AFC Championship: Pittsburgh Steelers 20.2C Indianapolis Colts 16 1995–96 NFL playoffs

at 3 rivers stadium, pittsburgh

game time: 12:30 p.m. est
game weather: 50 °f (10 °c), clear
game attendance: 61,062
referee: bernie kukar
tv announcers (nbc): dick enberg, phil simms, , paul maguire

on steelers opening drive, neil o donnell s first pass of game tipped defensive tackle tony siragusa , intercepted jeff herrod, returned pittsburgh 24-yard line. colts drive halted when ray seals tackled running lamont warren loss on third down , one. on next play, cary blanchard hit right upright on 34-yard field goal, still bounced in , colts took 3–0 lead. after each team punted, pittsburgh s norm johnson kicked field goal game under 2 minutes left in first quarter. field goal occurred after kordell stewart dropped pass in end zone. replays showed colts safety jason belser made contact stewart before ball arrived, no penalty flag thrown.

in second quarter, 30-yard reception colts receiver sean dawkins set blanchard s second field goal. later on, pittsburgh drove 80 yards in 17 plays, featuring 3 third down conversion runs kordell stewart, , scored on o donnell s 5-yard third , goal touchdown pass stewart 13 seconds left in half make 10–6. replays showed stewart had put half foot out of bounds before making catch, have made him ineligible receiver, penalty not called.

on indianapolis first drive of second half, drove 61 yards in 9 plays, featuring 29-yard completion jim harbaugh tight end ken dilger. blanchard finished drive third field goal cut deficit 10–9. after forcing 3 , punt, indy drove 35 yards in 9 plays set field goal try, have put colts 12–10. time blanchard s 47-yard attempt sailed wide right. taking on over own 37, pittsburgh mounted drive in colts territory johnson s 37-yard field goal put them 4 points, @ 13–9.

early in fourth quarter, long punt return steelers receiver andre hastings gave them ball @ midfield. got out of great field position missed field goal. after that, harbaugh threw 47-yard touchdown pass wide receiver floyd turner take lead, 16–13. after steelers punt, defense got big chance when warren fumbled deep in colts territory, guard joe staysniak recovered ball in mid-air keep drive going. later on, defensive willie williams tackled warren behind line on third down , 1 force punt, giving pittsburgh ball 3:03 left in game.

pittsburgh marched 67 yards score winning touchdown. running byron bam morris scored game-winning 1-yard touchdown run 1:34 remaining in game pull pittsburgh ahead good. drive aided o donnell s 9-yard completion hastings on fourth down , 3 47-yard line, earlier dropped potential interception went in , out of arms of linebacker quentin coryatt. on next play after hastings fourth down conversion catch, o donnell completed 37-yard pass ernie mills on indianapolis 1-yard line, setting morris 1-yard scoring run. colts got ball , advanced steelers 29 5 seconds left, narrowly avoiding turnover when defensive chris oldham dropped wide open interception. on game s final play, harbaugh attempted hail mary pass lofted high , came down crowd of players in end zone; ball momentarily against colts wr aaron bailey s chest hit turf before haul in.

the colts first no. 5 seed advance conference championship game since 1990 playoff expansion. harbaugh completed 21 of 33 passes 267 yards , touchdown.

the game featured 1 of nfl s greatest games 60 minutes. marked end of thrilling , hard-fought season colts, in 15 of 19 games decided 1 score, including 3 went overtime.