If you’re a Baltimore Ravens fan, you’re likely still playing the “what-if” game.
What if tight end Mark Andrews had caught the pass on that two-point conversion? Would the game have gone into overtime?
Would Lamar Jackson and the Ravens be heading west to face the Chiefs in the AFC title game instead of Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills?
No one knows how overtime would have played out. Assuming Allen didn’t drive the Bills for a game-winning score, if the Ravens had tied the game in regulation.
Or perhaps the Ravens’ defense wins it in regulation with a turnover to set up a game-winning score of its own.
Those what ifs will haunt the Ravens and their fanbase for a long time.
A fact that Cowboys fans know all too well.
Jackie Smith Has Entered The Chat
Almost 45 years ago to the day, the Dallas Cowboys were battling the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XIII. The game was being played at the Orange Bowl in Miami.
Jackie Smith had been a tight end with the St. Louis Cardinals for 15 years before retiring prior to the 1978 season. He was a five-time Pro Bowler.
The Cowboys talked the 38-year-old Smith into coming back to the NFL for one last run.
He was hoping to make his first Super Bowl and help Dallas win back-to-back titles.
He made two starts that year and played in 12 games without catching a single pass. Smith caught three passes, one for a touchdown, in a divisional round win over Atlanta.
He went without a catch in the NFC title win over the Rams.
Smith was used primarily as a run blocker in the Super Bowl.
Then came that fateful moment. One that would haunt Smith and Cowboys fans to this day.
“The Sickest Man In America”
Down 21-14 with just under three minutes left in the third quarter, Dallas found itself with a third-and-three at the Steelers’ 10.
Roger Staubach ran a play-action fake to Scott Laidlaw and Pittsburgh’s defense bit hard on it.
Smith was left wide open in the end zone. Staubach fired a pass to Smith that was certainly going to tie the game.
Until it didn’t.
“They’re gonna throw it! He’s got him, wide open,” NBC’s Curt Gowdy said as he called the game. “Oh, he dropped it!”
Verne Lundquist was calling the game for the Cowboys’ radio network.
“Oh, bless his heart,” Lundquist said. “He’s got to be the sickest man in America.”
Knowing Lundquist, I don’t think he meant the Southern version of “Bless his heart.” But he rather felt true empathy for Smith at that moment.
The photo, as well as Smith’s, Staubach’s, and Tom Landry’s immediate reactions, have all become iconic. Forever burned in our memories.
Just as Andrews’ fateful drop will become.
The Aftermath
Pittsburgh went on to win that Super Bowl by four points, 35-31. The difference between Smith catching that pass for a touchdown instead of settling for a Raphael Septien field goal.
It would be easy to blame Smith, and Andrews, for their teams’ losses.
But that would be unfair.
In Smith’s case, the Cowboys still had nearly 18 minutes of game time left to hold the Steelers in check and win.
There were other plays that were not made that night that cost Dallas that game.
Just like there were other plays Baltimore made, or didn’t make, that contributed to the heartbreaking loss.
Smith retired for good after that game. It took him nearly four decades to openly talk about that moment.
Andrews will enter his eighth NFL season this fall.
In all likelihood, he’ll be back in Baltimore.
The Ravens would not have made it as far as they did without him. Even if he isn’t, he’ll land with another NFL team.
He’s too good a player not to be on a roster somewhere in 2025.
Unlike Smith, Andrews will have a chance to make sure that drop on Sunday night isn’t the defining moment of his career.