Sometimes a bizarre play can serve as a memorable catalyst to years of success. Think of the Steelers’ Immaculate Reception in 1972 and Dwight Clark’s famous stretching catch in 1981 for the 49ers. Here’s some words and pictures (courtesy of AP, Getty Photos, and the Plain Dealer) from last Sunday’s tying two-point conversion (a new twist on the phrase “lateral pass”) from Tim Couch to Dennis Northcutt:
“If that would have been a regular third-down play I wouldn’t have thrown that ball up. But since we were going for two it was like, `What the heck.'” — Tim Couch
“Maybe if I would’ve tried to land on Couch, it would’ve been better. We were having fun in the first half, and hopefully it would continue. But I guess the fun ended when they got that conversion.” — defensive tackle Josh Evans
“I thought we did a good job defending the play. The guy made a great catch. He threw a hand grenade up in the air and the guy caught it. They had momentum. When you see momentum like that, it just keeps rolling.” — Jets coach Herman Edwards