Tournament of Past Champions ~ Championship Matchup

The two championship contenders - the Mythical bracket champion 1979 Pittsburgh Steelers and the Fabled bracket champion 1999 St. Louis Rams - have survived six rounds of intense, simulated action against the greatest of the great NFL champions of the past 70 years. Both teams have won games easily and both teams have also struggled to escape defeat by the slimmest of possible margins. But regardless of how they reached the championship game, they alone made it here while 126 other championship hopefuls fell by the wayside.

After all has been said and done, it is time for Creative Misfortune’s Tournament of Past Champions to be done. Now, on a simulated neutral field, the Tournament of Past Champions Championship Matchup gets underway, featuring the 20-seeded 1979 Pittsburgh Steelers vs the 11-seeded 1999 St. Louis Rams.

First Quarter:

St. Louis received the opening kickoff and sent their quick strike offense on the field. After two outside runs by Marshall Faulk netted only three yards, their third offensive play showed everybody why they were the Greatest Show on Turf. Isaac Bruce blazed down the right sideline and Kurt Warner hit him in stride a full five yards clear of the Steelers secondary. Bruce crossed the goal line without being touched and the Rams took an early 7-0 lead on the 77-yard bomb.

Pittsburgh, rattled by the early score, but undeterred, put their power running game on display when they first touched the ball. The Steelers pounded the Rams and marched down the field on the strength of the O-Line and Franco Harris. Their long drive finally stalled inside the Rams 20-yard line. A field goal put the Steelers on the scoreboard, though they still trailed 7-3.

St. Louis countered with more precision passing and reached deep into Pittsburgh territory once again before they, too, kicked a field goal as the quarter ended.

End of First Quarter: St. Louis 10, Pittsburgh 3

Second Quarter:

The Steelers again marched the ball into field goal range on their first drive of the second quarter with another heavy dose of Franco Harris and some timely play-action passes to close the deficit to 10-6. Both offenses sputtered and traded punts following the Steelers score.

Late in the second quarter Warner finally got the Rams moving again and connected with Torry Holt on a quick slant that covered 17 yards for another St. Louis touchdown.

Down 17-6 at the two minute warning, Bradshaw managed to convert one first down for the Steelers, but three straight incompletions ended their drive. Warner kneeled down after a Steelers punt, content to take St. Louis into the locker room with the lead.

Halftime: St. Louis 17, Pittsburgh 6

Third Quarter:

After fiery halftime locker room speeches, the Steelers came out of the break loaded for Ram and immediately set to work. Punishing runs, play-action passes and a deep out route to Lynn Swann all contributed to a touchdown drive punctuated by Franco Harris to pull the Steelers within four points.

Still leading 17-13, the Rams offense struggled and failed to move the chains on their first second-half drive. The teams alternated punts until the Pittsburgh D picked off an errant Warner pass and returned the ball deep into Rams territory. Four plays later, the Steelers kicked another field goal and the quarter ended with St. Louis nursing the slimmest of leads.

End of Third Quarter: St. Louis 17, Pittsburgh 16

Fourth Quarter:

The fourth quarter continued the defensive standstill of the third quarter. Neither the Rams nor the Steelers were able to advance the ball past midfield. As the seconds ticked away, each team thwarted the other at every opportunity. With six minutes remaining in the game, still leading by one, St. Louis caught a break when Pittsburgh’s punt coverage broke down and Az-Zahir Hakim scampered 63 yards to the Steelers 27-yard line. Four plays later, with little over four minutes remaining, Kurt Warner hit Isaac Bruce for a 7-yard touchdown pass.

Pittsburgh received the ensuing kickoff, down 24-16, and set their passing game in motion. Lax zone coverage by the Rams allowed the Steelers to get across midfield in three quick plays. An incompletion stopped the clock just outside of two minutes. Steelers fans looked grim in the stands. Their team, down by eight, still needed to cover 34 yards to get into the end zone. A draw play to Franco Harris on second down netted Pittsburgh 12 yards and the two-minute warning came with 1:53 showing on the clock.

The Rams tightened their coverage and blitzed on first down, though Bradshaw read the blitz and hit Swann for a quick pickup of five yards. 1:37… 1:36… 1:35… The clock counted down. An incomplete fade pass to John Stallworth on second down stopped the clock at 1:24. Third down and five, a hitch to Tight End Bennie Cunningham netted a first down, but little else, and Pittsburgh was forced to take their final timeout with 57 seconds remaining, still 11 yards away from a touchdown and a possible game-tying two-point conversion.

Bradshaw missed on his first down pass and was forced to throw the ball away when flushed out of the pocket on second down. 31 seconds remained with the Steelers facing a long third down with no timeouts. Pittsburgh split Wide Receivers Stallworth and Swann out wide and then hit Franco Harris on a flare pass out of the backfield. Harris fought his way out of bounds at the four yard line.

Fourth down. 19 seconds remaining. Four yards from the end zone. Bradshaw took the snap, glanced left, and then fired the ball right to Stallworth. The ball hit Stallworth’s hands at the goal line just as Rams Cornerback Todd Lyght barreled into the fleet-footed receiver. The football caromed into the air and was corralled by Rams Linebacker London Fletcher in the end zone for a touchback.

Kurt Warner gathered the Rams offense at the 20-yard line, called for the final snap and ended the Championship Game with a kneeldown.   

Final Score: St. Louis 24, Pittsburgh 16

Congratulations to the

1999 St. Louis Rams.

Creative Misfortune’s Tournament of Past Champions

Champion of Champions

Tomorrow, the final blog announcement of Creative Misfortune’s first season…