What is the Steelers greatest mistake of all time?

And Mendy's fumble. They got 21 points off turnovers.

I've been on record as only putting 20% of that fumble on Mendy himself. If that, really. It was mostly David Johnson, followed by bad luck. But there's no denying that the play killed us. Ben's pick 6 was more Kemo's fault than his. His second pick, however, was his fault.

Without any one of those turnovers (pick one), we likely win the game.

 

I accidentally clicked like and SB XXX and the unspoken name came rushing back from long blocked memories and now I can't even watch ESPN again.

 

Although I feel the Steelers have been a pretty model franchise in the over forty years I have been watching them, possibly not drafting Joe Montana(hindsight is 50/50) I was also disappointed with the handling of the Rod Woodson situation.He should have always been a STEELER. Heck the Emperor said he was in love with him,when they drafted him. Something went terribly wrong there.

 

Ben has basically underperformed in two out of three Super Bowls. He hasn't been Big Ben, he's been that guy from Bonanza, little ben. I know it has to stick in Ben's crawl that he really hasn't played his best in two of the three Super Bowls he's been involved in. The Cards Super Bowl he played lights out, no complaints. But against the Seahawks he didn't show up and the two INTs against the Pack killed us and he couldn't get it done at the end of the game. Sure he got us to those Super Bowls but couldn't seal the deal once he got us there. I know Ben's a competitor and I'm sure he lays awake at night dreaming of the day he'll get back to the Big Game to redeem himself. I hope that's this season!

 

Fire Bruce Arians immediately- now that was a blast from the past

 

O'Donnell sure takes a lot of abuse over SB XXX, but if not for the monster season he had in 95, they never would have gotten to the Super Bowl. And don't forget the sideline pass to Ernie Mills, late in that AFCCG, that was perfect (BTW: under today's rules, that pass would have been ruled incomplete).

I have said on this board many times: if O'Donnell stays in Pittsburgh, the Steelers have a really, really good shot at winning SBs XXXI and XXXII. The passing game would have been complemented by Bettis. The offense would have been unstoppable, especially with Kordell being able to stay in his Slash position. OH THE POSSIBILITIES.

 

letting kent graham play for us. big mistake.

 

I give Ben a pass on SB XL. How old was he? Still the youngest SB-winning QB. The kid was a bundle of nerves all game long and admitted as much. Who can blame him?

 

he was a bundle of nerves the year before at home in the afccg. I pressed my bet with my bookie 15 minutes before the game and then I saw Big Bens look on his face in the team huddle right before the kickoff
and
I thought
@#$%^Y&*( didn't want that thought to cross my mind butt it happened)

the next year it worked out for me

but the major payday was 2008 season

 

He absolutely was! I remember seeing him in the pre-season throwing offensive linemen around like they were rag dolls. He had Reggie White strength and couldn't be handled by one blocker. Had the tragic car accident caused by his idiotic decision to drink and drive not occurred, we may not be talking about what a huge mistake it was to pass on Marino.

 

Your clarification is an important one: Indeed, it was more NO's decision to go to the Jets than it was the Steelers' to let him go.

But I disagree on your take on O'Donnell...The 95 Steelers' D was not exactly one of Cowher's best--missed Woodson all season. The 327 pts against is the 5th highest for a Steeler team since the NFL went to a 16-game schedule. And only the 2002 Steelers have given up more points since. (I know, I know...not all pts can be out on the D). Meanwhile, the O'Donnell-led offense scored 407 pts. Only the 1979 Steelers have scored more pts in a 16-game season. (Yes, you read that correctly.) He threw for nearly 3000 yds, in only 12 starts. Indeed, O'Donnell played a huge role in the Steelers getting where they did in '95.

 

Exactly. The Steelers made a very good offer and O'donnell took the money. He chose to leave a team that had been in the playoffs(3 consecutive years?) for more money from a 3-13 or 2-14 team.

 

not to mention marino didn't have a good sr. season at pitt.

 

huh?

 

sorry quoted wrong message. BF mentioned about it being less about maino's abilities.

 

He had also tried to go to Tampa Bay a couple of seasons before when he signed a RFA offer sheet. The Steelers matched and kept him. The loser spent half of his career in Pittsburgh looking for a way out and finally succeeded. After that, his career went nowhere. Can't stand that guy!

 

It would have been great watching his career. A tragedy.

Cajun-

 

in the history passing on marino , recently passing on avril and lee one year later . there were 3 obvious moves that somehow we didn't make

 

Not drafting Marino, most major mistake of all time.

 

I agree that if O'Donnell had stayed for the 1996 season, the Steelers would have been AFC champs again- at least.
Playing with Tomczak that whole season ranks up there with dubious moves, as a matter of fact.

I also agree with the observation about Gabe Rivera's talent. Just prior to his accident he had a monster game on MNF against the Benglas. His is one of the great Steelers tragedies, although to his credit he leads a full life today, and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame last year.

Taking Joe Montana- instead of Greg Hawthorne or Zack Valentine- in 1979, would, IMHO, have won us more Super Bowls than taking Marino.

 

Definitely not drafting Marino

 

One thing to note is that when you speculate like this, all sorts of things change. Marino, for example, might not have played for talent loaded teams in the 1990's- because the teams he played for the 1980s would have been better than they actually were, and the Steelers would have not drafted as low. For example, if Marino goes to the Steelers in 1983, then no way are they drafting 9th in 1987, and so if you give the Steelers Marino, you also take away Rod Woodson, etc. You can't just magically drop one of these guys on those teams without having a ton of other impacts.

to further speculate, I believe if Montana was on the Steelers, Bradshaw would have retired after the 1980 season, to concentrate on an acting career. (He almost did this in actuality). The Steelers might have made a much better #1 pick in 1980 than Mark Malone (like Joe Cribbs or Matt Millen, for example). Montana at the helm of the 1981 Steelers means he still plays with Swann, Franco, Lambert, Blount, Ham, Shell, Stallworth, etc, for a few years and I think the 5th ring comes a whole lot sooner (for one thing, he'd not have been on the Niners).

Anyway, all this makes for fascinating speculation if you play it all out. Could the 84 Steelers with Marino still have beaten the 84 Dolphins with David Woodley? Yes, they would have, but I'm not sure they'd have beaten Montana's 49ers in the Super Bowl. What would have been truly interesting if the Steelers had managed to get Marino, say around 1992 or so. Then I believe they might have won a Super Bowl, but even with Marino, beating the 49ers or Cowboys teams of that time would have been tough. No, IMHO, put Montana in black and gold and the Steelers win their 5th Super Bowl in the 1982 or 1983 seasons.

All this makes for fascinating speculation- put Johnny U. on the Steelers, and I think you probably win an NFL Championship (1963 for example)- but then would the dynasty of the 1970s have ever occurred? Would they have hired Chuck Noll as a coach, who made his bones as a Colts assistant working with Unitas? Would they have gone 1-13 in 1969 and drafted Terry Bradshaw?