Chargers snag berth from cocky Steelers

Milwaukee Journal, The, Jan 16, 1995 by DARRYL O. LEDBETTER

The Journal staff

Pittsburgh, Pa. It was not supposed to be like this.

The Pittsburgh Steelers were finally going to get a shot to put a ring on that bare thumb.

The San Diego Chargers were not even going to score.

The Steelers were going to make a rap video that was going to rise up the Billboard music charts as they hipped and hopped their way to Super Bowl XXIX Jan. 29 in Miami.

But the stubborn Chargers, with strong-armed quarterback Stan Humphries and fiery linebacker Junior Seau, would not cooperate. San Diego, one of the largest underdogs in American Football Conference Championship Game history, came back from a 10-point deficit to send the Steel City into a deep, deep depression.

Chargers 17, Steelers 13.

Now all those black and gold "Terrible Towels" can be used for something . . . wiping away the tears.

Perhaps as a consolation prize, the Chargers earned the right to be the latest AFC whipping boy for the NFC. San Francisco is favored by 19 in the Super Bowl.

"No one believes we are ever going to win," Chargers cornerback Darrien Gordon said. "We'll probably be underdogs by the biggest spread in Super Bowl history, but who cares?"

Practically no one believed the Chargers were going to win this one.

Definitely not the fans here, who for 15 years have been craving a fifth Super Bowl title from their beloved team.

Definitely not Pittsburgh's Ray Seals, who predicted a shutout victory.

And most definitely not the Steelers, who had a pre-production meeting last Wednesday for the rap video.

"I think that fired up the offense when they said they wouldn't score," said San Diego linebacker Dennis Gibson, whose game-saving deflection in the end zone put the franchise in its first Super Bowl. "The Super Bowl video thing is another thing. Games are never won or lost off the field, they are won or lost on the field."

Understandably, the Steelers were not taking this shocking defeat well.

"The whole game went the way we wanted it to go and we just gave them two big plays," Pittsburgh cornerback Rod Woodson moaned. "That's all. They didn't do anything else. I don't care what anybody says. I don't care what they say. Two big plays in the passing game and that won the game for them."

With the AFC title secured, it was time for the Chargers to do some talking.

"I think they tried to rely too much on the Steel Curtain mystique, the days of old," Gordon said. "When it came down to crunch time they didn't really want it. You could see it in their eyes out on the field."

The Chargers ganged up on the Steelers' rushing attack and basically said, "Neil O'Donnell, beat us."

The fifth-year quarterback from the University of Maryland could not pull it off.

"He's not Dan Marino," Gordon said. "Their wide receivers are just average."

O'Donnell broke several AFC passing records, but his 51st pass, intended for Barry Foster on a fourth-and-goal play from the 3 with 1 minute 4 seconds left, was swatted down by Gibson.

"They still had to throw the ball," Gordon said. "We knew we had a great chance. It was just a matter of trying to make sure they didn't get the ball to {tight end} Eric Green."

Foster was held to 47 yards in 20 carries and Bam Morris had only two carries.

"They started throwing the ball in the third quarter," Gordon said. "We were like, `These guys are scared.' The best running team in the league starts throwing the ball with a 13-10 lead at home. The defense is playing pretty good and the fans are going crazy and they start throwing the ball."

Seau recorded 16 tackles and was a force.

"The best thing that probably happened to us was that we got here on Friday and we got to hear about how good their defense was, and we were never mentioned," Seau said.

Seau's play was inspirational to his teammates on defense.

"I've never seen him play this strong," Chargers safety Stanley Richard said. "I've seen him make more big plays. Tackles, blitzes, but he was all over the field. It felt good being out there with him today. He had in his mind that there was no reason that we were going to lose this football game. You could see the intensity and fire that he had in his mind and in his body. I was amazed."

The Steelers averaged 136.6 rushing yards per game during the regular season. They ran for 238 yards last week against Cleveland in a divisional playoff game.

"We knew we had no chance to win the game if they ran the ball on us," Gibson said. "So we tried to take the run away and forced them to beat us throwing the ball."

Humphries threw the go- ahead touchdown to Tony Martin, who just ran past cornerback Tim McKyer up the right sideline, with 5:13 to play. The Chargers' strong finish was similar to the one they had last week, when they came back from a slow start to defeat Miami, 22-21.

"We're not a quick-hitting team," San Diego's Natrone Means said. "We are going to wear you down. Grind, grind, grind. It takes time to wear people out. That's our philosophy. Four yards, three yards, two yards and then the big play."