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| Antonio Brown(84) stretches for the game-winning touchdown in the Steelers' win over the Ravens on Christmas Day in 2016. |
The word "immaculate" has been associated with the Pittsburgh Steelers ever since 1972 when the Steelers defeated the Oakland Raiders 13-7 in an AFC divisional playoff in which running back Franco Harris scored the game-winning touchdown in the final seconds on a play that would become known as the "Immaculate Reception".
Thirty-three years later, the Steelers upset the Indianapolis Colts 21-18 in a divisional playoff thanks to the "Immaculate Redemption" in which quarterback Ben Roethlisberger made a shoestring tackle of Colts cornerback Nick Harper as it looked like Harper was going to score a touchdown after recovering a fumble by Steelers running back Jerome Bettis in the final minutes.
And then there was the "Immaculate Interception" where linebacker James Harrison intercepted a Kurt Warner pass in the final play of the first half of Super Bowl XLIII as Harrison ran it back a 100-yard touchdown in Pittsburgh's 27-23 win over the Arizona Cardinals in 2009.
That brings us to Christmas Day 2016 when wide receiver Antonio Brown scored the game-winning touchdown against the Baltimore Ravens to give the Steelers the AFC North division title on a play that would soon be known as "The Immaculate Extension".
Pittsburgh came into the game with a 9-5 record needing one more win to clinch their 22nd division title in team history and secure a place in the NFL playoffs with a AFC North division title.
The fact the Steelers had a chance to wrap up the AFC North was remarkable as midway through the season Pittsburgh had a 4-5 record thanks to a four-game losing streak before the team turned things around with a five-game winning streak to secure their tenth straight winning season under head coach Mike Tomlin.
On the field, the Steelers were led the offensive trio of Roethlisberger, Brown, and running back Le'Veon Bell also known as the "Killer B's" as Roethlisberger had thrown for 3,540 yards and 25 touchdowns while Bell had run for 1,144 yards to go along with 72 catches for 601 yards despite the fourth-year running back missing the first three games of the season because of a violation of the NFL's substance abuse policy.
And then there was Brown, who needed four catches to reach the mark of 100 receptions in a season for the fourth consecutive year as "AB" came into the game having caught 96 passes for 1,188 yards and 11 touchdowns up to this point in the season.
Standing in Pittsburgh's way of the AFC North title were their bitter rivals, the Baltimore Ravens, who came into the game with a 8-6 record, needing a win to stay alive for postseason consideration as the team had also bounced back from a four-game losing streak earlier in the season.
Led by head coach John Harbaugh and quarterback Joe Flacco, the Ravens could actually take control of 1st place in the AFC North if they could beat the Steelers since Baltimore defeated Pittsburgh 21-14 back in week 9 of the season as the Ravens would hold the head-to-head tiebreaker if they could knock off the Steelers in Pittsburgh.
After the Ravens punted following their opening possession of the game, the Steelers got the ball at their 13-yard-line as Bell would carry the ball six times for 39 yards on a 10-play, 87-yard drive that ended with Roethlisberger firing a 20-yard touchdown pass to tight end Xaiver Grimble to give Pittsburgh a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
The Ravens would start their next drive with wide receiver Steve Smith turning a short pass from Flacco into a 44-yard gain that got an additional 15 yards added to the play after Steelers cornerback Artie Burns was called for a late hit to put Baltimore at the Pittsburgh 22-yard-line.
However, the Ravens would no travel further as they would settle for a 41-yard field goal by Justin Tucker to get Baltimore on the scoreboard as they cut the Steelers' lead to 7-3 with 5:50 to go in the first quarter.
The Steelers would get the ball back at their 25-yard-line as it looked like Pittsburgh would have a 1st down deep in Ravens territory after Roethlisberger completing a 68-yard pass to Brown only for the play be nullified as Brown was called for pass interference as the Steelers ended punting the ball back to the Ravens, who would take over at their 27-yard-line.
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| Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger would complete 24 of 33 passes for 279 yards and throw three touchdown passes. |
Baltimore would drive to the Pittsburgh 17-yard-line as the first quarter came to an end with the Ravens seemingly on verge to take the lead but a quarterback sack by Steelers linebacker Lawrence Timmons on the first play of the second quarter would force the Ravens to settle for a 45-yard field goal attempt for Tucker.
But Tucker would not get a chance to kick the ball as holder Sam Koch could not handle the high snap of Morgan Cox as Koch would fumble the football resulting in Pittsburgh taking over at their 30-yard-line still holding on to a 7-3 lead.
The two teams would exchange punts until there was 3:41 left in the second quarter when the Ravens took over at their 28-yard-line as Flacco would complete six of nine passes for 44 yards on a 12-play, 59-yard drive that ended with a 38-yard field goal to trim the Pittsburgh lead to 7-6 with 18 seconds to go in the first half.
Roethlisberger would take a knee to run out the clock on the first half as the Steelers were set to get the ball to start the second half only for Pittsburgh to turn it over on the first play from scrimmage as Roethlisberger would be picked off by Ravens linebacker Zach Orr, whose 14-yard return would give Baltimore the ball at the Steelers' 20-yard-line.
After two runs by Terrence West went for a combined two yards, Flacco would find Smith over the middle for a 18-yard touchdown that was followed by the two connecting on the ensuing two-point conversion to give the Ravens a 14-7 lead just 94 seconds into the second half.
A 39-yard pass from Roethlisberger to wide receiver Eli Rogers on the Steelers' ensuing possession would set up a 36-yard field goal by Chris Boswell that cut the Ravens' lead to 14-10 with 9:35 left in the third quarter.
The Ravens would then hold the ball for over eight minutes as they drove 47 yards in 11 plays to set up a 46-yard field goal by Tucker to push the Baltimore lead back to seven points at 17-10 late in the third quarter.
Baltimore would get a golden opportunity to extend their lead to 14 points when linebacker C.J. Mosley intercepted a Roethlisberger pass and returned the pick 28 yards to the Pittsburgh 11-yard-line on the second play of the Steelers' ensuing possession.
Two plays later, Flacco would fire a pass intended for tight end Darren Waller in the back of the end zone as Waller got his hands on the ball but could not complete the catch as Steelers strong safety Sean Davis would knock the ball loose to make the pass incomplete as Tucker would come on to kick a 23-yard field goal to increase Baltimore's lead to 20-10 with 14:18 left in the fourth quarter.
The Steelers would begin their next possession at their 25-yard-line with Bell being dropped for a two-yard loss before Roethlisberger completed a 21-yard pass to tight end Jesse James which was followed by a six-yard pass to Brown to put Pittsburgh at the 50-yard-line when wide receiver DeMarcus Ayers drew a pass interference penalty to give the Steelers a 1st down at the Ravens' 15-yard-line.
Roethlisberger would then complete an eight-yard pass to Brown before handing the ball off to Bell who would run it in for a seven-yard touchdown to cut the Ravens' lead to 20-17 with 11:41 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Following a Baltimore three-and-out, the Steelers took over at their 10-yard-line as Bell would start the drive with a 23-yard run then broke out a 13-yard run to move Pittsburgh to their 46-yard-line as Roethlisberger would complete back-to-back passes to Brown that totaled 47 yards to give the Steelers a 1st & goal at the Baltimore seven-yard-line.
That is when Roethlisberger would throw a short pass to Bell, who was able to run it into the end zone for another seven-yard touchdown to give the lead back to the Steelers at 24-20 with 7:16 to go in the fourth quarter.
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| Le'Veon Bell(26)ran for 122 yards on 20 carries while catching three passes for 15 yards as he scored two touchdowns. |
The Ravens would get the ball back at their 25-yard-line as Flacco would complete seven of 10 passes for 52 yards on a 14-play, 75-yard drive that culiminated with a 10-yard touchdown run by fullback Kyle Juszczyk to give Baltimore a 27-24 lead with 1:18 to go in regulation.
After a touchback on the ensuing kickoff, the Steelers would take over at their 25-yard-line needing at least a field goal to send the game into overtime or better yet, scoring a touchdown to win the game in the final 78 seconds of regulation with two timeouts left in Pittsburgh's pocket.
The drive would begin with a three-yard pass from Roethlisberger to James, followed by an eight-yard completion to Brown, and then a 16-yard throw to James to put Pittsburgh at the Baltimore 48-yard-line as the Steelers called timeout with 1:02 to go.
Roethlisberger would then hit Ayers for nine yards which was followed by a 20-yard pass to Rogers to give the Steelers a 1st down at the Ravens' 19-yard-line as Roethlisberger would spike the ball to stop the clock with 41 seconds to go.
Roethlisberger would then complete a six-yard pass to wide receiver Cobi Hamilton as Pittsburgh would spend its final timeout with 32 seconds left as the Steelers faced a 2nd & 4 when Roethlisberger found James for nine yards and a 1st down at the Ravens' four-yard-line.
After spiking the ball to stop the clock with 14 seconds left, Roethlisberger had two plays to get into the Steelers into the end zone as Tomlin would in all likelihood settle for the field goal if the Steelers had faced with a 4th & goal situation.
Lined up in the shotgun formation, Roethlisberger would fire a pass for Brown, who made the catch short of the goal line as he was met by Mosley and Ravens strong safety Eric Weddle, as Brown was able to stretch the ball into the end zone for the touchdown with nine seconds to give Pittsburgh a 31-27 lead.
If Brown had not been able scored, the clock would have probably run out as the Steelers had no timeouts left and probably could not get lined up to spike the ball and leave time on the clock to give Boswell a chance to tie the game with a field goal.
Baltimore would get one last chance to win the game as Flacco would complete a 16-yard pass to tight end Dennis Pitta to move the Ravens to their 41-yard-line as Baltimore called timeout with four seconds to go, leaving the Ravens enough time for one last play.
However, Flacco would be picked off by Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier on the final play of the game to secure the 31-27 victory for the Steelers as well as the AFC North division title for Pittsburgh, the team's 22nd division title since 1972.
The heartbreaking loss would eliminate the Ravens from playoff contention as they would finish the season with a 8-8 record as they fell to the Cincinnati Bengals during the final week of the regular season.
As for the Steelers, they would enter the playoffs as the #3 seed in the AFC with a 11-5 record as Pittsburgh would defeat the Miami Dolphins 30-12 in the Wild Card Round before going on the road and upsetting the Kansas City Chiefs 18-16 in the Divisional round to send the Steelers to the AFC Championship Game where their season would end with a 36-17 loss to the New England Patriots.
