Steelers History: How The 1992 Battle For 1st Place Brought Back Steeler Nation For A New Generation

It has been said countless times that no team's fans travel more than that of the Pittsburgh Steelers. It has also been said that the Steelers have one of the most significant home game advantages in the NFL due to the passion of Steeler Nation. From Three Rivers Stadium to Heinz Field/Acrisure Stadium and the introduction of the Terrible Towel to the tradition of playing Renegade in the fourth quarter, the rapid fan base of Steeler Nation has helped fuel the Steelers to 332 victories over the years. However, there was a time when the Terrible Towels weren't swinging en masse as common as it is today.

The Steelers of the 1980's

Expectations were impossibly high by many for 1980, as the Steelers attempted to match the Green Bay Packers’ accomplishment of winning five NFL titles in seven seasons. Joe Greene had announced that the team needed to win “one for the thumb.”  But as the 1980 season played out, the team began to get a sense of its own mortality. As age and injuries took their toll, the components of the Steel Curtain were disintegrating.  

The 1980 regular season ended with a road game in San Diego, just as it had in 1972 when the Steelers began their string of eight consecutive playoff appearances, but this season would end without a postseason trip. Terry Bradshaw was furious during and after the finale, claiming some of his cohorts had stopped trying, resulting in a football season being over by Christmas for the first time in the professional careers of almost all the players.

Terry Bradshaw, per Chuck Noll: His Life’s Work:

“When I saw some of my teammates giving a half-a**ed effort, I was so appalled that I almost wanted to quit right after the game.”

However, there was one person who saw what was truly on the horizon for the Steelers franchise, and that was head coach Chuck Noll. Noll recognized some of the upcoming challenges and would tell his wife Marianne what to expect before they even came home from the Super Bowl XIV victory.

Chuck Noll per Chuck Noll - A Football Life:

“You need to get ready, we’re old and we’re tired, and we haven’t had high draft choices.  We’ve got some tough years ahead of us."

Steeler Nation Never Had a Chance

The Steelers decline in the 1980's was not as dramatic a drop as what many other teams would experience, and the Steelers would actually play in some very competitive and significant games. The problem was that after the 1982 Steelers lost to the San Diego Chargers in the playoffs, every game the Steelers played in with playoff-level stakes occurred on the road and not in the confines of Three Rivers Stadium.

1. 1983: Steelers at New York Jets - Steelers clinched the AFC Central Championship in Week 15
2. 1983: Steelers at Los Angeles Raiders - Steelers lose Divisional Playoff Game 
3. 1984: Steelers at Los Angeles Raiders - Steelers clinched the AFC Championship in Week 16
4. 1984: Steelers at Denver Broncos - Steelers win Divisional Playoff Game
5. 1984: Steelers at Miami Dolphins - Steelers lose AFC Championship
6. 1989: Steelers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Steelers clinch final AFC Wild Card in Week 16
7. 1989: Steelers at Houston Oilers - Steelers win Wild Card Playoff Game
8. 1989: Steelers at Denver Broncos - Steelers lose Divisional Playoff Game
9. 1990: Steelers at Houston Oilers - Steelers fail to clinch AFC Championship with loss in Week 16

Steeler Nation Returns

In 1992, after a 10-year absence, Steeler Nation finally had their chance when the Steelers faced the Houston Oilers. The game that would come to mind for most first would naturally be the memorable season opener when the Steelers upset the Oilers 29-24, as it marked the first win for Bill Cowher as head coach. However, it was the Week 9 game in Three Rivers Stadium that positioned the Steelers to win the AFC Central Division Championship.

Both teams entered the game at 5-2, tied atop the division standings. Most experts considered the Steelers Week 1 victory a fluke, as Warren Moon threw 5 interceptions, and the Steelers needed the now famous fake punt to narrowly pull off the win. The Oilers entered the game as a 3-point favorite, and early on, it looked like the experts were right.

The Steelers defense came out ready to play as they were extremely physical against the finesse run-and-shoot offense of the Oilers. Barry Foster rushed for 50 yards in the first quarter and 118 yards on the game in addition to scoring the only touchdown in the first half. The Steelers defense proved just as tough, limiting the Oilers to just a pair of field goals, with a series of big plays by Rod Woodson and Greg Lloyd ending the Oilers threats, enabling the Steelers to go into halftime with a 7-6 lead.

A Woodson blitz and hit on Moon late in the first half resulted in the Oilers quarterback receiving a concussion that knocked him out of the game. However, Cody Carlson entered the game to start the 3rd quarter and drove the Oilers down for a touchdown. The momentum completely swung to the Oilers as on the ensuing drive, Neil O’Donnell fumbled while facing a fierce pass rush and the Oilers’ Ray Childress scooped it up at the 8-yard line and in for a quick touchdown.

The 14-point burst in the third quarter positioned the Oilers with a commanding 20-7 lead heading into the final frame. The Oilers had also found a way to bottle up the Steelers running game and the NFL’s leading rusher at the time in Foster. It looked like the Steelers were in trouble, but Steeler Nation had been waiting a long time to see a game like this and the Terrible Towel was about to come out waving again with a pride not seen since 1979.

The Steelers offense adjusted to the Oilers stacking eight men in the box and O’Donnell began to find the open man on underneath routes, gaining momentum for the offense and reaching the end zone for only the second time on the day early in the fourth quarter. Offensive Coordinator Ron Erhardt ran a play-action pass, the entire Oilers defense bit on trying to stop Foster, and O’Donnell rolled out to connect with Adrian Cooper to bring the Steelers within a touchdown.   

Three Rivers Stadium started rocking and the crowd noise was so loud that the Oilers offense couldn’t hear, leading to multiple false starts and a Carlson botched snap and fumble recovery by Greg Lloyd. O’Donnell stayed hot, completing 9 consecutive passes including a 24-yard completion to Eric Green that brought the fans out of their seats as the big tight end carried three Oilers defensive backs for additional yards. When O’Donnell hit Green in the back of the end zone to take a 21-20 lead, the Steeler Nation faithful noise was deafening.   

The Steelers defense rose to the occasion against a frantic final drive by the Oilers and the game ended with a missed FG by Al Del Greco. With the season sweep over the Oilers, the Steelers would go on to win the division and huge games in Pittsburgh became the norm again. But it was on that fateful day in November of 1992 which reignited Steeler Nation and the Terrible Towel for a new generation of fans to take to the next level.

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