If anyone knows what both the Bills and Steelers are currently going through, its former Pittsburgh linebacker Levon Kirkland. An All-Decade linebacker during the 1990s, Kirkland was part of several memorable games where his team was either a heavy favorite or a decided underdog.
In the 1995 AFC Championship Game, the Steelers survived a last-second Hail Mary to outlast the Colts, who entered the game as an 11-point underdog. Pittsburgh’s 20-16 win over Indianapolis came a year after the Steelers were upset by the Chargers one game shy of the Super Bowl.
“We didn’t take (the Colts) lightly,” Kirkland told CBS Sports during the Steelers’ recent alumni weekend. “They played us hard. San Diego, I thought we were a little bit arrogant going into that game. I thought that we took those guys too lightly. It’s just a lesson learned that you can’t take opponents lightly.”
Did the Cowboys, a 13.5-point favorite entering their matchup with Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XXX, make that mistake?
“I think they did,” Kirkland said. “I think they thought, ‘We’re the Dallas Cowboys, we’re going to run over these guys.’ They didn’t understand that we were from Pittsburgh. We weren’t going to be punk’d by nobody. I don’t care if you won two of the last three Super Bowls.”
It initially looked like the Cowboys would cover the spread. They led 13-0 early after scoring on each of their first three possessions. It would have been 17-0 if not for a pass interference call on receiver Michael Irvin on the Cowboys’ third possession. Meanwhile, the Steelers offense struggled to gain traction against the Dallas defense, led by future Hall of Fame players Deion Sanders and Charles Haley.
Pittsburgh finally found its footing before halftime. The Steelers defense forced a three-and-out on the Cowboys’ fourth possession before the offense made it a 13-7 game on Neil O’Donnell’s touchdown pass to Yancey Thigpen. Despite being outplayed for the game’s first 26 minutes, the Steelers had momentum entering the second half.
“We just kind of settled down,” Kirkland said. “If you’ve never been in that situation before, it’s a big deal. Even if you’re a seasoned pro, it’s a little nerve wracking. I think once we settled down and we stopped them, held them to a field goal, we felt like, ‘OK, we can play with these guys, we can stop these guys.’ And we were really good against the run.”
Emmitt Smith…
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