Wild Card, 1989: Pittsburgh 26 Houston Oilers 23

Game information
Pittsburgh cornerback Rod Woodson recovered a fumble to set up Gary Anderson's winning 50-yard field goal in overtime to give Pittsburgh the win.

Houston took the opening kickoff and drove to the Steelers 40-yard line, but were stopped there and Tony Zendejas missed a 55-yard field goal. Later in the quarter, Steelers rookie Jerry Olsavsky blocked a punt from Greg Montgomery and Pittsburgh recovered on the Oilers 23. Eventually facing fourth and 1 on the Houston 9-yard line, Steelers coach Chuck Noll decided to go for the first down. This paid off as running back Tim Worley took a pitch and ran all the way to the end zone, evading linebacker Robert Lyles and plowing right through safety Bubba McDowell on the way to a 7–0 Steelers lead with 2:36 left in the first quarter.

Houston responded on their next drive, moving the ball 96 yards to the Steelers 3-yard line, but could go no further and settled for a 26-yard Zendejas field goal. Then McDowell recovered a fumble from Worley on the Pittsburgh 41. From there the Oilers advanced to the 17-yard line, but when faced with fourth and 1 they decided to settle for another Zendejas field goal, cutting the score to 7–6. Pittsburgh struck back with a drive to the Oilers 9, featured a 49-yard run by Merril Hoge. However, they also ended up facing fourth and 1, and would settle for an Anderson field goal to put them up 10–6 going into halftime.

The field goal battle continued in the third quarter, with Zendejas kicking one more and Anderson adding another two, making the score 16–9 at the start of the fourth quarter. But quarterback Warren Moon finally got his team to the end zone with a 10-play, 80-yard drive to score on his 18-yard touchdown pass to Ernest Givins that tied the game. Following a Pittsburgh three-and-out, Harry Newsome's punt went just 25 yards to the Steelers 38-yard line. From there it took just five plays for Houston to take their first lead of the game, scoring on Moon's 9-yard pass touchdown pass to Givins that put them up 23–16 with 5:16 left in regulation. Starting from their own 18 after the kickoff, Pittsburgh drove 82 yards, featuring a 22-yard run by receiver Dwight Stone (the only time he touched the ball all game) on a reverse play, to score on Hoge's 2-yard touchdown run with 46 seconds left, tying the game and sending it into overtime.

Pittsburgh won the coin toss and received the ball first, but were quickly forced to punt, and another short kick from Newsome gave Houston the ball with great field position on the Steelers 45-yard line. On the Oilers first play, Moon handed the ball off to Lorenzo White, who was quickly leveled by Woodson and defensive end Tim Johnson, causing a fumble that Woodson recovered and returned four yards to the Oilers 46. From there, Pittsburgh could gain just 13 yards with a few Hoge carries before facing a fourth down. But it was enough for Anderson to kick a 50-yard field goal, his longest attempt of the season, which he sent perfectly through the uprights to give the Steelers the win.

Hoge finished the game with 100 rushing yards on just 17 carries, along with three receptions for 26 yards. Moon threw for 315 yards and two touchdowns. Givins caught 11 passes for 136 yards. Pittsburgh won despite being outgained in total yards 380–289. Oilers coach Jerry Glanville was fired a few days after this game. This was a particularly satisfying win for the Steelers, who had started the season with a 51–0 loss to Cleveland and a 41–10 loss to Cincinnati. They had been shutout three times, outgained by their opponents in ten consecutive games, and had to recover from a 4–6 record to get into the playoffs by winning five of their last six games.

This was the third postseason meeting between the Steelers and Oilers. Pittsburgh won both previous meetings.

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