The Pittsburgh Steelers lead 20-7 in the series against the New York Jets. The teams began playing each other after the AFL merger in 1970 and the Steelers ran up a streak of 9 consecutive wins in their first exchanges.
Playing in Pittsburgh, the Steelers are 10-2 ahead although they lost the last game played two seasons ago. Mitch Trubisky started for the Steelers. Coach Tomlin pulled him at half time when they were 10-6 down. Kenny Pickett made his NFL debut, but there was no fairy tale start for the rookie. The Steelers lost 24-20 despite two rushing touchdowns from Pickett.
In 1992, the Steelers were coming off a 7-9 season after which Coach Noll retired. Noll had been the Steelers coach since 1969. He not only delivered their first Lombardi trophy, but his teams set an NFL record winning four in six seasons. It defined the super seventies in Pittsburgh.
Replacing Noll was always going to be a difficult challenge for the Steelers. At the time, there were five other teams searching for a new head coach, but Dan Rooney was confident of finding the right replacement. “There are a number of candidates out there, good candidates. This is a job that is attractive. Our last coach had the job 23 years, longer than all but two other coaches ever, and one of them (George Halas) owned his team.”
The Steelers defensive line coach Joe Greene was the fans’ favorite and many in the media thought he would be given the opportunity. Greene was keen to replace Noll and was confident he could hold the job down.
With the participation of the Chiefs in the playoffs, their defensive coordinator Bill Cowher was a late interviewee. The Steelers interviewed a dozen coaches, but it eventually came down to a choice between the Cowboys defensive coordinator Dave Wannstedt and Cowher.
The Steelers went with Cowher. “Chuck Noll is a legend, and it would be a mistake to ignore that success,” said Cowher at his introductory press conference. “It’s something we won’t try to put behind us but will try to build on. My goal is to put a fifth trophy out there.”
A year later, Wannstedt became the head coach of the Chicago Bears. Wannstedt would spend six years there with just one visit to the playoffs.
Bill Cowher would have three months to work out the team’s needs before the draft. He chose well selecting Leon Searcy, Levon Kirkland and Joel Steed with the team’s first three picks.
The preseason saw a quarterback battle between Bubby Brister and Neil O’Donnell. Cowher’s first taste as a head coach would be sour with two defeats. The team would finish the preseason 2-2. The decision on who would start for the season opener was made easy with O’Donnell’s preseason total of 31 of 43 for 498 yards, seven touchdowns and no interceptions.
The Steelers travelled to Houston for the season opener. Falling 14 points behind in the first quarter, they gave the appearance of a team that hadn’t travelled well. Five Steeler interceptions later, they left Houston with a 29-24 victory. O’Donnell threw two touchdown passes to cement his position as starter.
In the Jets opener in Atlanta, the Jets fought back from a seventeen-point deficit but lost 20-17.
The (1-0) Steelers vs the (0-1) Jets; September 13, 1992
The game stayed scoreless for nine minutes into the first quarter as the teams sounded each other out. The Jets broke the deadlock when Barry Foster fumbled a handoff to gift the Jets the ball on Pittsburgh’s 16. The Steelers defense held their opponents to a 32-yard field goal.
New York missed a 47-yard field goal at the beginning of the second quarter before Foster made amends for his turnover. He finished a drive of 58 yards with a 23-yard touchdown run.
The Jets took the lead again after a Neil O’Donnell’s dump off pass to Merril Hoge bounced off Hoge’s shoulder pads. Michael Brim collected the giveaway and returned it 77 yards for a touchdown.
With just 12 seconds remaining in the half, Donald Evans recovered a Jets fumble. O’Donnell threw a 51-yard “Hail Mary” to Jeff Graham. When Graham collected the pass, the Steelers called for a timeout as time had run out on the scoreboard. When the referee put two seconds back on the clock, the Jets sideline expressed their total dissatisfaction.
Gary Anderson added to their pain when he kicked a field goal of 28 yards to tie the game 10-10. As the Jets left the field, Jets Coach Coslet continued to show his displeasure of the officials by making a vulgar gesture towards the fans.
Injuries to the offensive line in the first half saw the Steelers forced to make three changes when they returned to the field. Both teams struggled in the third quarter which remained scoreless primarily because of a major effort from Rod Woodson.
Woodson blocked a 37-yard field goal attempt and on the Jets next series knocked a pass incomplete before sacking Browning Nagle causing a fumble.
As the game entered the final period, Foster burst free of the Jets defense and ran 54 yards for a touchdown giving the lead back to Pittsburgh. After the Jets replaced their injured quarterback with 9-year veteran Ken O’Brien, the Steelers defense ensured they would not relinquish their advantage.
O’Brien would be intercepted three times and watch Larry Griffin return one 65 yards for the final score as the Steelers increased their lead to 17 points.
The Pittsburgh Steelers 27 vs the New York Jets 10
The Steelers were 2-0 for the first time in a decade.
Barry Foster’s 190 yards were a career high. Only John Henry Johnson (200) and Frenchy Fuqua (218) had bigger games for the Steelers.
“This is great, we’re just having so much fun,” acknowledged Rod Woodson. “We didn’t talk about going 2-0 or anything. We just said we’re going out there to have fun, to make things happen, to get the other team frustrated.”
After winning his first home opener, Coach Cowher acknowledged, “This team just seems to respond to adversity. We did it again today.”
Cowher would finish the season with a 11-5 record heading the AFC Central. The Steelers would host the Bills for the divisional playoff game. Pittsburgh never recovered from losing Rod Woodson early and lost 24-3.
Three years later, Coach Cowher would take them to Super Bowl XXX where they would lose to the Cowboys.
Super Bowl XL would see Coach Cowher accomplish his goal. With Ben Roethlisberger as quarterback they would bring the team’s fifth Lombardi to Pittsburgh. Cowher would retire after the following season.
