NFL Power Rankings: The Greatest Plays Of All-Time
By Erik Lambert
#2: Immaculate Reception
In what would become the greatest rivalry of the 1970s, the 1972 division playoff took place between two of the fiercest teams of that era in the Pittsburgh Steelers and Oakland Raiders. The game played out as a tight, defensive affair with little scoring. Late in the game, backup quarterback Ken Stabler scrambled off the left side for the first touchdown of the game, retaking the lead 7-6. All the Raiders had to do was hold one more time on defense and the game was over.
Pittsburgh got to their own 40-yard line on the next drive but were faced with 4th and 10 with just 22 seconds left. Even if they managed to convert for a 1st down, they didn’t have the timeouts to stop the clock. The game was over. It was just a matter of playing out the formalities. On the next play, Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw tried to find somebody open, scrambling around to buy time. Faced with a tough decision he finally fired the ball downfield to fullback “Frenchy” Fuqua.
The ball was on target, but it arrived at the same time as Raiders safety Jack Tatum who clobbered Fuqua to prevent the catch. The ball bounced away from both of them, apparently incomplete. Then out of nowhere Steelers running back Franco Harris somehow seemed to catch it before hitting the ground and streaked down the left sideline before Oakland defenders realized what was happening.
Harris made it to the end zone with no time left on the clock. After long deliberation the referees signaled touchdown despite furious protests from the Raiders that the play was invalid for any number of reasons including the fact Fuqua touched the ball first, which would’ve made Harris ineligible and also that the ball hit the ground as he caught it.
Pittsburgh won the game, which helped launch their team into one of the greatest dynasties of all-time. The play itself went into NFL lore as the Immaculate Reception.
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