If you thought that you – as a die-hard Pittsburgh fan - were sweating out the Sunday Night Football game between the Raiders and Chargers in Las Vegas that nearly ended in an unthinkable tie, imagine how the Steelers themselves must have been feeling.
Monday, we had a chance to talk to two of the players who made second half and overtime plays in the 16-13 overtime victory that saved the season only to arrive back in Pittsburgh, turn on their TVs, and watch helplessly as the season was nearly not saved, after all.
With the Steelers trailing, 10-6, Cam Sutton’s end zone interception on the first play of the fourth quarter saved at least 3 points. Midway through the quarter, Ray Ray McCloud’s 23-yard punt return to the 50 set up their one touchdown drive which he kept alive with a 20-yard catch on 3rd-and-9.
Of course, it was McCloud’s 10-yard catch on 4th-and-8 with 2:33 left in OT that helped set up Chris Boswell’s game-winning kick.
With their work well done, Sutton and McCloud settled back to do what the rest of us did. They watched knowing that only a tie – highly unlikely, so we thought - could ruin their thrilling comeback in Baltimore and their trip to the playoffs
“Me and a few teammates actually watched it together and we were, just, blow,” McCloud said, “once the Raiders were up for a while, we’re, like, we gonna be straight.” But then things went more than a little sideways as the Chargers rallied to tie the game. Then it went to overtime.
“We were talking, ‘what would be the chance they tie it?’ We’re the only (AFC) team that tied and all it takes it a tie for us to not go the playoffs,” he recounted. There was so much happening that McCloud had started making his own replays and ended up getting a spoiler alert from his brother.
“I had rewinded it a few times so I was a little behind and my little brother called me and said, “it’s rigged, bro it’s rigged,’” McCloud smiled. “Then he ended up calling me back (saying) ‘you all good, you all good’ and I said, ‘he made it?’ and he was, like, ‘yeah.’ So when I watched it I already knew that he had made it but it was (still) a relief. It got to overtime and it was almost as if we were playing; it was like we were playing the game. It was a fun game, definitely an exciting game.”
Cornerback Sutton claimed he was more laid back. “At home chillin’,” he said. “Watching the game, it was a whirlwind of events considering the circumstances. All-in-all a great game in the ending sense.”
Thanks to the Raiders going for the win instead of taking a tie that also would have gotten them into the playoffs, the Steelers season hasn’t ended just yet. They play at Kansas City Sunday night, where they were blown out just three games ago.
Sutton is already looking ahead. “Everybody is ready to go.”
We shall see shortly.