his hands up there but michelle with a saving tackle first down cleveland houston comes back at the astrodome now to make it 14-13 in the second quarter seven minutes and 21 seconds to play until halftime there time out again by [Music] cleveland so nine minutes and seven seconds to play first half first and goal from the seven for the browns [Music] the browns come into pittsburgh today aware of the fact that they are in the playoffs unless they lose this game and buffalo and new england tie at foxborough they're also aware that they have never won at three rivers stadium owen 12 here on first and goal it's white turns the corner and gets down to the one that's a dangerous call because you run the risk of losing three or four on the deep pitch but he turned the corner and made it a gain of six he did a great job too making that little dip door towards the line of scrimmage it hesitated made the pursuit hesitate ever so slightly and then with good speed to the outside was able to get the corner great blocking by newson logan came that way in motion and also cody ryzen and we'll cross pause briefly for station identification this is the nbc television network wpxi the news station second and goal now from the one one-yard line cleo miller number 30 is on the browns back field mcdonald's ricky feature for the touchdown mcdonnell could have run for it wide open yes he could have you know what i was thinking at the point where they snapped the ball matt miller number excuse me doug deacon number 73 was the outside man on the line of scrimmage and i thought there was going to be another tackle eligible this is wide open he could have run in feature makes the catch that's one that as a receiver you hate to see the tuba player covering you and he throws it softly into your hands and you hope you don't break ricky features second touchdown reception of the year matt barr sneaks it through we've got a tie game seven a piece eight minutes and 15 seconds to play in the first half in pittsburgh how about bob trumpy it's always interesting at latter stages of the season season difficult to beat a team like kansas city that's a contract game for the kansas city players next year's contract kickoff takes a high bounce and abercrombie lets it go into the end zone hollard's scooping it up there touch back steeler ball at the 20. the 85-yard drive which the browns just completed in 11 plays and 503 elapsed time the longest scoring drive allowed by the steeler defense this year big play of course was the catch by newsome and of course the fourth down conversion very goody call but san bertigliano of course knowing that cleveland browns control their own destiny if they win this game and it's in the hands of other people if they lose [Applause] franco harris a couple of yards on first down before ambrose and cousino wrap him up that's some expensive tacklers right there cousino and banks first round draft choice and the highest paid linebacker in the nfl number 50 cusino slides along the line of scrimmage both are there to make the tackle you're right it was banks rather than ambrose who helped cousin on the play second and eight coming up you mentioned the playoff fate of the browns there was some talk in cleveland earlier this week about a brown's request to pete rozelle that the buffalo new england game be played today under playoff rules that is no tie possible play it to a conclusion no matter how long it takes so that it would not be in the best interest of either of those clubs to play for a tie franco can't turn the corner no gain that request of course was turned down by the commissioner saying that he had no control of it that all 28 team owners would have to vote in favor of that everest now i believe has got 74 yards in this first half on 11 carries very very productive when and when franco harris is productive the pittsburgh steelers are a tough team to handle because of all possession [Applause] new england jumps out to a three-nothing lead in the second quarter over buffalo john smith from 42 yards out for the [Applause] score [Applause] [Music] on third down bradshaw throws long and over the head of john stalwart very close very close double rotation zone that is corners up safeties out and bradshaw trying to take advantage of the outside of the zone this is very close to a pass reception and if you can do that against that double rotation zone you'll keep cleveland out of it for the rest of the day now good's in the kick and watch his drop in contrast to the drop of steve cox the distance the distance that travels from his hands to the point where it meets his foot it's an [Music] [Applause] white walker a fair catch at the 35 of the browns 40-yard kick by goodson that's one of the problems when you drop it that far if it doesn't hit your foot exactly right there's a chance of course of a shank the hula ball and trump we are honolulu bound i'll take off my battery warm socks and put on my flower shirt watch the distance now the ball drops boom that's a good three feet if you don't drop it perfectly every time you kick the ball differently every time well the net wasn't bad on it though no return so the net is 40 yards right but still you take the chance of the shank and in the nfl i think most teams would sacrifice six or seven yards in distance for a great deal more accuracy that hula bowl ought to be an interesting one trump we'll see players like dan marino the pit quarterback tom ramsey will be another of the quarterbacks there kurt warner who had a great game last night at the sugar bowl as penn state laid claim to the national championship eric dickerson from smu will be in that game saturday night january 15th in prime time nine o'clock eastern time on nbc first down white caught it and fumbled it and there to pick it up is robert jackson incomplete pass definitely the kind of play that could have been called either way trump and we've seen it called both ways lauren taves on the hit this is zone coverage and the linebackers are sitting right there waiting for someone to make the catch and i believe the reason they didn't they ruled no catch is it both feet did not make contact with the surface and therefore incomplete pass and the wind knocked out of one charles white he was replaced by cleo miller browns have converted one of four on third down and he yard here through it false for it does not believe they've converted to the third down to first the hunting team appears to be coming on the field this telecast is presented by authority of the national football league intended for the private use of our audience any rebroadcast or other use of this telecast without the express written consent of the pittsburgh steelers and the nfl is prohibited cleveland now one of five and third down conversions that's always a big stat in the game and they've had a couple of third ones if they couldn't convert which is not good news for the cleveland grounds now watch this kid's drop it's about 18 inches and blocked could turn into a touchdown the steelers will score on it taking it in is the reserve tight end john rogers number 87. [Applause] first time that steve cox has had a punt block this year and it's converted into a touchdown both of those guys 87 and 41 sam washington appear to be virtually untouched look at there that's that's not a good enough job by the punt team in the cleveland browns you can't blame that on the punter he comes relatively unscathed in there two of them [Applause] trouble on the placement let's see if they can make something out of it stout can't get in [Music] [Applause] so gary anderson doesn't get a chance to kick it and the steelers will have to settle for a 13-7 lead the agony of steve cox as john rogers the rookie from louisiana tech terry bradshaw's school blocks the punt and then takes it in for the touchdown but that's not cox's fault you've got to do a job watch rogers he goes by 81 of the cleveland browns that's mike whitwell and he realizes the mistake he makes you see 81 there trying to run down rogers but you got to do a better job of that in blocking for your punter watch once again that's not an extraordinary amount of time it's a good snap six points six jeep points for the pittsburgh steelers if rogers hadn't blocked it sam washington another rookie from mississippi valley state would have there's mr whitwell now he's got a sentinel make up for that mistake [Music] now gary anderson half of this rookie's kickoffs have gone into the end zone this year a seventh round draft choice of the buffalo bills and then waved by the bills and picked up by the steelers for whom he has hit nine of ten field goal tries this year now you can see not only the six points but the emotion of the game is now on the side of the guys in the black hats a mistake like that a touchdown that most teams try their very best to plan against all kinds of time spent on blocking for the punter and something like that happens and you end up losing in three rivers stadium 12 years in a row 5 20 to play in the half as mcdonald goes to the air on first down the steelers have recorded 31 sacks this year the raiders lead the league in that regard with 35 the steelers are second macdonald has been forced to hurry several times in this first half second to ten not the most comfortable position for any offense to be in it takes a couple of downs to get you a motion back after that block punch you just say no matter what we do here it doesn't seem to work if you're cleveland well they come again mcdonald fires long he wants newsome and he's got him another long connection between mcdonald and newsom he split ron johnson and donnie shell for a gain of 35. pittsburgh is staying with that double rotation zone that is corners up safety's out and newsom splits it right down the middle you see hammond blitz and shell playing to the outside just can't quite catch up with newsome and they've got johnson on the inside but that's a great throw by paul mcdonald over the outstretched arms of johnson and ozzie newsom has been the big play man for the cleveland browns today four and a half minutes to play until halftime first down on the steeler 46. [Applause] up top again on the money he knows it he knows it that's the chance of a lifetime of the first half of the cleveland browns the coverage they want the correct play called fulton with excellent speed once again behind johnson behind shell and it's not to be i like that qualifying statement trump that's the chance of a lifetime in this half well so does fulton but that time it wasn't meant to be second and ten frustrating sequence of events for the browns this time feature broken up by dwayne woodruff i'll tell you what the pittsburgh dealers are glitching a great deal the cleveland brown offensive line they are doing an excellent job of picking up those receivers and cleveland's receivers have been open this first half this is once again a great pattern run by feature you see lambert coming up through the middle they pick them all up there's time and this is just a great play by dwayne woodruff heck of a play one of the best athletes that pittsburgh has on their football team mcdonald has thrown along at least a half dozen times in his first half shotgun on third and seven he wants feature he was bumped by woodruff pass interference that ball was shown before feature even looked back to the quarterback i'm not sure what wayne woodruff is complaining so much about i believe that be a good call maybe he's saying that there's no way the ball could have been caught 49 first down single coverage once again even through motion formation or something is creating that single coverage all over the field i believe that's a good call interference on dwayne woodruff first down for the browns [Applause] mcdonald again and this time gary dunn got there number 67. just as soon as i said cleveland have done an excellent job in protecting the quarterback with just three guys in the pass rush dunn gets to the quarterback right over the center tom de leon you see jackson and delamar look outside and dunn just pushes deleon right back into the quarterback's face they lose seven back to the 40. clock running with 3 40 to play in the half 13-7 pittsburgh second and 17. blitz the draw doesn't work [Applause] keith willis number 93 a rookie from northeastern makes the tackle cleo miller now into the ball game mike ruiz comes out third down and what would you say bob about 14. let's call it 15. all right it'd be ashamed to come back to that block punch drive the ball down the field then come away with no points here for the cleveland grounds once again the pittsburgh defense creating some confusion by on the cleveland browns part mcdonald in trouble the ball knocked away who's at the bottom of the pile with it i don't know who's got the ball but i think we got a credit robin cole was stripping it right out of paul mcdonald's hands pittsburgh goal and plenty of time to add to their 13-7 lead they get it back at their 45 with 2 45 remaining in the half a block punt once again robin call to the left takes on cleo miller dave's on him paul strips the ball away and i have the slightest idea who ends up with it i think coal recovered it as well as stripping it away trump first robin cole gets the ball away from paul mcdonald another turnover cleveland the third of the day by the browns plus they had a punt blocked and returned for a touchdown franco gain of four ambrose the tackle well at halftime they'll talk about missed opportunities cleveland has had their chances pittsburgh of course has played very well they've created a lot of those turnovers franco harris now 12 carries 75 yards with 220 to go in the first half the steelers on the other hand will lament as you look at robin cole a hero a moment ago they'll lament the touchdown they had called back on a penalty and the subsequent interception which killed that drive correct [Applause] franco close to a first down but short of it bob golick keith baldwin and tom cousino all around the ball carrier two minute warning which actually comes with a minute 56 showing on the clock the steelers lead it by six and we'll be back after this preceding announcement was furnished by the national football league third down one upcoming for the steelers just shy of the 45-yard line of cleveland buffalo after trailing 3-0 comes back to lead 13-3 at new england kansas city pounding on the new york jets 24-6 in kansas city washington at seven and one their only loss they were beaten by the cowboys and leading the cardinals seven nothing in the first right shot of the air for that yard dropped by cunningham the first time he's gone to his tight end today what do you do here do you go for it cleveland's only got one for one time out left now they're gonna punt it take no chances more than happy to go in at halftime leading 13 to 7. that ball should have been caught good call even though it didn't work yes excellent call not one that pittsburgh uses very often walker now stands at his own 10-yard line awaiting the kick by [Applause] very little goodson by the browns [Applause] out of bounds at the 14. flag goes down 31-yard kick by goodson with no return excellent kick too inside the 20-yard line angling for the sideline legal man kicking team downfield 90 decline a penalty first down the other way although college basketball takes a break on nbc sports for a couple of weeks we'll be back on january 15th from charlottesville where the defending national champion north carolina tar heels battle ralph sampson and the virginia cavaliers in addition a full slate of great college matchups including the notre dame ucla game on super sunday all here on nbc sports north carolina back on the beam they avenged that loss to missouri early in the season as they met the tigers again in the final game of the rainbow classic this week and beat them by 15. silver swords of chaminade blemishing virginia's record cleveland has one timeout remaining in the first half through it on the pitch gains a couple at halftime nfl 82 all the scores and the highlights and we'll let len berman mike adamle and pete axthon try and figure out what the playoff implications are bradshaw knows he'll be there he doesn't know exactly where and against who yet they hope at home of course pittsburgh averages 33 points offensively per game here just 13 per game on the road how long can you expect this kind of weather to hold up in pittsburgh it's been beautiful the last couple of weeks [Applause] mcdonald's pass intended for feature and incomplete this will leave him a third and eight [Music] timing pattern between mcdonald and feature trying to get underneath the coverage you'll see feature going in motion mcdonald just sits up thrown outside of it mcdonald 9 of 19 for 155 in the first half more than half of that on two long completions to ozzie newsome what do you do here if they don't get the first down pittsburgh has timeouts remaining and barring a booming kick by steve cox they could get into field goal range very quickly off the hand of logan and incomplete now i would suggest since we took off on mr whitwell so bad number 81 of the cleveland browns on the punt team why not watch him again see if he does a better job this time cleveland certainly doesn't want to have two punch blocks in this football game they didn't want one ten guys up at the line of scrimmage bob elise sydnor back deep at the 45 after fred bohannon broke a hand sydnor took over the punt return duties had a great game last week against the patriots one man laid on the field they only had 10 men on the field for that month greg hawthorne got there late sidney lets it bounce and is smothered before he can get to midfield 37-yard kick by cox clock stops 43 seconds left and it was whitwell who made the tackle good for him trying to make up for the mistake he made in the previous months but if you realize the mistake you made and watch those films on tuesday try to find a crack in the floor to crawl in when that play is shown on the screen it was a rookie's mistake by woodwell a rookie's nightmare he's from texas a m in his first year in the league bradshaw trying to get them at least in the field goal range swings it to franco he can't get out of bounds met by chip banks and slam down no huddle play bradshaw will go into the series with two plays called now he calls timeout well if they were going to call a timeout why not call it right away well i think his intention was to run a preset play so that they could then hope for a completion get the ball farther down the field then go to the sideline and leave one last timeout for the field goal kicker and anderson is a threat to kick it from i'd say 50 yards so they only need about 15 in order to be in his range and three points at the end of this first half would certainly lift the spirits of the pittsburgh steelers between 40 and 49 yards this rookie gary anderson is 5 for 5 this year he's 9 of 10 overall he missed his first one actually it was blocked by dallas since then he's made nine in a row last year at syracuse he set an ncaa accuracy record by making 18 of 19 for the orange man and yet he wasn't drafted until the seventh round by buffalo and even then he was released by the bills i was very interested in the comment that chuck noll made he said until we got gary anderson i always considered the distance generally for a field goal field goal kicker to be very accurate is 30 yards he said with gary anderson i've got to change my mind to make that 40 yards he is an unbelievable kicker and of course uh the fact that he can get the ball in the end zone on kickoffs is the main reason he made this ball club last year because the defense wasn't as excuse me this year the defense wasn't as staunch as it had been in the past second and five nice catch by swan and out of bounds [Music] 50 yards they're now in his range ron bolton was arguing that swann was out of bounds before the reception but it's a gain of 14. there is no love lost at all trump between bolton and swan bolton replacing lawrence johnson who wonder what cartilage and ligament knee surgery in cleveland this week devastating loss he was a world-class printer and they wonder if what effect that's going to have on him he was a fine fine defensive back for cleveland remember last year when swann and bolton accused the other of spitting at it [Music] [Applause] almost intercepted ambrose had it right in the bread basket and couldn't hold it something happened lynn swann and jim smith ran smack into each other about 25 yards down the field they collided and ambrose i think was the most surprised man on the field that the ball came in his direction watch this i think the only guy you'll see is ambrose there you see swan and just to his left was smith and someone ran the wrong pattern somewhere watch swan to your right should come smith there's confusion somewhere that's not the way it's supposed to be growing up seconds left now second and ten from the 34. drag down benny cunningham moving russell davis makes the patch they'll bring it back five seconds on the clock benny cunningham moved early he will bring it back from the point of the last play the completion will not count well they got problems now because they'd have to run a very quick sideline pattern and try and get out of bounds with a second to go to get anderson on the field [Music] they should mark it from where the ball was last snapped not where the completion was made in which case they'd go back to the 39 and from there to be a 56-yard field goal try five seconds left i'd try it [Music] i'm wondering about the choice here for cleveland i don't think they have a choice it was offensive motion 89 [Applause] anderson's longest 48 yards at houston on november 21st he's five of five from 40 yards or more but none longer than 48. this one is 57. stout holds i don't know straight but short so a string of nine consecutive successful field goal attempts by anderson ends and the steelers take a 13-7 lead into the locker room trump impressions of this first half cleveland gets the ball at the beginning of the second half they've hurt themselves more than the pittsburgh steelers have hurt them they've got to be encouraged that they can move the ball and throw the ball down the field almost at will [Music] no semblance of that team here the first victory that the cincinnati bengals had as an expansion team was against the pittsburgh steelers in a place called morgantown west virginia which is where the mountaineers of west virginia play but since chuck noll came and with the drafts of bradshaw joe greene and that 74 draft that i believe included stallworth uh lambert uh who else am i missing webster was in that drive yes this has been a very dominating team in the nfl well you look at their pro ball players this year as gary anderson prepares to kick off and more on that 74 draft in just a moment [Applause] dino hall at the three fall to the 28-yard line mike webster makes the pro bowl as a center was a fifth round draft choice in 74. wide receiver john stallworth a fourth round pick jack lambert went in the second round that year donnie shell who makes the pro bowl squad this year was a free agent acquisition in 1974 and their fifth pro bowl player this year is larry brown who makes it for the first time he was a fifth round draft choice in 1971 the thing i think interesting about pittsburgh is that no player on their roster has ever played a down for another nfl team they're all drafted or free agents [Applause] even their free agents have been only with the steelers pruitt for next to nothing on first down [Music] that first drive of the second half is vitally important for each team pittsburgh trying desperately to turn the ball back over their offense to that man terry bradshaw and cleveland trying to get down the field and not self-destruct as they did in the first half they've moved the ball very well it's going to be interesting to see if pittsburgh stays with the blitz in the first half cleveland had receivers open against that blitz mcdonald's to newsom who was shoved out of bounds by woodruff at the 36-yard line leaving them third and three well they just answered our question they did come with the blitz once again sam ratigliano sends in fulton and cleo [Music] miller miller i believe for a little bit of blocking expecting the blitz here comes pittsburgh now with their pass rush set victory today chuck noll would be alone in eighth place on the nfl coaching victory list he moved past nick stram that list is headed of course by papa bear hallis with 320 victories mcdonald needs three and gets it ozzie newsome again the fifth reception for newsome who now has more than a hundred yards on the day how did he do that merryweather was on the coverage and that is what you call pinpoint passing watch merryweather he's off the line of scrimmage newsome just goes down and it's a foot race to the outside but watch where that ball comes if mary weather had turned around and caught sight of the football and able to catch it that's six points the other way but an excellent completion by paul mcdonnell known as an accurate passer in his college days and now with the cleveland browns [Applause] 13 32 to play third quarter from the browns 44 trailing by six white thinks he was interfered with and it might turn out that way the flag went down late and jack hamm is guilty i tell you what i don't i don't blame jack hand for complaining because the side judge i should say the linesman made the call and he's looking from the back of jackhammer fans past interference 59 first down excuse me ben but he saw him jump over the receiver's back and i don't know if he could ever determine if there was contact made or not nevertheless first down it was ham by the way who recovered that fumble in the first half about which we had some doubts we knew robin cole had knocked the ball loose and there was a big pileup and officially ham gets credit for that fumble recovery looks like the blitz [Applause] did macdonald check off he finds newsome sixth reception for ozzie i believe when dave logan went in motion that took pittsburgh out of the blitz ozzie newsome was quoted before today's game is saying he expected it to be like the thriller in manila come on let's not overstate the situation six catches now 112 yards for newsom and he's had a couple of big catches in that first half second down down about seven i'd say [Applause] [Music] [Applause] mcdonald with good protection and he's on target again it's going to be a first down at the 36-yard line logan makes the catch excuse me pittsburgh is using a three-man defensive front and then blitzing robin cole from the outside and in that particular instance charles white on the left-hand side of your screen did an excellent job of picking up coal and there you see logan just going down trying to make the first down we'll watch once again woodruff on the outside shell on the inside this timing pass just designed to pick up the first down miller on the carriage cleo miller gets four yards on first down clock running with 12 and a half minutes to play in the third quarter i would say that play that the browns called in the first half when fulton was wide open with a little play action good spot for it here once again although fulton is standing right there next to sam ortigliano mcdonald basically basically calling his own plays obviously sam has a great deal of confidence in mcdonald [Applause] thrown away newsom in the general vicinity will shell on the coverage back with the browns third down play after we check with nfl 82. this is len berman nfl 82 in new york in the battle for the playoff spot in foxborough steve grogan goes back looks into the end zone he's got ken toller the patriots take the lead but they missed the extra point back to you bob costas i thank you lenny busy weekend for len berman he was in the studio to pass midnight eastern time after the orange ball ended a triple header on nbc fiesta rose and orange and all good ball games and right back doing his usual excellent job on nfl 82 thank you lynn berman third down six for the cleveland browns from the shotgun overthrown and he had a man open feature was there now what do you do hunt bringing in the punter [Applause] if in fact they are going to punt let's see who the up back is for the i think it's ambrose number 52 not known to run the ball but kicking from the 32-yard line if they were to try a field goal it would be a 49-yarder within the range of most nfl kickers can cox throw it we may find out [Applause] playing it straight he's going for the corner it's inside the 20 but it isn't what they had in mind the net on this is only about 13 or 14 yards 19-yard line will be the mark a 13-yard kick like 11 51 steeler ball we're in the third quarter today's game is brought to you by budweiser light with a clean distinctive taste worthy of the king of beers by owens corning fiberglass corporation makers of owens corning pink fiberglass insulation and by hertz the car rental company that's number one for everyone still 13-7 pittsburgh 11 51 to play third quarter franco harris 20 yards away from 100 for the day and adds only one yard to that total on first down let's give credit to bob golick there jumping behind the center mike webster may frankel harris alter his uh root there a little bit quite a transition and he's made it smoothly from linebacker to defensive line for golem i uh read where san bernardino said he hoped that bob golick never learned how to play nose man that without any training he's done a fine job he's had five sacks in the last three games his teammates have begun to call him mad dog he's also had 20 tackles in those three games before today franco again good change of direction and he gets eight clarence scott the free safety the 12-year veteran from kansas state makes the tackle i don't know how he does that jack lambert the wages of war a cup of blood on sunday authored by one floyd little remember that article a cup of blood on sunday uh actually saturday that was when he was playing with syracuse one of the great ones who wore number 44 for the iron man king brown and larry zunker the others [Applause] russell davis great second effort i'm not sure it's enough but that was outstanding second effort by russell davis he was stopped at the line of scrimmage seemed to slide along the line of scrimmage and if he got it he got it by first down watch this at the line of scrimmage behind penny hawthorne kind of misses a block there russell davis with second effort ambrose on the hit good job by russell davis in a crucial first down you know trump we haven't seen walter abercrombie at all today except returning kicks and he had a good game last week against new england their first round draft choice bingo first down at the 44-yard line lynn swann with the catch and a gain of 14. in front of bolton there was no way to stop that that's a timing pass you go 12 yards lynn and i'll throw it before you turn around there's no way that anybody can start the ball's halfway there bam that's almost impossible to stop cleveland's defensive backs continue to give the pittsburgh receivers perfect size cushion 9 25 to play third quarter hollard carries and pays for it after a gain of only one let's pause briefly for station identification on the nbc television network wpxi the news station great tackle by dick ambrose stopped crank power right in his tracks bob costas along with bob trumpy at three rivers stadium in pittsburgh watch that hit again trump watch this now hollard is a tough nose running back but watch ambrose stops him right in his tracks for no gain second down and about nine and 340 yards [Applause] he's got a receiver franco nice move to sidestep a tackler close to a first down franco has a chance this season to lead the pittsburgh steelers in both receiving and rushing for the first time in the pittsburgh steelers history which would be rather interesting as many times as he has carried the ball for the pittsburgh steelers to also leading receiving he has been a very busy man this 1982 season he had to be a happy man last night penn state winning great game against georgia sort of mixed feelings in this area about the bowl games yesterday hit a loser penn state a winner oh no holy smokes that can't happen to cleveland it can't if they should play to a tie and remember it's sudden death only for one overtime period the steelers got the first down on the measurement if they should play to a tie and if cleveland loses to the steelers the browns are out and the bills and patriots are both in and if cleveland wins and they play to a tie buffalo is out right i believe that is correct oh no how can that happen i know a lot of people on park avenue which is where the league office says hope that doesn't happen 8 10 on the clock hawthorne gives it the swan on the reverse lin swan got a blocker in front of him 30 25 out of bounds at the 21. go play 25 yards on the reverse by lin swan [Applause] and pittsburgh going to a little trickery in motion it doesn't appear that anybody's coming with him it looked like a blitz formation by the defense and a great block by mike webster and of course swan sets it up with a little juke inside 25 yards first down for the pittsburgh steelers squad still trails by only six thirteen seven it's very threatening harris turns the corner franco's run out by clarence scott but it's a game of about five on first down harris now 16 carries 94 yards last week as bob said earlier in the set in the first half at harris for just the second time in this 82 season went over 100 yards it appears that he's going to go over 100 again this year anderson has thrown his second touchdown pass at houston this one goes to isaac curtis for 45 yards and early in the third the bengals lead the oilers 28 to 13. the bengals have not won in houston in five years yards [Applause] in games in which franco harris has gained 100 yards or more the steelers are 42 and four five of those 100-yard efforts in post-season games does that won all of those 42-4 and it surprises me that earlier in the season the steelers tried to go to uh someone other than frank o'hara's diversify their offense go to the back shot in the flat [Applause] third down they need two three wide receivers hawthorne in motion is one of them russell davis lowers his head and gets the first down first and goal at the six second effort once again russell davis the big power back for the pittsburgh steelers that's two third down conversions that he has turned in in this drive watch the hit oh he just he just crushes that four defensive back number 23. brett [Applause] first and goal from the six six and a half minutes to play third quarter franco is he there [Applause] touchdown the 93rd touchdown of franco harris's career he has 100 yards on the nose there's the story and the reaction from a steeler crowd [Applause] the snap was bad the last time and they missed the extra point this time it's perfect and to think when franco harris came out of college he was the second best back at penn state lydell mitchell who was the guy who got all the press steelers go up by 13 with 6 26 to play in the third quarter franco harris now tied with jim taylor for fourth place on the all-time touchdown list [Music] franco harris ties two of the all-time greats in two separate categories the 42nd 100 yard rushing day of his career third best all-time tied with o.j simpson jimmy brown first with 58 walter payton still active of course with the bears with 48. 93rd touchdown for franco fourth on the all-time list a tie with jim taylor ahead of him jimmy brown lenny moore and don hudson white walker will bring it out and wishes he didn't we'll watch once again vintage frankl harris his ability to stutter back there and somehow still accelerate through the defensive line of scrimmage and have the power to break a tackle to get in the end zone for the time that he has been in the nfl i still marvel at his ability to do that very few running backs can stutter back there and still gain the yards that he does marvel is running [Applause] in 1983 he could pass jimmy brown for first place on the all-time rushing list incomplete for feature franco harris will begin the 1983 season needing a little more than 1300 yards to pass jim brown now in fairness franco harris has already carried the ball more often than any back in history more often than simpson and brown who are ahead of him in total yards so in average for carrie jimmy brown is clearly the best but picks your passes total he has almost 400 perrys in post-season play which is to some running backs two additional years mcdonald gets away twice and down at the 16-yard line this game is quickly slipping away from cleveland's grasp watch the pressure 95 90 coors and goodman robin cole misses him and then it's desperation hit me on the ground somewhere finally merriweather on the apple the rookie from pacific six tackles last week against the patriots as he began to come into his own another good performance today third and eight 5 20 to play third quarter ron johnson a flag goes down trump [Applause] it was johnson who knocked steve brogan of the patriots out of the game on the last play of the first half last week he's calling a shot to the head in a quarterback the patriots thought the same penalty should have been called on johnson last sunday and it wasn't as he ended steve grogan's day we'll watch once again i'm sure let's see if in fact there was an elbow thrown it wasn't a late hit truck it was where he hit it there's no foul defense roughing the passer 29 first down let's watch this is a safety blitz comes from the left-hand side of your screen oh wait a minute wait a minute wait a minute where's the elbow didn't hit him in the head didn't hit him with an elbow you've got to sympathize with johnson on that call white only a yard if that lauren taves on the tackle now in defense event right he is standing to the back and to the right of paul mcdonald but he didn't hit him in the head and he did not hit him with an elbow [Applause] i take that back bryce is banning standing to the back and to the left of the left-handed quarterback but nevertheless it's still time scenario and you can bet that art model and the other cleveland people who are up here in the press box are aware of that score and have to be just about apoplectic by now mcdonald's to the sideline for newton not much yardage couple maybe watch newsome once again it looks like a pick donnie showing the initial coverage logan on the inside but that's good for about a yard and a half gain you're right bob so it's third and let's say a long seven now for cleveland four minutes and 28 seconds to play in the third quarter now six sketches for 111 yards steeler fans still incensed over the call against junctor [Applause] mcdonald barking signals at the top of his lungs and they still can't hear him and the fans applaud themselves for making life miserable for the hated brownies football in the pittsburgh area is light this is not a game listen to him [Applause] foreign [Applause] mcdonald's gonna have to start writing notes [Applause] this has made them go to the regular formation rather than the shotgun through it they don't get the first [Applause] so trump that was more than just an annoyance it had a tangible effect on what the browns did they were lined up in a different formation as a consequence of the noise there's three rivers stadium i repeat the pittsburgh steelers are 83 and 18 in free river stadium these people are used to seeing a winning team and they have in the past had an effect on the opponents that come in here [Applause] steve cox's last kick was good for just 13 yards this is returnable for sydney to the 36 with three minutes and 41 seconds to play in the third quarter return to noisy three rivers after this [Music] bob costas and bob trump trumpy back in pittsburgh with three minutes and 41 seconds to play in the third quarter it was 13-7 steelers at halftime it's 27 now the worst of all possible things is presently happening to the cleveland browns they're losing near 20 to 7. new england and buffalo in the third quarter are tied 16 a piece good yardage on first down for frank pollard [Applause] now understand it is not and there is art model of the cleveland browns i'm sure he's been looking too at the scoreboard two people to his left is paul warfield one of the greatest football players ever that's going to be tough for arnold second down three hollard again just short of the first down it would appear understand it is not to the advantage of either new england or buffalo to tie as opposed to winning but they both would get in if they tie 34-6 as kansas city pours it on the jets bill kenny to henry marshall for the latest score they've got 13 minutes to play in that game we're told that at foxborough only seconds remain in the third quarter and it's still tied at 16. that can't happen to cleveland they don't deserve that no team does though every year with all the wacky tie-breaking procedures it seems like you come down to the last week with some peculiar possibilities in this year with 16 teams making the playoffs it appeared that there was an even more or [Applause] russell davis they needed only inches and even though he was smacked i think he got it dick ambrose met him but not in time great hit one of the toughest tacklers there is in the game and russell davis pointing his finger at dick ambrose wanting some more that was vicious contact ambrose at the back of line of scrimmage you'll see right there that is a great tackle and it's they stop them close enough that they are going to measure in the air boy that's a fine tackle pittsburgh to that point was four of seven and converting third downs to first and they did not think that i thought that they had it trump based upon where he was at the point of contact hard to determine but at 20 to 7 you take no chances [Applause] bob you were too soon and the browns will get the ball back bobby you were talking about this 16-game super bowl tournament remember the striking baseball and how the cincinnati reds had the best record in baseball and set at home we had to expect that there was going to be some team that got the short sheet that got the raw end of the deal in this strike shortened season it may be cleveland good kick by goodson walker takes it on the run gets by a tackle and a decent return out to the 23. a 44-yard punt by goodson a 10-yard return by a walker guy ruff made the tackle for the steelers 201 to play in third quarter and president art model knows the situation they're going to the fourth quarter at foxborough if they should wind up tied and remember they've got to play through another 30 minutes 15 minutes of regulation and 15 minutes of overtime for that to happen and if they wind up tied and if the browns lose here by the strangest of circumstances cleveland loses their playoff birth ricky feature the target incomplete woodruff on the coverage a cynic might note however that any team that winds up four and five has no right to complain about any playoff system which excludes them except if they're excluded in this fashion that they lose here in new england and buffalo time i wonder what the weather is in new england is it good weather i wonder if they let the guy out of prison with a clown weather possibility mcdonald under some pressure as he floats one out in the direction of charles white incomplete third and ten upcoming i believe charles white was the hot receiver in that situation mcdonnell read the blitz white did not when you say hot receiver trump explain that terminology okay his only responsibility is when he reads blitz when the quarterback of the receiver reads blitz just as soon as you get off the line of scrimmage turn around and look for the ball he is the hot receiver because there are times when they're going to be men uncovered on the defense to have a free shot at the quarterback you want a hot receiver as soon as the ball is snapped around and catches [Applause] cleveland is just two of ten on third down conversion you can make it 2 11 as mcdonald goes under 90 bob coors up the middle great pass rusher and robin cole who has been glitching most of the day on the offensive left side of the cleveland grounds once again proper trump to compare the roles of coors and cole on occasion with those of aj dewey from miami ted hendricks for the raiders yeah possibly except that hendricks moves around quite a bit cole stays on that side coors was standing up there he was not known as a defensive lineman creates confusion for the cleveland browns offense who is supposed to supposed to block home box to kick from near his own goal line 122 to play in the third a real former signal all the way back to the 36. [Applause] to just shy of the pittsburgh 45. as we go into this commercial we'll tell you that miami is in front of baltimore 17-7 late in the first half in baltimore aha tony collins from a yard out 13 30 to play in that game new england in front in the fourth quarter 23 to 16. steve grogan is a quarterback for the patriots he's thrown two touchdown passes one to morris bradshaw another to ken toller after he was knocked out of the game here in pittsburgh last week and replaced by matt cavanaugh kavanaugh threw for two scores and there was some thought that kavanaugh would get the starting assignment this week against the bills but ron meyer goes with grogan franco harris adds to his total which already exceeds 100 yards the cleveland browns need a turnover they have got to get the ball and walter abercrombie finally coming onto the field much to the delight of the three rivers patrons here speaking of new england trump remember last week we were talking about hog hannah and how he had not publicly complained about the ron maier regime [Applause] excellent all-purpose he had a knee injury earlier in the season and it seemed to slow him down a little bit bob golick on the tackle let's watch the first round draft choice of the cleveland browns and the gentleman who is going to the pro bowl backside pursuit always vitally important in the nfl and he's there to make contact on abercrombie strong kid that makes the potentially outstanding linebacking unit in the future with cousino clay matthews who's back now after a broken ankle and ship banks that's the end of the third quarter back after these messages from your local station we start the fourth quarter at sold out three rivers stadium and a look at what happened in the third period forget that folks that's not right that's not correct because at the end of the first half each had 15 minutes of possession the giants are concluding their season at philadelphia both clubs are three and five the giants have some remote playoff possibility they lead 23-14 right in the third russell davis interesting play greg hawthorne a running back was the trapper for the pittsburgh stars appeared he took on bob golick and mike webster pulled out on an influence and russell davis up through the middle there are the stats those are the correct stats the steelers almost 100 yards more in total offense just a little over two minutes more in possession time that block punch in the first half first down from cleveland 38 bradshaw wants it all jim smith that's all that finishes it a great diving catch and the steeler lead goes to 26-7 [Applause] 38 yards on the catch ron bolton on the coverage and he is just back had been injured for most of the season and he appeared to be limping in coverage interesting that last week sam rotigliano awarded ron bolton the game ball when he came in to replace lawrence johnson but today the steelers have gotten the best of it well thrown by brad shaw plenty of protection let's see if we can see bolton limping excellent catch by smith the export good well now the browns hopes realistically rest on some kind of decision anything but a tie in foxboro and the browns still make the playoffs [Music] game is brought to you by the 1983 volkswagens nothing else is a volkswagen by the us army a place to be all you can be and by merrill lynch whose ability to guide you through the intricacies of investing makes them a breed apart anderson kicks dino hall returns through the 22-yard line bob coors number 90 got down and made the tackle there's ron bolton the defensive back along with hanford dixon trying to decide exactly how that touchdown pass occurred what the move was four plays 56 yards and a well-thrown pass from bradshaw to smith covered the last 38 yards of it for smith his fourth touchdown reception of the year shaw has thrown for two scores today giving him 17 touchdown passes for the season mcdonald trying to get it back in a hurry almost woodruff on the coverage and logan nearly had it that's the second great play by dwayne woodruff just knocking the ball away at the last split second roommates logan and mcdonald once again trying to hook up well 319. this makes a tie less likely yes it does but i do believe that the cleveland browns would certainly prefer winning a buffalo field goal makes it 23-19 patriots there's still plenty of time remaining in the fourth quarter of that game ocean cleveland [Applause] through it couldn't hold it and was he drilled by mel blunt 86 dan fulton was in motion at the line of the script at the line of scrimmage blunts who two weeks ago in cleveland became the all-time steeler interceptor with his 53rd interception and he's second among active players to ken riley of the bengals who has picked off 56 in his career i think an even more amazing statistic is that melbourne it's third down illegal motion offense number 86 fulton declined the penalty third down but mel blunt holds the steelers record for consecutive games at i think 183. yeah passed ray mansfield last week at cornerback that's rather impressive that's actually total games played perhaps not consecutively mcdonald escapes it but winds up with the incompletion [Applause] donnie shell on the blitz steelers taking a chance strong safety blitz [Applause] had there been a right-handed quarterback there he wouldn't have gotten that pass off you realize that shell came from the back side mcdonald's still able to throw the ball [Music] busy day for steve cox best day averaging just over 33 yards of punt [Applause] sydnor is the deep man at the 40. good kick by cox drives him back to the 30. can't get outside just a four-yard return down on the play 49-yard kick by cox curtis weathers made the tackle but it'll cost the browns the lego man downfield pittsburgh would prefer the ball field on a kicking team decline the penalty first down you're right the steelers will take it at the 34-yard line now for some of you except for those of you in the cleveland pittsburgh areas we're going to take you to the buffalo new england game 27.7 steelers [Music] 13 minutes and 38 seconds to play in the ball game the steelers appear to have it in hand they have the ball and the 20-point lead they're celebrating in pittsburgh they know they're in the playoffs there's an outside chance that they could wind up with home field advantage it appears certain that the jets will lose cincinnati appears to be on their way to a win in the fourth at houston it's 35-20 bengals san diego and the raiders later san diego should lose coupled with a jet defeat and a pittsburgh win find that mistake and the steelers get home field abercrombie i don't want to oh okay are you sure nfl 82. those guys are paid well to sort that ah that's nice of you put it on the shoulders of lynn berman look at there big difference in the game when the steelers are able to run the ball control the line of scrimmage five years ago this was the most physical team in the nfl at the beginning of this season they tried finesse now they're back to the physical style of play no opponent has rushed for more than 100 yards talking about an individual not a team against the steelers at three rivers in five years not since great pruitt did it for the browns in 1977. bradshaw wants more stalwart incomplete not a fumble incomplete ron bolton on the hit separating stalwart from the ball very close to a reception obviously the pittsburgh steelers want more points i see stallworth wearing the gloves on a relatively mild day and i know that upsets you not today the field is not wet not today when the field is dry gloves are fine when the field is wet the gloves are worthless absolutely worthless because when you get down on that three-point stance or you make contact with the ground the moisture seeps in and it stays wet for the entire ball game that's and it stays wet for the entire ball game that's looks like mcdonald's site and rick trecano the third string quarterback 12 46 remaining in the fourth quarter 27-7 pittsburgh swan couldn't hold it once again that timing play the ball thrown before lin swan ever turned his head around almost impossible to stop well cleveland's got to brush this punt they got to try to come up with the with the turnover somehow and they need it immediately little doubt that the block punt by the steelers in the first half is the single most important play so far this one gets his bare foot into one driving dwight walker inside the 20. got to be a flag here the ball is loose but it really doesn't matter he was hit before he had a chance to field it and the penalty is against the steelers sam washington made the contact 46-yard punt and the receiver must have a chance to catch the ball no white walker they're trying to make the catch the black armbands with the number 11 which you see the officials wearing in memory of an official who passed away this year side judge vince jacobs who had been an nfl official for five seasons and as a matter of fact resided in the pittsburgh area interesting why would they go back to the where the ball was dead oh yeah he's going back to the to the spot of the foul yes okay and then he marks it off from there fair catch interference kicking king number 41 15-yard first down except i didn't see him give the fair catch signal but nevertheless interference by the hunting team on the receiver 12 minutes 29 seconds left brown's ball but they're in a deep hole terry bradshaw now with 17 touchdown passes on the year but it's hard to believe that dan fouts would have a game where he wouldn't throw for at least a couple and fouts began the day for san diego with 16. joe montana the 49ers had 15 coming in they were the leaders [Applause] mcdonald pumps it long [Applause] lambert and shell in coverage excuse me robin cole and shell in coverage bradshaw making sure shell is all right we were talking about terry bradshaw he had two very bad weeks which he completed i think just 29 of his passes and through seven interceptions in the last two weeks he's had very good days last week 17 out of 27 for two touchdowns today 12 of 18 170 or 87 yards and two touchdowns certainly made the [Applause] over the head of logan going behind him too total zone coverage will watch logan by himself you see he passes up one defensive back and he's just trying to find the dead spot in the zone but it's thrown behind him in high that would have been a miraculous catch had he made it and mcdonald did have time although somewhat pressured he still had enough time to get it in there between the numbers third and ten now for cleveland from their 37. [Applause] first down with the catch made by dwight walker the rookie from nicholls state he's at the 40-yard line of pittsburgh i do believe that pittsburgh is now on a prevent mode that is they'll protect only the yardage behind them they will not worry about past receptions in front of the defensive backs rushing appears to be three guys up front this is an excellent throw and catch that is threading the needle and you see those defensive backs way deep woodruff and johnson this is a prevent situation 23 on the completion mcdonald with logan in motion goes back to work pumps once then lets it go michelle was bidding for his sixth interception of the year we got a flag down at the line of scrimmage bob keith willis the rookie defensive end from northeastern was putting the pressure on mcdonald and got offsides against the pittsburgh steelers i think it was willis who jumped off let's listen to ben drive to find out offside 93 you got it pittsburgh going with their pass rush set blitzing robin cole a lot keeping those defensive backs very very deep in [Applause] coverage it becomes first and five with 11 27 left feature makes the catch for a first down at the pittsburgh 25. macdonald zip that one in there that was really a rifle shot by mcdonnell 10 yards on the catch first down for cleveland and it's a little late they're driving the ball very well here down 27 to 7. pittsburgh is going to allow them a lot of yards underneath their coverage not let anybody get beat up on the scoreboard here at three rivers it still says 23-19 new england in the fourth over buffalo the catch is made by feature as woodruff almost had the interception woodruff and donnie shell have each intercepted five this year which is tops in the afc this turns into a 17-yard gain and a first and goal from the pittsburgh nine let's go to new york all right bob costas tell them to change that scoreboard at three or stadium the patriots have just scored again grogan two yards to hasselbeck the patriots are on their way to the playoffs right now 30 to 19 over buffalo back to you bob now wouldn't that be something with all of the bad words back and forth between coach and player in new england they make it to the playoffs mcdonald's rolling hitting logan touchdown cleveland well we're going to have some excitement here there for sure i would certainly expect an onside kick by cleveland to try to get the ball back as best they possibly can now 27-13 this is just a little pick play logan makes a good move here 47 right which is not easy to do [Music] mcdonald is thrown for two scores today the first one went to feature still got 1002 to play right now the cleveland brown kickoff team is meeting on the sideline i'm sure they'll have an onside kick matt barr returning to three rivers stadium the scene of many triumphs and some heartache when he was with the steelers as the extra point [Music] we anticipate an onside kick is that your guess trump i think we should yes we'll come back and see what happens in just a moment now the brown switch kickers normally it's steve cox to kick off because he gets the greater distance but now they're making no secret about their onside kick intentions matt barr will handle the duties this time pittsburgh is not surprised there's a lot of meeting going on out there a couple of weeks ago matt's brother chris of the raiders recovered his own onside kick against the rams remember that looks like it's going to the right side far side of the field there it is ball is loose i think pittsburgh recovered they do let's see if we can pick up the number [Applause] there was a fleeting second trump when they didn't have control of it you're right it looks like we had a chance looks like lynn swann 88 with the recovery i think you're right yeah there he is this this ball got by lin swan and then he manages to come back and get it excellent job by mr swan hanford dixon was the guy who was trying to steal it from him anything's legal in those situations just about anything as legal well bard did a good job of placing it and making it a tricky hop to handle can't ask for more than that it's always part luck and part skill on an onside kick here's abercrombie walter abercrombie is in the browns territory at the 42 and a gain of 14. well now unfortunately cleveland's got to go all out blitzes they got to try to anticipate the snap be there as the ball of snap to create a turnover somehow philadelphia comes roaring back 24-23 in the fourth at philadelphia it was 23-10 just a short time ago in favor of the giants kansas city 37-13 in the fourth at home over the jets [Applause] [Music] russell davis they're ready for him cousin on ambrose in the fourth this will make two victories for the redskins this year over the cardinals and washington will finish with the nfc's best record at 8-1 cardinals will go to the playoffs anyway at five and four cincinnati and houston looks like a wild one 35-27 how much time is left just over a minute so the bengals [Applause] notice clay matthews in the ball game for the cleveland browns see you out with the he has the he has a plate in his ankle broke his ankle in the early stages of the season first game to be exact against seattle and this is his first action since then jack hamm certainly a hall of famer when his career is over cincinnati houston is a final now bengals 35 euler's 27th bengals look like they have home field in the playoffs as we told you first time the bengals have won in the astrodome in five years well now it's fourth and short coming up for the steelers clock is running exactly eight minutes left looks like they're going for it they bring in kenny hawkhorn and frank polish [Applause] a field goal try will be about a 50-yarder better hurry there's 10 seconds left on the 30-second clock a punt would be tricky to get out of bounds at this distance so they go for it and don't get it what a play by chip banks the pro bowler who cut through and upended russell davis cleveland ball tell you what i admire the cleveland browns down to 14 they are not about to give up there you see the play it looked like the same play they ran earlier where hawthorne was the trapper on motion up through the middle of the formation so far as i know franco harris is not hurt with a seemingly comfortable lead or one they thought to be comfortable a few moments ago and with franco having already recorded more than 100 yards and a touchdown i think they're just resting it agreed i just didn't see him on that possession the grounds have a definite chance if they can score quickly feature all alone he's got it feature is inside the 20 of the steelers did you see the pattern a stop and go 45 yards on the pass and catch and feature went down the field at about 15 yards stopped dead and then took off by dwayne woodruff that is the deadly sin of a defensive back in this situation leading 27 to 14 with seven minutes left don't let him get behind you great play by mcdonald he got behind woodruff who had the primary coverage and before ron johnson could arrive from his free safety spot to help out they have the big game they score here all kinds of time remains 6 47 on the clock as they snap it jump ball and pick off mel blunt with superior strength able to keep the ball up in the air it slips out of feature and melt blood's hands into the hands of ron johnson that's another drive they've stopped that was a heck of a play by mel blunt both he and feature had their hands on the ball watch closely the ball remains up in the air both with their hands firmly on the ball look at that without pass interference he keeps the ball in the air and there is johnson the right man at the right place at the right time cleveland's going to feel like every time they come to the rivers stadium whatever you can drop on the chalkboard to go wrong will in fact go wrong they were on the verge of making this game very very interesting 6 37 remaining abercrombie for nothing he's still on his feet look at this oh grumpy still alive [Applause] no flags it all counts samurai tigliano may feel that on another occasion the whistle would have blown it was close they could have blown the play dead they gave abercrombie the second effort he spun away and instead of no gain it's a 34-yard run not a bad job by abercrombie you see chip banks great contact there but he's able to keep his feet what an acrobat and then it's a foot race watch the acceleration here around that corner by clarence scott 34 yards replay shows trump the officials clearly were right and not blowing the play bet abercrombie was still squirming around bradshaw pumps it long lynn swann has it intercepted by clarence scott scott has it for the browns wait swan came out of that little exchange as if he had the ball there for a split second he was running toward the goal line and i think bradshaw thought for a moment that swann had it did you see the smile on terry's face great play by clarence scott obviously pittsburgh wasn't happy with the 27-14 score watch this interception by clarence scott started out his career as a corner moved to strong safety now free safety great catch that's this evening that's the eighth pass that scott has intercepted against the steelers in his career looked like the steelers were offside a diving attempt at an interception newsome went the wrong way or mcdonald somehow missed communication with news some nuisance broke to the outside the ball was doing inside it was johnson who had the interception just a moment ago trying to make it two johnson appears to be shaken up correct that touchdown total for bradshaw he's thrown for two scores today that's two straight weeks 58 defense the steelers five and the down over first and five from the 37. mcdonald 19 of 41 for 292 yards on the day pittsburgh asks for time and let me ask you this trump abercrombie had just busted one off for 34 trying to kill some time and bradshaw goes up top there might be some criticism of that choice well i'm not sure anybody knows what in fact is going to happen in this super bowl tournament maybe point differential may determine home field advantage and pittsburgh at 83 and 18 and certainly heading towards 84 and 18 and three river stadium they want that home field advantage i think they're eight and one here in three river stadium in post-season play tonight on nbc trump now listen to this the time travelers duel with spartacus in ancient rome on the voyagers then on chips will a robot make punch obsolete don't say it and o.j simpson stars as a private investigator out to busted drug smuggling operation in cocaine and blue eyes all tonight on nbc good for o.j did you ever have any movie offers trump after your career ended no not even any home movie offers [Applause] the browns are on the critical list but they are not dead here 607 left [Applause] mcdonald interference baby yeah there it is dan fulton was kind of taunting ron johnson who had the flag thrown on him and as fulton headed back the other way blunt gave him a belt and now the hostilities boil over elsewhere and san francigliano comes out on the field he'll break it up i don't want to see this game deteriorate watch closely the entire thing see him trying to keep order there's interference there is no doubt about that watch when he gets up yes now watch watch what happens now watch blunt kawapa i'll tell you what that's something out of character for melbourne he is one of the fine gentlemen there is in this game and not just in the nfl it'll be interesting to see what the officials do here that is a flagrant foul by melbourne well blunt says i've been around this league for 13 years and fulton is a relative youngster i don't appreciate you taunting my teammate but in this season when the commissioner is defensive past interference number 29 that's all they're going to now call a minute there was another flag on the field there was a second flag on the field bob what are they going to do about the second flag pick it up and put it in their pocket i guess they shouldn't that's interference it's by a very small amount but that is interference now i wonder if we'll be able to see the second flag thrown because this is extracurricular activity i am very surprised you see a flag come in there let's see if they'll add to that that's what deacon is saying there was a second flag thrown where was the second flag i think san bernardino was saying that for the shot on colton by blunt there should be another 15 yards added to it there's no tack on it's just what they got on the pass interference which gives them a first down at the pittsburgh 23 exactly six minutes left [Applause] newsom only three yards but out of bounds with 5 56 on the clock not the only way that you can silence the crowd here in three river stadium make a completion 37-13 the final excuse me jack redney's last game for the kansas city chiefs won't keep the jets out of the playoffs but it'll give them something to think about between now and next weekend and walt michaels something to yell at him about [Applause] newsome again and out of bounds again [Applause] they needed seven for the first down and they have very nearly that that's newsom's eighth catch of the day and the cleveland browns is trying to get a little bit at a time these fans in pittsburgh are aware of all the possibilities apparently because they cheered rather heartily when the jet defeat was announced [Applause] i know that that coupled with a san diego loss against the raiders a pittsburgh victory here over the browns would give the steelers a home field edge in the playoffs first time they put the ball on the ground in a long time johnny davis it was third and less than a yard davis first carry of the day it's a final so cleveland is in the playoffs no matter what happens here 30 to 19. buffalo is out new england is in well that's good nobody wanted that to happen to come down to a tie ball game mcdonald now 20 of 42 on the day for 302 yards i wonder if cleveland is aware of that i don't see any cleveland browns looking at the scoreboard which is admirable on their part johnny davis formerly with tampa bay and more recently with san francisco did not get them the first down got to go for it you got to go for it although you're now in the playoffs do you change your attitude there's mr art model i'm sure he's he's looking at the uh whenever he gets a chance look at him cheering the team on rest assured he knows about that patriot victory over the bills [Applause] less than a yard is what they need less than a yard is what they get the question is looks like you got it where they spotted because a gain of a foot would have given them the first down the far official is motioning and art model i believe is pointing exactly where the ball should be i think that gentleman right there is telling him of the score 30 to 19 i think he now knows they're in the playoffs and they have the first down now if by some miracle the browns should win this game and both these teams wind up five and four the grounds go ahead of the steelers with regard to the playoff bearings by virtue of having beaten them head to head twice into the end zone for logan incomplete oh this turned out to be a heck of a game what would that what would this game be like without that block punt it would now be 20 to 14. without the drop touchdown pass by fulton or the interception by johnson which snuffed out a drive just a short time a lot of things have happened on this day in tree river stadium most of them against the cleveland browns but pittsburgh has played well they have played outstanding football and at each time that cleveland's gotten down this close they've always come up with a big defensive play touchdown ricky feature his second touchdown reception we've still got four minutes and 52 seconds to play and the browns are within a touchdown and now that mix missed extra points certainly lose is a big play total zone three guys on the pass rush and how mcdonald got that through all those hands beyond me ron johnson on the inside it appeared to be lambert on the outside great pass mcdonald pulls matt barr kicks they're within six my goodness on side kick again will they try it on the same side let's look and see who lines up in the second line on the near side of the field this time swan got it last time they may try somebody else trump i don't think they should try an outside kick with nearly five minutes remaining and they have their timeouts left i'd kick it deep matt barr is coming on the field i'm not so sure i agree with you next weekend trump the first round of the super bowl tournament here on nbc the beginning of the long road the strange road this year to pasadena we'll bring you all the action next saturday and sunday as eight afc teams battle in the first round of the playoffs check your listing for the game and time in your area all here on nbc sports the home of the super bowl all right on the far side in the second line for the pittsburgh steelers is lynn swann on the near side is jim smith number 86 that's swan on the far side on the other side is jim smith two of the most of the best right there there's there's smith the giants came back to win at philadelphia on a joe donello field goal a 25-yarder with six seconds left they pull it out 26-24 they have some kind of faint playoff hope yet the giants do very unlikely [Applause] they kick it deep i think they did the right thing abercrombie can't field it and he does the right thing and letting it go oh we have a chance here trump we want to congratulate bruce berquist a technical director celebrating his 33rd year with nbc is that right 33 years oh his 33rd wedding anniversary they're telling me now oh mrs berglis is going to be all over here which is harder to be married for 33 years to the same woman or employed for 33 years by the same company depends on the man i would suppose all right now cleveland's got to take got to take big chances try to get the ball back with some decent amount of time left on the clock frank goes back in after sitting out there last possession he gets only two yards and i'll tell you what the offensive line of the pittsburgh steelers without larry brown touch hilkin at left tackle have done an outstanding job all day long when they need yards they always seem to get yards i would tend to think that abercrombie and harris are going to get the ball an awful lot in the next three or four minutes [Applause] cleveland expecting that they've got four defensive linemen now i [Applause] we're noticed to 405 to pledge [Applause] leap right flag goes down and so does franco for a loss i believe they're going to have abercrombie going towards the line of scrimmage in motion that might be a motion penalty well if you're the browns you likely decline the penalty because you stop them for a loss of four and they also lose the down illegal procedure by the pittsburgh steelers now both these teams are in the playoffs and yet they're playing like this is the super bowl i admire both teams for that not about to give up this game is not totally meaningless at this point if cleveland wins it and i realize it's complicated illegal motion refused a penalty third down thank you ben they would certainly have a better playoff seating because they would get the tiebreaker over the steelers if the steelers could win it and finish it six and three they'd have a crack depending upon the outcome of the raiders chargers game later at home field advantage so there's something at stake here in the last 356. third down 11. up and run by the cornerbacks on the receivers of the steelers big play lin swan all kinds of running room lin suan trying to outrace clarence scott a flag goes down and swan is to the 22-yard line of the browns [Applause] i think scott might have grabbed him by the face mask as he was shoving him out of bounds 57 yards on the catch by swan and you're right it is face mask and it was a real pushing and shoving match at the line of scrimmage swan wins but i'll tell you what that's great coverage that is great coverage it's perfectly thrown by terry bradshaw face mask number 22 five yards that's a first down lynn swann who is still without a touchdown reception this year has caught five passes today for 104 yards he's getting caught at the right time at the top of his game or certainly close to it as we approach the playoffs franco appeared to move out of his stance there flag goes down as abercrombie is dumped for a loss two guys in motion at the same time harris tried to stop [Applause] the penalty stops the clock with 340 left from where the steelers are now keep in mind that rookie gary anderson has been a virtual lock from this distance on field goals so they don't need the touchdown if they get the three they've just about locked it offense illegal shift two men moving at the same time it's second down and you mentioned gary anderson he is a heck of an offensive weapon the thing that mar that i marvel about with gary anderson he is constantly warming up warming up through four quarters on the sideline he never seems to sit down [Applause] franco on second and 15. they're not going to chance it right here they're going to keep it on the ground i would think and allow mr anderson to kick once again he's missed just one and that was the 56-yard attempt there he is he is always warming up he's watching that little piece of paper to see where the wind is blowing he does that the entire game i would think that when the game is done he is as as exhausted as franco harris is after carrying the ball 25 times even if they gain nothing on this play it'll be just a 34-yard field goal for anderson [Applause] 255 remaining they're gonna throw it trump lots of time dangerous incomplete oh goodness i bet you chuck no took a deep breath on that one there were two browns as well as two steelers in the vicinity and just about everybody had a crack at it still got a smile on his face though [Applause] kneeling at the 25 yard line so let's call it a 35-yard attempt by anderson who's 9-11 for the year [Applause] right through there the rookie from syracuse makes it 30 to 21 239 remaining and it looks like tunch ilkin is hurt for the steelers bob costas and bob trumpy at three rivers stadium in pittsburgh where the steelers held a 27-7 lead until paul mcdonald rallied the browns with a couple of touchdown throws to make it 27-21 then on a crucial third down on this last drive terry bradshaw threw a pass to lynn swann which wound up good for 57 yards and it led to a field goal by rookie gary anderson and on that field goal play trench ilkin was heard and that is ilkin down and being 10 to 2 on the field here's the bradshaw swan pass trump you see bradshaw almost tripping fall down going back this is great coverage by i believe hanford dixon on that particular play but it's just perfectly thrown by bradshaw leading lin swan just as you want to draw it up and teach anybody and swan just legs it down over 100 yards and receptions and a face mask penalty there by clarence scott added a few more yards to it and it resulted in the three points and some breathing room now for the pittsburgh steelers now we have two minutes and 39 seconds remaining samratigliano had bright hopes for a comeback which appeared to be in the making if they could have stopped the steelers on that play which resulted in the long pass from bradshaw to swan browns would have gotten the ball back with plenty of time remaining here's dino hall jitterbugging around and down at the 23. for those of you just joining us by virtue of new england's victory today over buffalo the browns are in the playoffs even if they lose the steelers were assured of a playoff spot coming in [Applause] it's possible that they could gain home field advantage depending upon what happens in other games elsewhere mcdonald goes up top and it's intercepted ron johnson with his second interception of the day first things first though cleveland isn't back in the playoffs new england beating buffalo and i don't imagine that cleveland is really that particular about who they play they are in fact in the playoffs by virtue of the fact that the women beat buffalo what was that final score 30 to 19 i believe that's correct and both teams here today have played like there is a lot more at stake on the line but it will be if the score remains the same 13 years since the browns have won in pittsburgh they have never won in three years what's it going to be terry [Applause] it's going to be abercrombie short yardage on first down might have been a bit overzealous i don't know what happened to bradshaw he may have thought that the 30-second clock had expired but it has not two minutes left we've reached the two-minute warning and as always that brings us to another one of our fantastic finishes features take it away guys alcoa presents fantastic finishes 1975 from phillips versus don schulich needing more than a field goal dan pastorini hands off to ronnie coleman he cuts back inside one tackler breaks outside then rumbles over a second tackler sidesteps a third breaks the grip of a fourth and powers his way through tacklers five six and seven houston wins 20 to 19. bob costas and bob trump be back in pittsburgh for the final two minutes and i think the browns can possibly look upon this as some kind of momentum even though they're going to lose the ball game at least it appears that way because they rallied in this fourth quarter and they can feel good about that going into the playoffs had they lost it in the fashion that it appeared they would lose trailing 27-7 and they're going into the playoffs on a downer they can take some measure of satisfaction from this frank o'hara taking a lot of satisfaction from another 100-yard plus game and his total is now at 122. what an offensive weapon cleveland will be the only team in the history of the nfl to qualify for the playoffs for the losing record though we know that for sure four and five could happen over in the nfc this year as well so they'll have company in that regard how about they'll be the first team to qualify for the playoffs buy that okay our spotters up in the booth today have been jim mckinley and tim fogerty george jordan helped us with statistics also lending a hand in the booth jack lewis [Music] how many times have you seen in the last 11 years franco harris at the end of a ballgame for the pittsburgh steelers just eating up time and yards to ensure the victory for the steelers he's made a habit of it hadn't he certainly has and one of the great playoff players in history we'd also like to thank warren pick for his assistance on the telecast today [Music] well we know that cleveland will travel somewhere to play someone next week and that's better than being home third down two now for the steelers from the cleveland 40-yard line they don't give up here bradshaw's going to throw again here's franco franco harris inside the 25. steelers don't abandon the passing game until the final gun tom and now is the time when tempers seem to flare i do believe that look at that final washington finishes at eight and one so the momentum and the good feeling that joe gibbs team developed at the end of the 1981 season carried over this year they win eight out of nine cardinals are in the playoffs though big red finished five and four gotta hand it to joe gibbs and the washington redskins they have done a fantastic job when he first came there they couldn't buy a game and now they've got one of the best offenses there is [Music] great special teams too with mike nelms returning punts and kickoffs mark mosley kicking the ball well-rounded football team among our viewers in the pittsburgh area today the son of one of our nbc people jerry valdivia his son eddie who has not been feeling well is at home watching the game in pittsburgh we wish eddie a speedy recovery whoa it looks like tampa bay and chicago are going to overtime tied at 23. bill capis kicked a 40-yard field goal with 30 seconds left in the game in regulation to tie it at 23 and craig morton's career ends today [Applause] where's [Applause] abercrombie emily marker [Music] a down 29 remaining [Applause] steelers will be six and three the browns will be four and five and the people in new york lenny berman company on nfl 82 [Applause] we'll tell you all about who's in the playoffs this gentleman has no idea where he is [Music] the exact moment i said that the camera switched to ben dreif i didn't mean to imply that the official had no idea where he was but rather the fan who was now being led away by the gendarmes the coordinating producer of football on nbc is ted nathanson the telecast of today's game was produced by david stern and ted nathanson was here in pittsburgh to direct it our technical director bruce berquist associate director brian orantrack happy new year fellows and thanks for your help today and happy 33rd anniversary to bruce as well that's wedding animation yes anniversary that's why i included his wife [Applause] abercrombie carries again cleveland last time out first down the cleveland timeout stops the clock with 122 remaining it was seven nothing steelers after one 13-7 pittsburgh at the half it grew to 27-7 in the fourth quarter before the browns rallied to make it 27-21 then a gary anderson field goal gave the steelers their present margin of nine at 30 21 again a reminder the first round of the super bowl tournament here on nbc next saturday and sunday check your local listings for the game and time in your area the country will be split parts will see one game parts will see another and of course we will switch back and forth during all of our coverage to try and give you as much a flavor of everything that is going on as we possibly can unofficially we had had franco with 122 yards earlier and willing to carry the ball more i got to give a bet on the back for both these football teams pittsburgh was in the playoffs had nothing really to gain by this victory except momentum for the playoffs cleveland was down and almost out several times and made a game of it another crumby getting a fourth quarter workout boy does this kid fight what are the chances that on two successive years the pittsburgh steelers have first-round draft choices both from baylor am i correct hawthorne separated by a year in 79 and then abercrombie yeah malone was the one that was in between but what are the chances of that two first-round draft choices from baylor both running backs although they use hawthorne as a wide receiver it's pretty odd abercrombie gets them a first and goal at the one abercrombie nine carries for 72 yards that is the biggest total of his rookie season [Applause] they ask him to score and he does the high jump by abercrombie into the end zone [Music] 36-21 the extra point coming up oh another bad snap but stout gets it down and anderson kicks it through great job by stout well as we said at the opening of the ball game when the steelers play at three river stadium they have averaged this season 33 points a game on the road less than 13. and you and i may be the only people left here to watch this kickoff they are heading for the streets of pittsburgh how many people pay attention to the holder but watch the job that cliff stout does snap way wide he manages to get it on its point and anderson with that strong leg gets it through i am truly amazed in watching the work that gary anderson has done this year and in considering his record 18 of 19 in his senior season at syracuse that he lasted until the seventh round of the draft and then was cut by buffalo how about rich carlos of the denver broncos was a total walk-on for the broncos one of 478 guys to just show up at a at a workout camp and displaced fred steinfeld who was an off-road kicker in 1980. [Applause] kicker seemed to move in and about through the nfl almost at will or here one year somewhere else [Applause] trying to get outside dino with a little excitement but they're running down at the 36. our producer david stern just asks us over the headset what are the possibilities of these teams meeting again at some point in the playoffs david you go figure that out you call us back in about three days when you're done figuring you splayed it 18 seconds left hello another interception here's jack lambert little fun he watched the cal stanford game pitches it back to donnie shell rugby in three rivers stadium five seconds left the desperation pass looked like a center fielder there catching the third out did he not so the steeler offense comes back for one last play mcdonald was valiant i still wonder what that block wants the effect it had on the cleveland browns because at that point they were still playing very very well that's it bradshaw kneels to run it out the steelers have now beaten the browns 13 straight times in pittsburgh and 10 times overall in their last 12 meetings browns finished four and five steelers six and three back after this trump an interesting ball game had a little bit of everything in it neither team was ready to quit both are in the playoffs by virtue of the victory new england over buffalo 30-19 a valiant effort on both teams part terry bradshaw is down on the field right now trump take it away all right terry second week in a row we talked to you after a great performance today 14 of 24 267 yards two touchdowns uh forget that slump son you're outstanding well i don't know about outstanding we play we're playing good football bob and you can see we're running the ball now and we're not throwing this much but we're taking taking advantage of what they're giving us and uh i'll tell you it's uh this is the steelers of old and we're playing well they are taking you are a very physical team there's no doubt about that hang on terry we'll come back here as time permits it's a pittsburgh but right now let's go to the nfl report well it has been a foregone conclusion and you knew the steelers were in the playoffs even before today's 37-21 victory but as things are developing today there is now the possibility i say possibility and there are so many possibilities about these playoffs that the steelers will be starting the playoffs here at home that remains to be seen what we will do here on the fifth quarter in the next few minutes is take a look at today's game and get some live interviews from down at the steeler locker room final score pittsburgh 37 cleveland 21 it was close at halftime 13-7 steelers pulled out and then the brown staged a bit of a comeback but steelers come back to win it on the field goal and the abercrombie insurance touchdown so let's take a look at the first half highlights and see how things developed and how the steelers got that six point lead at halftime in the first quarter cleveland starts out or rather gets to the pittsburgh 45 mike pruitt fumbles it away woodruff made the hit recovered by edmond nelson so on the same possession now steelers driving bradshaw to john stallworth five yards rather down to the five he moved into 12th place on the all-time list with that one then with this touchdown pass ray penny the catch on the tackle eligible play that makes it seven nothing steelers up on top now cleveland on their own 48 paul mcdonald deep on the third night woodruff makes the interception had a heck of a game today fifth interception of the year ties him with donnie shell now bradshaw intercepted by chip banks turn about fair plays the browns get it back and paul mcdonald makes something of it scrambling out of the pocket to his left the lefty from southern cal pass to ozzie newsome he turns it into a 56-yard play pursuit by woodruff there washington couldn't catch him from behind mcdonald td pass here rolling out again to ricky feature and it is a seven to seven ball game now one of the big plays of the game the big play in the first half right there johnny rogers the rookie blocks the punt he does everything not only blocks it takes it on in for the six that makes it 13-7 missed the extra point that's what it was at halftime 13-7 might have been a different story but this what looked like a short touchdown pass off the hands of dan fulton the browns blew that opportunity and it affected them it seemed to affect them in the third quarter of play after the halftime i think paul mcdonald's face says it all i laid it in there what more can i do that man dan fulton had dropped it so halftime we had a 13-7 pittsburgh lead we'll come back and take a look at the second half go down to the stadium for live interviews right after this again 13-7 stealers at halftime they win at 37-21 excuse the voice please i left some of my wealth and some of my health in the in new orleans at the sugar bowl last night time permits we'll get to the second half highlights right now down to d thompson i think you have a guy there that caught a 38-yard touchdown pass jimmy smith that's right uh randy you talk about a change in two weeks smitty first of all uh two weeks ago you guys had your back against the wall all of a sudden you're back and have a outside chance of even being at home how does that feel uh it's tremendous to be in this position after two weeks ago the way things looked pretty pretty glum and uh and gruesome for us but uh we uh you know these guys are giving me a lot of flag right now during socks but anyway yeah we're happy you know we played uh cincinnati uh didn't play very well we don't care if we play them in the playoffs or whatever we play but we think we're playing good football right now the big play that you had early in the second half you come back and brad throws one to you over the middle here it is right here well we had a little uh this is a post pattern and uh brad saw i had single coverage on me and put it out there he could have made an easier catch for me but he didn't obviously because you guys have reinstituted the running game it's made it much easier for the passing game right well we're more of a balanced team right now and people don't know when we're going to pass we'll pass on first and second down now so it's always on third down so yeah it's making them play a little more more defense what about psychologically you know it's been 13 years you guys have played cleveland they haven't won here three rivers i mean after a while it has to get a team down well i'm sure they come in here with a with a with a jinx thing in their mind they've said so publicly but you know we just we tend to play good solid football against cleveland when we play him here at home uh we didn't play two weeks ago we didn't play good solid football against him but uh i don't think it's a jinx thing we just at home we like to play we like to win you'd love to be at home now in the first round i'm sure oh we'd love to but it doesn't make any difference we're just ecstatic about point being in the playoffs and we want to play okay jim thanks like good luck go take care of the elbow there and of course you know the last couple of weeks the man on defense who said the defense has been strong all year long randy ron johnson today came up with two interceptions ron not only do you have two interceptions you keep being a man of controversy too i don't know i'm trying to figure out the reason that he made that call maybe it's because of what happened last week but i felt it was a clean hit and i'm sure he will too once he sees the film all right we have a play coming up here where it's your first interception a lot of strange things happened it looked like they were going to throw the ball mel kind of squeezes it out explain what happened here well i saw a male male had a great break on the ball and i saw the ball just squirt up in there and i just came by and picked it off do you guys ever plan anything like that is that part of ball reaction we all all the time playing those things i we hope every game that those things happen those chip balls i've been waiting all year for a couple of tip balls and it finally happened for me today i even saw circumstances today where i think all of you guys were trying for interceptions a little more than ever even woodruff and donnie were kind of going to break their time right we're uh we're going in the playoff competition now we really have to come up with those big plays we have to get the ball back for our offense and let them score some points our offense is rolling now they're hot and we have to get the ball back for him there was another play too with a little controversy involved and mel went over and said something to one of the defenders what was going on there well the ball was thrown down the middle of the field and i had a good break on the ball and the defender actually ran into me i felt once the ball is in the air the defensive back and the receiver both come receivers and the official i feel he made a bad call on it did mel say anything to me well mel was just trying to tell the guy to quit jumping around acting like uh it was such a big deal and he's putting that old pittsburgh still a spirit back on it obviously you guys if you play at home you have a little intimidation too right i really don't care what we play i hope we can have this game at home but it really doesn't matter okay good enough run thank you very much and of course uh terry bradshaw terry uh you're almost dressed here okay first of all let's talk about the difference in the offense in the past two weeks two weeks ago you guys had your backs against the wall all of a sudden everything has turned around the running game has come back together has that been the big difference to running i would say the uh the key to our changing and playing good football is the fact that our offensive line is dominating the defensive line you do that by running the football and when our when your offense struggles you go back to the simple things like running straights and stuff like that get them coming off the ball then you add a little bit here and there and that's what has happened our offensive line is controlling the defensive line we're trying to run the football and we're having success now when we try to throw the football things are opening up and and the balance of more running to passing now uh seems to be the ingredient that we need to continue our winning ways and uh kind of reminds me of the 70s not only that it seems like you're also short curls to to stahl and swanny that seems like a little bit well those weren't curls those were hooks and they were singling the outside guy and i was uh just calling the stuff at the line of scrimmage and trying to find single coverage and if i guessed right then i'd try to hit a hook and if i guessed wrong then i'd try to go down deep in the middle on a post and uh so we hit that also here's here here's one of them right here to lend over the blitz controller to lynn this is probably the key to our victory today this is just a great uh great catch i thought for a second we had pass interference on them because lynn stumbled when the ball got there and actually looked like it was going to be intercepted but he made a great job his concentration was just super there it is again oh well it looks a little easier there but this is a big play this awful big play and uh and a tough game the browns uh really are playing well and uh but we seem to match them well and score points today and defense uh need a little hand from us today and we were able we were able to contribute in that fashion so it was a fun victory as you said things are like the 70s again now it's the road to pasadena kind of a new season to some degree well let's see if oakland i don't know how this works somehow now that we get to play at home someone one of those guys loses and and boy i'd love that right now if not we go to oakland and play in in los angeles or that's we played los angeles later so it's either they are here and we're glad to be in the playoffs and to be six and three and having momentum uh our chances are good okay let's hope we can stay in california for a month ready to go all right all right thank you very much all right randy we'll see what happens when we come back okay we're not going to show him any more slow motion replays he says the receivers have it easy after he sees those we won't do that anymore we will be back with some more live interviews right after this [Music] back to the fifth quarter let me update you on one thing before we go back down to the stadium live with dee thompson i think he has walter abercrombie down there as we said unless you got a home computer for christmas you may have trouble figuring out the playoff situation terry bradshaw is having problems with it looks like if the raiders win the steelers will be at home right now raiders in san diego are tied 3-3 rather low scoring game for two explosive teams like that it's in the second quarter that game is being played in san diego now let's go back down to three river stadium to the steeler locker room live to d thompson d thank you randy we talked about how the running game has changed so much in the last two games in one of the new additions obviously walder abercrombie walter you came in here today uh the last time i saw you had 10 carries for 86 yards i think you got a little over 90. you got a touchdown and things are really coming together for you things are really looking good you know i i didn't go until the i think the fourth quarter but uh fortunately for me coach noel had enough confidence to put me in and now we did manage to hold on to the ball and score the last touchdown you had one gainer there where it looked like they had your trap can you kind of explain what was going through in your mind how'd you get away well what happened was the play was designed to go to the opposite side and i went there and the linebackers hit me i got i got a few good licks and uh they didn't hold on to it to their tackle so uh i put my hand down to support to support my body i'm pulling my leg free and the next thing i know there was nobody outside so i hit it up outside lan swan who was out there running a pass pattern threw a great block on the defensive back and cleared me for another 10 yards obviously since they've reinstituted the running game there's been some great blocking by the offensive line great blocking you know the only thing i can say is being a running back is you you cannot have a a successful day running the ball unless you have a great day out of the offensive line and the guys did a great job down near the goal line in the last few seconds of the ball game steve courson who was leading up inside cleared me three or four times on the on the trap inside so the guys had a great day of blocking i think that's the key you

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Id: 0zqxRGzTkbE

Length: 206min 18sec (12378 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 17 2020