Pittsburgh running back Najee Harris said on Friday that he and the Steelers would be playing for Franco Harris on Saturday night against the Las Vegas Raiders.
The game had been planned as a celebration of the Pro Football Hall of Fame running back’s Immaculate Reception 50 years and one day before Pittsburgh and the Las Vegas Raiders square off on Saturday night in the snow.
Harris’ miraculous play with 22 seconds remaining had beaten the Oakland Raiders 13-7 in the AFC playoffs, and the Steelers decided to mark the golden anniversary by retiring Harris’ No. 32 at halftime.
But the event took a different tone on Tuesday night, when Harris died suddenly at age 72.
The ceremony still took place at halftime, but the Steelers didn’t look like they would deliver a victory in memory of one of the franchise’s greatest players until a touchdown with 46 seconds to play lifted Pittsburgh past the Raiders 13-10.
Pittsburgh trailed 10-3 entering the fourth quarter. On the Steelers’ first possession of the final period, Najee Harris got Pittsburgh moving toward a field goal with a 17-yard reception, which he achieved by hurdling Las Vegas cornerback Nate Hobbs after catching a swing pass.
Pittsburgh scored the winning touchdown to cap a 10-play, 76-yard drive that started with 2:55 to play. Harris caught three passes for 30 yards on the game-winning series.
Harris matched a season high for receptions with six and set a season high for receiving yards with 42.
“They was dropping back a lot, so I knew I was going to get the ball underneath a lot, and I got to make the most out of that,” Harris said on NFL Network after the game, appearing in a Franco Harris jersey. “I want to be threat where sometimes some teams put their DBs on me, so that could free up somebody else, but they didn’t do that right here, so I was like: I’m going to take full advantage of these little checkdown routes as much as possible. But at the same time, I wanted to control the clock, get out of bounds as much as I can.”
Harris also ran for 53 yards on 16 carries against Las Vegas.
Harris was among the 35 former Alabama players who got on the field on the 16th weekend of the NFL’s 103rd season.
Five other former Alabama players were involved in the Las Vegas-Pittsburgh game:
· Raiders cornerback Anthony Averett is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.
· Minkah Fitzpatrick started at free safety for the Steelers. Fitzpatrick made two tackles and one interception. Fitzpatrick’s fifth interception of 2022 and 18th of his career came off Las Vegas quarterback Derek Carr at the Pittsburgh 29-yard line with 4:40 left in the third quarter and the Steelers trailing 10-3.
· Steelers center J.C. Hassenauer played but did not record any stats.
· Josh Jacobs started at running back for the Raiders. The NFL rushing leader, Jacobs had 44 yards on 15 rushing attempts and caught a 6-yard pass. Jacobs had run for 674 yards and four touchdowns on 132 carries in Las Vegas’ previous five games.
· Levi Wallace started at left cornerback for the Steelers. Wallace made three tackles and broke up a pass.
In the other Sunday games:
Baltimore Ravens 17, Atlanta Falcons 9
· Ravens cornerback Jalyn Armour-Davis (St. Paul’s Episcopal) is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.
· Kenyan Drake was designated as a game-day inactive.
· Rashaan Evans (Auburn High) started at inside linebacker for the Falcons. Evans made six tackles.
· Marlon Humphrey (Hoover) started at cornerback for the Ravens. Humphrey made seven tackles and forced a fumble. After a 20-yard reception by Drake London, Humphrey knocked the football away from the Atlanta wide receiver, and Baltimore recovered at the Ravens 30-yard line with 9:09 left in the first half. The turnover launched a 70-yard touchdown drive that gave Baltimore a 14-0 lead.
Carolina Panthers 37, Detroit Lions 23
· Bradley Bozeman (Handley) started at center for the Panthers. Carolina registered a franchise-record 320 rushing yards on Saturday.
· Panthers guard Deonte Brown (Austin) is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.
· Isaiah Buggs started at defensive tackle for the Lions. Buggs made six tackles.
· Ross Pierschbacher was designated as a game-day inactive.
· Lions cornerback Saivion Smith is on the practice squad injured reserve and not eligible to play.
· Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams was targeted once but did not have a reception.
Buffalo Bills 35, Chicago Bears 13
· Bears safety Eddie Jackson is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.
· Bears offensive lineman Alex Leatherwood played but did not record any stats.
· Bears outside linebacker Terrell Lewis is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.
New Orleans 17, Cleveland Browns 10
· Amari Cooper started at wide receiver for the Browns. Cooper caught six passes for 72 yards to reach 1,000 receiving yards for the 2022 season. Cooper has had at least 1,000 receiving yards in six of his eight NFL seasons.
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· Browns running back Jerome Ford returned three kickoffs for 97 yards, including a 37-yarder.
· Browns tight end Miller Forristall is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.
· Saints running back Derrick Gore is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.
· Browns safety Ronnie Harrison made one tackle.
· Saints running back Mark Ingram is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.
· Reggie Ragland (Bob Jones) started at middle linebacker for the Browns. Ragland had played two defensive snaps this season before Saturday, but he led Cleveland with 10 tackles in his first appearance in the Browns’ starting lineup.
· Jedrick Wills Jr. started at left offensive tackle for the Browns.
Kansas City Chiefs 24, Seattle Seahawks 10
· Seahawks long snapper Carson Tinker handled the snaps on five punts, one field goal and one extra point.
Minnesota Vikings 27, New York Giants 24
· Giants safety Landon Collins made four tackles, recorded one sack, registered one tackle for loss and broke up one pass.
· Giants safety Xavier McKinney is on reserve/non-football injury and not eligible to play.
· Evan Neal started at right offensive tackle for the Giants.
· Giants cornerback Aaron Robinson is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.
· Vikings tight end Irv Smith Jr. is on injured reserve and is not eligible to play.
· Dalvin Tomlinson started at defensive tackle for the Vikings. Tomlinson made two tackles, recorded one tackle for loss and registered one quarterback hit.
Cincinnati Bengals 22, New England Patriots 18
· Patriots defensive tackle Christian Barmore made one tackle in his return from injured reserve. A knee injury had kept Barmore out of action since Oct. 16.
· Patriots running back Damien Harris was designated as a game-day inactive. Harris missed a fourth consecutive game because of a thigh injury.
· Patriots linebacker Anfernee Jennings (Dadeville) made two tackles.
· Mac Jones started at quarterback for the Patriots. Jones completed 21-of-33 passes for 240 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Jones threw for two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, connecting with Kendrick Bourne from 5 yards out with 12:58 remaining and with Jakobi Meyers from 48 yards away with 6:02 to play.
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· Patriots defensive end LaBryan Ray (James Clemens) is on the practice squad injured reserve and not eligible to play.
· Jonah Williams started at left offensive tackle for the Bengals.
· Patriots outside linebacker Mack Wilson (Carver-Montgomery) played but did not record any stats.
Houston Texans 19, Tennessee Titans 14
· Titans defensive end Da’Shawn Hand is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.
· Christian Harris started at linebacker for the Texans. Harris made six tackles, intercepted a pass and broke up another pass. Harris got his first NFL interception with 1:33 to play and returned the pick 20 yards to the Tennessee 38-yard line.
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· Derrick Henry started at running back for the Titans. Henry ran for 126 yards and one touchdown on 23 carries and caught two passes that netted zero yards. Henry scored the first points of the game on a 48-yard run with 8:48 left in the first quarter. He became the 19th player in NFL history with 20 regular-season games with at least 125 rushing yards. Henry set an NFL record for touchdowns of at least 45 yards against one opponent with his fifth against Houston. It also was Henry’s 12th rushing touchdown against the Texans, breaking his tie with Maurice Jones-Drew for the most by any player against the franchise.
· Texans tight end O.J. Howard (Autauga Academy) was designated as a game-day inactive.
· Texans wide receiver John Metchie III is on reserve/non-football injury and not eligible to play.
San Francisco 49ers 37, Washington Commanders 20
· Jonathan Allen started at defensive tackle for the Commanders. Allen made six tackles.
· Commanders defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.
· Daron Payne (Shades Valley) started at defensive tackle for the Commanders. Payne made four tackles and recorded one sack. Payne has 9.5 sacks in 2022 after totaling 14.5 in his first four seasons.
· Brian Robinson Jr. (Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa) started at running back for the Commanders. Robinson ran for 58 yards on 22 carries.
· Commanders wide receiver Cam Sims made a tackle on special teams.
Dallas Cowboys 40, Philadelphia Eagles 34
· Landon Dickerson started at left guard for the Eagles.
· Trevon Diggs started at cornerback for the Cowboys. Diggs made two tackles.
· Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was designated as a game-day inactive. Hurts had started Philadelphia’s other 14 games this season, but he missed this one with a sprained shoulder.
· Eagles cornerback Josh Jobe played but did not record any stats.
· DeVonta Smith started at wide receiver for the Eagles. Smith caught eight passes for 113 yards and two touchdowns. In his second NFL game with two TDs, Smith scored on a 14-yard reception as Philadelphia took a 27-17 lead with 9:00 left in the third quarter and on a 9-yard reception as the Eagles took a 34-27 lead with 9:49 left in the game. Smith’s second straight 100-yard game lifted him past 1,000 receiving yards for the first time in his NFL career.
Week 16 started on Thursday night, when the Jacksonville Jaguars defeated the New York Jets 19-3.
Week 16 continues on Sunday, when the Green Bay Packers and Miami Dolphins face off at noon CST, Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Rams meet at 3:30 p.m. and Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Arizona Cardinals play at 7:20 p.m. FOX will televise the Packers-Dolphins, CBS and Nickelodeon will televise the Broncos-Rams and NBC will televise the Buccaneers-Cardinals.
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Week 16 concludes on Monday, when the Los Angeles Chargers and Indianapolis Colts square off at 7:15 p.m. ESPN and ESPN Deportes will televise the game.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
