Fantasy Bowl I: 1978 Pittsburgh Steelers vs 1994 San Francisco 49ers

1978 Pittsburgh Steelers vs 1994 San Francisco 49ers

Hello everyone and welcome to Raymond James Stadium here in Tampa, FL where the Camp Conference champions, the '78 Pittsburgh Steelers will take on the Rooney conference champs, the '94 San Francisco 49ers.  Both of these franchises own wins over the other, but from different years.  The '94 49ers broke through the Steel Curtain of the '76 Steelers late in the 4th quarter and came away with a 20-19.  Meanwhile, the '78 Steelers stopped Joe Montana and Bill Walsh's '89 49ers and orchestrated a late drive of their own giving them a 25-22 victory.  This week, the West Coast offense of the 49ers will once again face the Steel Curtain defense of the Steelers to determine who is the greatest team of all time. 

(Artwork by Jonathan Bieda / post-gazette.com)

Steelers key to victory - Pound the football.  It won't be easy as the '94 49ers have been great at stopping the run throughout this tournament.  The Steelers need to be able to run the ball in order to be successful on offense. If Bradshaw has to go to the air a lot, it won't bode well for the Steelers.

49ers key to victory - Continue to keep things simple on offense.  Just like two weeks ago against the 76 Steelers, the 49ers need to just keep things simple.  Throw short passes and don't look for the big play. 

Weather:  70 degrees, little wind

1st Half:

The Steelers have won the toss and elect to receive.  The kickoff is returned to their own 34 and they'll start there.  Bleier takes the first hand off and he blasts up the middle for a 5 yard gain.  On 2nd down they hand off to Franco Harris and he fumbles!  There's a pile of players digging for the loose football, but the Steelers retain possession.  On 3rd and 3, Bradshaw is back to pass, can't find anyone open and he takes off and he picks up 5 yards before getting stripped of the football and Bradshaw dives and knocks the ball out of bounds.  The Steelers have fumbled on the last two plays and actually seem a little nervous in the early goings.  They hand off to Harris again and he pounds ahead for 7 yards.  On 2nd and 3, Bradshaw runs a play action, he can't find anyone open though and get sacked by Rickey Jackson back at the PIT 47.  On 3rd and 9, Bradshaw throws a strike to John Stallworth for 23 yards and first down.  The Steelers fail to move the ball any further and send out Gerela for a 45 yard attempt.  The kick is up and its good!  The Steelers draw first blood in Fantasy Bowl I.  9 plays, 34 yards, 5:23 drive

Steelers 3 - 49ers 0

Its the Niners turn on offense.  The kickoff is short and gets returned to the SF 36.  On 1st down, its a pitch to Ricky Watters who slashes his way for 6 yards before fumbling the football, but the ball is recovered by Brent Jones.  Two plays later, William Floyd takes a hand off and he smashes through the right side and rumbles for 36 yards before being brought down at the PIT 18.  The Steelers defense digs in and doesn't allow another yard and the 49ers send out Doug Brien for the 35 yard field goal.  The kick is up and its good!  7 plays, 43 yards, 4:20 drive

Steelers 3 - 49ers 3

On the Steelers next possession, they continue to work on the ground and have success.  On 2nd down, Harris picks up 29 off left tackle to the SF 43, but the Niners load up the box on the next series of downs the Steelers are forced to punt.

Starting on their own 11, the 49ers can't move the ball and go three and out.  They punt and the Steelers return it to the SF 45.

The Steelers offense starts to roll after a 14 yard out pass to Harris.  Bradshaw then finds Swann near the sidelines for another 14 yard gain to the SF 17, but the drive stalls in the red zone and the Steelers have to settle for another field goal.  Gerela nails the 33 yarder and the Steelers are back on top.  5 plays, 29 yards, 2:34 drive

Steelers 6 - 49ers 3

On the first play of the 49ers next possession, Watters goes up the middle and fumbles!  The ball is loose, but Steve Young comes out of there with the ball.  Frustrated with the ground game, the Niners go to the air and Young finds John Taylor for 11 yards on a slant.  Then Jerry Rice on a post pattern for another 18 yards.  Two plays later, Derek Loville sweeps left for 10 yards, but on 3rd and inches, the Steelers stop Williams Floyd short on the quick handoff.  San Francisco considers going for it, but instead sends out Brien and he kick through the 45 yard field goal to tie this back up.  6 plays, 38 yards, 3:59 drive

Steelers 6 - 49ers 6

Starting on their own 18, the Steelers come out throwing, but Bradshaw fails to connect on any of them and they go three and out.

The 49ers get their best field position of the day at the PIT 48 and want to make good use of it.  Young settles down into the West Coast offense format and picks apart the Steel Curtain on this drive.  A 13 yarder to Rice, a 16 yarder to Marc Logan.  Another 13 yard slant to Rice and the 49ers are first and goal at the PIT 4.  After trying to run it in on the first two downs, Young throws an out to Rice and he gets into the end zone for the 49ers touchdown!  10 plays, 48 yards, 5:37 drive

Steelers 6 - 49ers 13

After a holding call on the kick the Steelers start on their own 19 with 1:54 left in the first half.  On 1st down, they pitch it to Harris and its knocked loose by Gary Plummer and recovered by Lee Woodall at the PIT 19.  A monster turnover by the Steelers.

The 49ers waste little time and on 1st and goal from the PIT 8, Young connects with Brent Jones for the touchdown!  4 plays, 19 yards, 0:40 drive

Steelers 6 - 49ers 20

Steelers fans in attendance are shocked at their team suddenly trails by 2 touchdowns with just 1:05 left in the half.  The Steelers come out in their two minute offense this time.  Bradshaw has trouble connecting on a few plays, but the Steelers work their way down the field with a couple 10 yard passes to Harris and Grossman.  Swann and Stallworth are both well covered.  At the SF 38, Sidney Thornton takes a draw play and gains 9 yards before being pulled down by his facemask.  The 49ers are flagged and they get the big 15 yard penalty moving the ball to the SF 15 with 26 seconds left and no timeouts.  Bradshaw tries another draw to Bleier and he picks up 9 yards, but isn't able to get out of bounds.  The Steelers scramble and spike the ball with 7 seconds left.  Gerela comes out for the chip shot and he nails it.  10 plays, 58 yards, 1:00 drive

Steelers 9 - 49ers 20

The Steelers squib kick it and the Niners fall on it as we head into halftime.

2nd Half: 

The 49ers get the ball first in the second half.  They run it three times, but come up inches short of the first down and are forced to punt.

The Steelers come out in their first possession of the second half running it a lot too and having much more success than the 49ers.  Bleier for 5, Harris for 6 and Bleier again for 7 more yards has the Steelers in San Francisco territory.  On a 3rd and 2, Bradshaw runs a play action and finds Stallworth over the middle for an 8 yard gain.  Bradshaw goes to the air again and finds Swann for another 15 yards.  The drive comes to another abrupt halt though and Gerela is on to kick his 4th field goal of the game.  Its up and its good!  The Steelers have pulled within one score.  9 plays, 48 yards, 5:26 drive

Steelers 12 - 49ers 20

On their next possession, the 49ers go back to the short passes.  Young hits Watters in the flat and he runs for a big 21 yard gain.  A couple plays later, Young does a quick drop and fires for Rice and catches it and runs for 17 yards.  Two plays after that Young hooks up with Rice on another quick slant for 10 yards.  The 49ers are marching right down the field again to the PIT 29.  However, Young goes to the well one too many times and Jack Ham jumps in front of one of the slants and picks it off!  A much needed turnover for the Steelers.

The Steelers with the momentum attack on the ground, but Bleier comes up inches short after picking up 5 yards on a 3rd and 6.  The Steelers can't capitalize on the turnover and punt back to the 49ers.

Starting on their own 31, Ricky Watters flies up the middle for a 13 yard gain.   However, the Steelers don't allow them to cross the 50 and the Niners punt the Steelers deep into their own end at the PIT 10.

The Steelers sticking with their game plan continue to hand off.  On 2nd and 5, Harris finds a seam and blasts into the secondary.  He picks up a couple big blocks and picks up 41 yards before getting knocked out of bounds by Deion Sanders.  A 41 yard gain to the SF 44.  The Steelers continue their rushing attack, but come up short of a first down.  On 4th and 1 at the SF 35 with 9:22 left in the game, Coach Noll decides to go for it.  He sends Bleier up the middle and he picks up 2 yards and a first down.  On the next play, the run a play action to Harris and Bradshaw hits Swann for 10 yards.  On the next play, they catch the Niners in a blitz and a throw a screen to Swann who follows his blockers before being brought down at the SF 4.  Bradshaw fakes a pass, then hands off to Harris and picks his way through to the end zone for the Steelers touchdown!  Harris is still down on the turf though.  The trainers come out and he limps on one leg off the field.  Noll decides to go for two.  He run a draw play to Thornton and he gets into the end zone for the two points and with 5:48 left, this game is tied!  11 plays, 90 yards, 7:07 drive

Steelers 20 - 49ers 20

Steeler Nation is on their feet and waving their Terrible Towels here at Raymond James Stadium.  Determined not to let this one get away, the 49ers get moving on offense with a big 25 yard completion to Brent Jones to the PIT 39.  The 49ers run down as much clock as they can with two running plays, but neither gains a yard.  On 3rd down, Young looks for Rice on a slant, but its batted down by Joe Greene.  With 2:50 left in the game, Coach Seifert sends out Doug Brien for a 56 yard attempt.  In the 1994 season, Brien only attempted one field goal over 50 yards and it was no good.  Its a big risk by Seifert.  If he misses the Steelers get the ball at mid field with plenty of time to win it.  The ball is down the kick is up and its.... GOOD!  56 yards and the 49ers reclaim the lead!  5 plays, 30 yards, 2:51 drive

Steelers 20 - 49ers 23

Once again, the Steelers are will need to win it in the final minutes.  Its reported the Harris has suffered a sprained knee and will not return.  Starting on their own 35 with 2:42 left, Bradshaw hands off to Thornton for a 5 yard gain that brings us up to the two minute warning. 

On a critical 3rd and 5, Bradshaw goes deep and finds Thornton streaking down the sidelines wide open.  Its caught and he picks up 29 yards to the SF 31 before getting knocked out of bounds by Merton Hanks.  After picking up only 1 yard on the first two downs, Bradshaw connects with Theo Bell for a 17 yard gain, but he fumbles!  The ball is loose but its recovered by Rocky Bleier at the SF 15 with 1:17 left.  That's the fourth fumble of the game for the Steelers and it almost cost them the Fantasy Bowl. 

They hand off to Thornton and he gets stopped after a 2 yard gain.  The clock continues to tick away, Bradshaw lines up in the shotgun and runs a draw play to Thornton, he picks up a couple of blocks, cuts to the middle of the field and gets into the end zone for the touchdown with 31 second left in the game!  Gerela misses the extra point!  The 49ers can still tie it with a field goal.  A big break for the 49ers.  Noll gives Gerela a nasty glare as he comes off the field.  8 plays, 66 yards, 2:11 drive

Steelers 26 - 49ers 23

The 49ers start out on their own 28 with just 26 second left.  They may need another long field from Brien.  Young goes deep over the middle for Jones, but its too far and Jones gets lit up by Donnie Shell.  He's slow to get up.  On 2nd down, the Steelers take a gamble and run a safety blitz with Wagner.  Young scrambles to avoid the rush, but Wagner tracks him down for a 4 yard loss.  They are forced to burn a timeout with 15 seconds left.  The chant "Here we go Steelers, here we go!" can be heard echoing through the stadium.  Young fires a pass to Rice for 13 yards and he gets out of bounds with 8 seconds left.  Young goes down the middle to Jones for 14 yards to the PIT 49 and they take another timeout with 2 seconds left.  A 66 yard field goal is out of the question, so Young has just one Hail Mary Pass left.  Young lines up in the shotgun with 3 receivers to his left and one to his right.  He takes the snap, roll a little to his left and heaves it up to a gang of players standing at the goaline, the ball is batted around and its CAUGHT by Ron Johnson at the PIT 1 and the game is over.  Johnson gets up to celebrate with his teammates as the Steelers have won the Fantasy Bowl!!

Final:  Steelers 26 - 49ers 23

Another classic played by these two great franchises that goes until the final play of the game.  The 49ers didn't do as great of a job against the run as they had in the past.  Franco ran for over 100 yards before getting injured.  Then Sidney Thornton plays the unlikely hero in the final minutes and scores the winning touchdown.  The Niners looked good on offense, but the Steel Curtain came up big when they needed to like with the Jack Ham interception.  All of the fumbles and field goals nearly cost them the game, but they overcame it and still came out on top.

So that wraps it up for the Fantasy Bowl this year.   I hope you enjoyed it!  Next year, we'll have four new teams as well as new players.  All of the participating teams draft one player from any era to help for their next Fantasy Bowl tournament run.  See you next December!