1954 Pittsburgh Steelers season

1954 Pittsburgh Steelers season
Head coach	Walt Kiesling
Home field	Forbes Field
Results
Record	5–7
Division place	4th NFL Eastern
Playoff finish	did not qualify

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Time (ET)	Result
1	September 26, 1954	at Green Bay Packers		W 21–20
2	October 2, 1954	Washington Redskins		W 37–7
3	October 9, 1954	at Philadelphia Eagles		L 24–22
4	October 17, 1954	Cleveland Browns		W 55–27
5	October 23, 1954	Philadelphia Eagles		W 17–7
6	October 31, 1954	at Chicago Cardinals		L 17–14
7	November 7, 1954	New York Giants		L 30–6
8	November 14, 1954	at Washington Redskins		L 17–14
9	November 20, 1954	San Francisco 49ers		L 31–3
10	November 28, 1954	Chicago Cardinals		W 20–17
11	December 5, 1954	at New York Giants		L 24–3
12	December 12, 1954	at Cleveland Browns		L 42–7

Game summaries

Week 1 (Sunday September 26, 1954): Green Bay Packers

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	7	7	0	7	21
Packers	7	10	3	0	20

at City Stadium, Green Bay, Wisconsin

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 20,675
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• Green Bay – Reid 69 run (Cone kick)
• Pittsburgh – Lattner 14 pass from Finks (Kissell kick)
• Green Bay – Howton 44 pass from Rote (Cone kick)
• Green Bay – FG Cone 45
• Pittsburgh – Nickel 2 pass from Finks (Kissell kick)
• Green Bay – FG Cone 32
• Pittsburgh – Mathews 37 pass from Finks (Held kick)

Week 2 (Saturday October 2, 1954): Washington Redskins

	1	2	3	4	Total
Redskins	0	0	0	7	7
Steelers	13	14	7	3	37

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 22,492
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• Pittsburgh – Nickel 25 pass from Held (Held kick)
• Pittsburgh – Lattner 1 run (kick blocked)
• Pittsburgh – Rogel 1 run (Held kick)
• Pittsburgh – Sulima 5 pass from Finks (Held kick)
• Pittsburgh – Brandt 9 run (Held kick)
• Washington – Dorow 1 run (Felton kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Held 15

Week 3 (Saturday October 9, 1954): Philadelphia Eagles

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	3	9	7	3	22
Eagles	14	3	0	7	24

at Connie Mack Stadium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 37,322
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• Pittsburgh – FG Held 31
• Philadelphia – Walston 24 pass from Thomason (Walston kick)
• Philadelphia – Williams 11 run (Walston kick)
• Philadelphia – FG Walston 14
• Pittsburgh – Butler 23 interception (Held kick)
• Pittsburgh – Safety, Thomason tackled in end zone by McPeak
• Pittsburgh – Lattner 7 run (Held kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Held 17
• Philadelphia – Pihos 13 pass from Burk (Walston kick)

Week 4 (Sunday October 17, 1954): Cleveland Browns

	1	2	3	4	Total
Browns	14	6	0	7	27
Steelers	7	27	14	7	55

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 31,256
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• Cleveland – Reynolds 5 run (Groza kick)
• Pittsburgh – Mathews 7 pass from Finks (Held kick)
• Cleveland – Jones 37 pass from Graham (Groza kick)
• Pittsburgh – Rogel 14 pass from Finks (kick failed)
• Pittsburgh – Butler 41 interception (Held kick)
• Pittsburgh – Lattner 12 run (Held kick)
• Cleveland – Lavelli 29 pass from Graham (kick blocked)
• Pittsburgh – Mathews 78 pass from Finks (Held kick)
• Pittsburgh – Mathews 8 pass from Finks (Held kick)
• Pittsburgh – Mathews 3 run (Held kick)
• Cleveland – Lavelli 24 pass from Graham (Groza kick)
• Pittsburgh – Craft 81 interception (Held kick)

Week 5 (Saturday October 23, 1954): Philadelphia Eagles

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	0	0	0	7	7
Steelers	0	3	7	7	17

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 39,075
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• Pittsburgh – FG Kissell 24
• Pittsburgh – Nickel 52 pass from Burk (Walston kick)
• Philadelphia – Pihos 24 pass from Burk (Walston kick)
• Pittsburgh – Chandnois 5 run (Kissell kick)

Week 6 (Sunday October 31, 1954): Chicago Cardinals

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	7	0	0	7	14
Cardinals	7	0	3	7	17

at Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 18,765
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• Pittsburgh – Nickel 15 pass from Finks (Kissell kick)
• Chicago Cardinals – Matson 91 kick return (Summerall kick)
• Chicago Cardinals – FG Summerall 24
• Chicago Cardinals – Matson 18 pass from McHan (Summerall kick)
• Pittsburgh – Lattner 1 run (Kissell kick)

Week 7 (Sunday November 7, 1954): New York Giants

	1	2	3	4	Total
Giants	9	14	7	0	30
Steelers	0	6	0	0	6

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 25,158
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• New York Giants – Safety, Chandnois recovered blocked punt in own end zone, tackled by Nolan
• New York Giants – MacAfee 21 pass from Conerly (Agajanian kick)
• Pittsburgh – Lattner 5 run (kick blocked)
• New York Giants – Rote 23 pass from Conerly (Agajanian kick)
• New York Giants – Price 2 run (Agajanian kick)
• New York Giants – Topp 14 pass from Conerly (Agajanian kick)

Week 8 (Sunday November 14, 1954): Washington Redskins

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	0	7	0	7	14
Redskins	0	7	3	7	17

at Griffith Stadium, Washington, DC

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 19,388
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• Washington – Wells 9 run (Janowicz kick)
• Pittsburgh – Lattner 24 pass from Finks (Kissell kick)
• Washington – FG Janowicz 32
• Washington – Taylor 42 pass from Scarbath (Janowicz kick)
• Pittsburgh – Nickel 4 pass from Finks (Kissell kick)

Week 9 (Saturday November 20, 1954): San Francisco 49ers

	1	2	3	4	Total
49ers	3	21	0	7	31
Steelers	0	3	0	0	3

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 37,001
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• San Francisco – FG Soltau 24
• San Francisco – Jessup 44 pass from Tittle (Soltau kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Kissell 31
• San Francisco – Perry 2 run (Soltau kick)
• San Francisco – Johnson 24 run (Soltau kick)
• San Francisco – Jessup 24 pass from Tittle (Soltau kick)

Week 10 (Sunday November 28, 1954): Chicago Cardinals

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	0	14	3	0	17
Steelers	0	10	0	10	20

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 17,460
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• Pittsburgh – FG Bolkovac 21
• Pittsburgh – Mathews 29 pass from Finks (Bolkovac kick)
• Chicago Cardinals – Stonesifer 39 pass from McHan (Summerall kick)
• Chicago Cardinals – Matson 60 pass from McHan (Summerall kick)
• Chicago Cardinals – FG Summerall 34
• Pittsburgh – Mathews 3 run (Bolkovac kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Bolkovac 26

Week 11 (Sunday November 5, 1954): New York Giants

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	3	0	0	0	3
Giants	7	7	7	3	24

at Polo Grounds, New York, New York

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 16,856
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• New York Giants – Price 7 run (Agajanian kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Bolkovac 15
• New York Giants – MacAfee 42 pass from Clatterbuck (Agajanian kick)
• New York Giants – Rote 42 pass from Clatterbuck (Agajanian kick)
• New York Giants – FG Agajanian 20

Week 12 (Sunday December 12, 1954): Cleveland Browns

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	0	0	7	0	7
Browns	7	21	0	14	42

at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 28,064
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• Cleveland – Hanulak 13 run (Groza kick)
• Cleveland – Konz 54 interception (Groza kick)
• Cleveland – Hanulak 3 run (Groza kick)
• Cleveland – Hanulak 8 run (Groza kick)
• Pittsburgh – Mathews 47 pass from Finks (Bolkovac kick)
• Cleveland – Morrison 2 run (Groza kick)
• Cleveland – Reynolds 3 run (Groza kick)

Standings

NFL Eastern Conference
	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Cleveland Browns	9	3	0	.750	8–2	336	162	L1
Philadelphia Eagles	7	4	1	.636	7–3	284	230	W1
New York Giants	7	5	0	.583	7–3	293	184	L1
Pittsburgh Steelers	5	7	0	.417	4–6	219	263	L2
Washington Redskins	3	9	0	.250	2–8	207	432	W1
Chicago Cardinals	2	10	0	.167	2–8	183	347	L3

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

References