The Broncos and Steelers on Monday Night Football, live from Pittsburgh, PA. Frank Gifford is in the booth with his new partner…Al Michaels! A young Al Michaels, just beginning a four-decade run of prime time NFL broadcasts.
This is a fairly dull game in comparison to the Broncos’ season-opening win over the Raiders. The Broncos maintain a 7-0 lead into the third quarter. When the Steelers finally get a field goal, Michaels gleefully notes that Pittsburgh’s first points came at the 100 minute and 6 second mark of their season. They were blanked 30-0 in their opening game against the Seahawks.
The Broncos respond with a quick 6-play, 80-yard drive, capped by John Elway faking a handoff to Sammy Winder and throwing deep to Steve Sewell for a 34-yard touchdown.
However, the Steelers offense has awakened and they answer with their second consecutive scoring drive. Rich Erenberg scores from 7 yards out on a fourth-and-1 and it's a 14-10 ballgame with just under ten minutes left in regulation.
On the first play of the ensuing drive, the Broncos turn to another one of Danny Reeves' famous gadget plays. Elway tosses it to Gerald Willhite, who winds up and throws a strike to a wide, wide open Steve Watson for an apparent 79-yard touchdown. It's called back for an illegal forward pass, but the replays show that everything was clean. The line of scrimmage was the Denver 21 yard line, Elway threw it from about the 13, and Willhite caught it at about the 11. He took a few steps forward before releasing the ball, but was still well behind the line of scrimmage. The NFL has instituted instant replay for the 1986 season, and this seems like a great candidate for a reversal. But nothing happens.
Only after the Broncos run another play do the officials stop the action to discuss. Eventually, they decide that nothing can be done because the Broncos had already run another play.
The Broncos wind up punting. Al Michaels lets us know that the replay booth said they hadn't been sure of what the call was on the field, and that's why no action was taken. Although it seemed pretty clear to me that the call was illegal forward pass on number 47, because that’s what the referee said when he turned on his mic.
Oh well. The Pittsburgh crowd is now fired up as the Steelers move into Denver territory, sensing the opportunity to turn the game in their favor. However, the drive ends with the Steelers’ David Hughes fumbling it away at the 35-yard line. The Broncos don't do anything with it, so the Steelers get another shot, but this time Mark Malone is intercepted by Tony Lilly, putting the Broncos in excellent field position. On the first play after the two-minute warning, Elway tosses it to Winder, who finds his way to the end zone for the clinching score.
My family acquired our first VCR at some point during the NFL offseason, and so my childhood problem of only being able to stay up until halftime of Monday night games was solved! This was the first of many games I taped through the years.
After the Broncos offense has returned to the sidelines following the final score, we hear Elway’s voice, “I want to say hi to my mom and wife” and then the camera goes to him on the sideline. He says, “Hi mom, Hi Janet, Hi Jessi. Woo!” I remember rewinding this greeting over and over again because a) I could, these VCRs are amazing b) it was hilarious and c) it was maybe the first quasi-personal interaction I had with Elway. We didn’t get Denver TV stations at the time, so we didn't get any of the extra coverage outside of the on-field action.
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| Hello from Pittsburgh |
Controversy would have ensued if the Steelers had taken advantage of the failed instant replay and rallied for a win. They did note that the Broncos were one of four teams to vote against instant replay, with the Steelers abstaining. Clearly the NFL didn't have the kinks worked out yet and it took years of stops and starts and tinkering to arrive at the system we have in place now. But even though we have challenge flags and automatic review of scoring plays and advanced cameras, there are still calls that get missed in the modern NFL.
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