The Arizona Cardinals began their NFL life in Chicago as one of the charter members of the league. Eventually the Cardinals accepted they could not compete in Chicago with their rival Bears, so they moved to St. Louis in 1960.
With only two division titles in 28 years and with the dwindling crowds in St. Louis, the owners decided to relocate the Cardinals to Arizona in 1987. The move didn’t bring immediate success to the team. It was twenty years before they won a division title, but it did lead to their first appearance in a Super Bowl.
Super Bowl XLIII was one of the great championship games which saw Ben Roethlisberger lead the Steelers to their sixth Lombardi with his late touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes.
After the Steelers won their twenty-first division title in 2014, all the signs were good for a repeat the following year. Le’Veon Bell had rushed for 1,361 yards while Antonio Brown contributed 1,698 yards. Roethlisberger took the team to a 11-5 record only to lose the wildcard game to the Ravens 30-17.
During the 2015 preseason, Steelers’ backup quarterback Bruce Gradkowski suffered hand and shoulder injuries, and the team needed to find a replacement. Michael Vick was looking for a job as a quarterback so mutual enthusiasm by both parties sealed a deal.
Vick, who previously missed two seasons after being convicted of conspiracy in a dog fighting ring, wasn’t a popular choice for many Steelers fans.
Landry Jones was selected in the 2013 draft, and he might have expected to assume the backup role to Roethlisberger. Then along came Vick.
Jones suffered a concussion in the final preseason game so when the regular season began, it was Vick who settled in as Roethlisberger’s backup.
The Steelers began the season with a defeat in New England before wins over the 49ers and Rams. They squeezed past the Rams12-6 after losing Roethlisberger to a knee injury in the third quarter.
Vick took over for the following two games which saw a close loss to the Ravens and a win over the Chargers.
The Cardinals came into Pittsburgh with former Steelers offensive coordinator Bruce Arians as their head coach. “It’s just another game on the schedule,” Coach Arians observed.
With Carson Palmer at quarterback, the Cardinals led the NFL in scoring and touchdowns. They had scored over 40 points in three of their four wins and the Steelers defense faced a tough task to assist their offense in taking the win.
One Steeler player was making his debut in front of his home crowd. After Josh Scobee missed two field goals against the Ravens that contributed to a Steelers overtime defeat, the Steelers looked for a new kicker.
With no previous NFL experience, Chris Boswell won a kicking contest played out on a wet and dreary Monday in Heinz Field. Boswell suddenly found himself under the spotlight of Steelers Nation.
The (3-2) Steelers vs (4-1) Cardinals; October 18, 2015
After an early exchange of possessions, Carson Palmer led his team on a 6-play drive of 47 yards that he finished with a touchdown pass to Michael Floyd.
Michael Vick was struggling to find his receivers while the defense was keeping the Steelers in the game. A Lawrence Timmons’ interception cut short a Cardinals drive, but Vick was unable to take advantage of the turnover.
Finally in the second quarter the Steelers managed to put points on the board when Chris Boswell kicked a 47-yard field goal. The Cardinals replied with a 31-yard field goal to take a 10-3 lead into the locker room at the half.
Boswell added a 48-yard field goal on the Steelers’ first series of the second half during which Vick pulled a hamstring. The subsequent Cardinals’ possession saw the return of James Harrison rewarded when his forced fumble was recovered by Mike Mitchell.
The turnover meant the late entry of Landry Jones to pro football. Starting on his opponents’ 32, his first snap was a handoff to Bell for 22 yards. Bell added 2 more yards. After his first pass fell incomplete, Jones found Martavis Bryant with an 8-yard touchdown pass to put the Steelers in front. The Steelers two-point conversion failed.
The Steelers extended their lead to 15-10 after Boswell kicked a field goal from 51 yards.
At the beginning of the final quarter, the Cardinals kicked a 39-yard field goal before Boswell replied with a field goal from 28 yards.
With Arizona pressing hard to take a lead with a first down on the Pittsburgh 20, Mitchell intercepted Palmer’s pass in the end zone. Two plays later, Jones threw a pass from his 12 that Bryant caught 10 yards downfield before turning it into an 88-yard score. Jones’ touchdown throw sealed the Steelers victory.
The Pittsburgh Steelers 25 vs the Arizona Cardinals 13
In his first NFL game, Landry Jones had led the Steelers on four consecutive scoring possessions without an interception. He finished with a quarterback rating of 149.3. “He was just waiting for the opportunity,” David DeCastro said. “You could tell he was ready when he came into the huddle. There were no nerves at all. He went out and did his thing.”
In only his second pro football game, Chris Boswell certainly made an impression kicking four field goals. Ben Roethlisberger was full of praise for his kicker. “I’m so happy for him,” Roethlisberger said. “The thing about him, why he does so well, is he doesn’t care. It sounds weird, but he doesn’t care. We ask him, ‘If we get a chance to win the game, do you want the ball right hash, left hash or middle?’ ‘I don’t care,’ Boswell responds. That sounds silly, but it’s awesome.”
Jones would start the next game in Kansas, which was a loss. Roethlisberger returned to lead the team into the playoffs. During the wild game in Cincinnati, Jones came in for an injured Roethlisberger. After Jones threw an interception, Ben returned to lead the team to an amazing victory.
The Steelers season finished with a loss in the divisional game in Denver.
After drafting Mason Rudolph in 2018, the Steelers released Jones. He played one season for the Dallas Renegades of the 2020 XFL before it folded.
