The good news for the Steelers? They will remain very much in the playoff chase if they beat the Seahawks on New Year’s Eve.
The bad news for the Steelers? The game is in Seattle, their hell on Earth.
You have no idea.
The cross-country trip is bad enough. But playing a road game in front of a crowd that might be the most raucous in the NFL makes things even tougher.
“We, obviously, respect their venue,” Mike Tomlin said last week. “It lives up to its reputation in terms of hostility, crowd noise, etc.”
The Steelers have lost seven of eight games in Seattle, the past five by an average margin of two touchdowns. They have lost in the Kingdome, Husky Stadium and the Seahawks’ current home, Lumen Field. They experienced one of the saddest moments in franchise history in Seattle. They also had a bizarre incident there that seems humorous now but was no laughing matter at the time.
Hell on Earth, indeed.
The Steelers’ only win in Seattle came in 1983, 27-21. They built a 24-0 lead at halftime and held on. Hall of Famer Franco Harris, who would sign with the Seahawks during the 1984 exhibition season after being released by the Steelers because of a nasty contract holdout, rushed for 132 yards and a touchdown. Defensive end Keith Willis had 3½ sacks.
To say that nothing else good has happened for the Steelers in Seattle would be a major understatement.
Consider:
2015
The Steelers lost, 39-30, on a day when Tomlin gambled and lost early in the game and then played it safe and lost late in the game.
Tomlin ordered a fake field-goal try that backfired early when Landry Jones’ pass for offensive tackle Al Villanueva — yes, Big Al — was intercepted by cornerback Jeremy Lane and returned 54 yards to set up a touchdown for a 7-3 Seattle lead. Late, with the Steelers down 32-27, Tomlin elected to kick a field goal rather than go for a go-ahead touchdown on fourth-and-goal play from the Seattle 3. On the Seahawks’ next possession, Russell Wilson threw his fifth touchdown pass of the game, a short toss that wide receiver Doug Baldwin turned into an 80-yard score.
Game over.
2003
The Steelers lost, 23-16. It was their fifth consecutive defeat and left them with a 2-6 record.
1994
The Steelers lost, 30-13. They were doomed by four interceptions by Neil O’Donnell.
1993
The Steelers lost, 16-6. Their defense allowed 267 rushing yards, including 131 by Jon Vaughn and 86 by John L. Williams, who later played for the Steelers. Eric Green and Dwight Stone each had 100-yard receiving days for the Steelers, but they were not enough to produce a win.
1986
The Steelers lost, 30-0. Quarterback Mark Malone had a rotten day, completing 9 of 27 passes for 79 yards with three interceptions, one of which was returned 18 yards for a touchdown by cornerback Dave Brown.
1982
The Steelers lost, 16-0, on a day when quarterback Cliff Stoudt threw three interceptions. Much worse, word reached the Kingdome press box at halftime that Kathleen McNulty Rooney, wife of Steelers owner Art Rooney Sr., had passed away at 78 in a Pittsburgh hospital. That made for a long, sad plane trip home for her sons, Dan and Art Jr., who were at the game.
“She was a great Irish-Catholic gal,” Rooney Jr. said last week. “Dad was always away. He was away being Art Rooney. She took care of us.”
1981
The Steelers lost, 24-21, despite Terry Bradshaw’s 90-yard touchdown pass to Malone, the team’s No. 1 pick in 1980, who lined up at wide receiver on the play. But what happened after the team had to spend the night in Seattle because its plane was fogged in is best remembered. Stoudt and a few teammates went to a local nightspot. Stoudt took a swing at a test-your-strength punching bag and snapped his right forearm when his punch glanced off the bag and hit a holding stand.
“I remember seeing him years later and thinking, ‘You’re the stiff that broke your arm,’” Rooney Jr. said, fairly giggling. “It seems funny now, but it sure wasn’t funny at the time. That guy had some real talent.”
Very little has been funny or enjoyable for the Steelers in Seattle. That needs to change on Sunday or their season will be all but over.
Ron Cook: rcook@post-gazette.com and Twitter @RonCookPG. Ron Cook can be heard on the “Cook and Joe” show on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 93.7 The Fan
First Published: December 30, 2023, 10:00 a.m.
Updated: December 30, 2023, 11:55 p.m.
