1958 Pittsburgh Steelers season
NFL team season
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The 1958 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the franchise's 26th in the National Football League. Coming off a 6–6 result in 1957, the Steelers began playing some home games at a new venue, the University of Pittsburgh's 60,000 seat Pitt Stadium, a significantly larger facility than the 40,000 seat Forbes Field. Despite the superior accommodations of Pitt Stadium, the Steelers never in 1958 drew more than the 31,130 fans they brought out to their season opener.
| 1958 Pittsburgh Steelers season | |
|---|---|
| |
| Head coach | Buddy Parker |
| Home stadium | Pitt Stadium |
| Results | |
| Record | 7–4–1 |
| Division place | 3rd NFL Eastern |
| Playoffs | Did not qualify |
Background
Layne trade
After the second game of the season, Steelers coach Buddy Parker arranged a trade on October 6 that sent quarterback Earl Morrall and two draft picks to the Detroit Lions for quarterback Bobby Layne.[1][2][3] a future hall of famer.
Ticketing and attendance
With optimistic expectations about the growth of the NFL, the Steelers moved to a new larger facility for the 1958 season, the University of Pittsburgh's Pitt Stadium. Designed for football rather than baseball, the Pitt facility offered seating for 60,000 — dwarfing the 40,000 seat capacity of venerable Forbes Field.[4] Despite the enlarged and improved accommodations, the Steelers drew their largest home crowd for the season opener, October 5 against the Cleveland Browns — one of the best teams in the league during the decade of the 1950s — with 31,130 ticketed people through the gate.[5]
The Steelers priced tickets in three price tiers in 1958 — $3.00 seats, $5.00 seats, and $6.00 seats.[6] Season ticket booklets for the 6 regular season games were priced at $15.00, $30.00, and $36.00, respectively.[6]
Pre-season
Schedule
| Game | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Location | Attendance | Sources | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | August 16 | vs. Cleveland Browns | L 0–10 | 0–1 | Rubber Bowl | Akron, OH | 27,202 | [7] | |
| 2 | August 20 | at Green Bay Packers | W 3–0 | 1–1 | County Stadium | Milwaukee, WI | 17,294 | [8] | |
| 3 | August 30 | Chicago Bears | L 10–17 | 1–2 | Pitt Stadium | Pittsburgh | 16,029 | [9] | |
| 4 | September 6 | vs. Baltimore Colts | W 13–10 | 2–2 | Civic Stadium | Buffalo, NY | 8,661 | [10] | |
| 5 | September 12 | vs. Chicago Cardinals | L 7–21 | 2–3 | Busch Stadium | St. Louis, MO | 25,302 | [11] | |
| 6 | September 21 | Los Angeles Rams | L 6–31 | 2–4 | Memorial Coliseum | Los Angeles | 26,396 | [12] | |
Regular season
Schedule
| Game | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap | Sources | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 28 | at San Francisco 49ers | L 20–23 | 0–1 | Kezar Stadium | 51,856 | Recap | [13] | |
| 2 | October 5 | Cleveland Browns | L 12–45 | 0–2 | Pitt Stadium | 31,130 | Recap | ||
| 3 | October 12 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 24–3 | 1–2 | Forbes Field | 23,153 | Recap | ||
| 4 | October 19 | at Cleveland Browns | L 10–27 | 1–3 | Cleveland Stadium | 66,852 | Recap | ||
| 5 | October 26 | at New York Giants | L 6–17 | 1–4 | Yankee Stadium | 25,007 | Recap | ||
| 6 | November 2 | Washington Redskins | W 24–16 | 2–4 | Forbes Field | 19,525 | Recap | ||
| 7 | November 9 | at Philadelphia Eagles | W 31–24 | 3–4 | Franklin Field | 26,306 | Recap | ||
| 8 | November 16 | New York Giants | W 31–10 | 4–4 | Forbes Field | 30,030 | Recap | ||
| 9 | November 23 | at Chicago Cardinals | W 27–20 | 5–4 | Comiskey Park | 15,946 | Recap | ||
| 10 | November 30 | Chicago Bears | W 24–10 | 6–4 | Forbes Field | 20,094 | Recap | ||
| 11 | December 7 | at Washington Redskins | T 14–14 | 6–4–1 | Griffith Stadium | 23,370 | Recap | ||
| 12 | December 13 | Chicago Cardinals | W 38–21 | 7–4–1 | Pitt Stadium | 16,660 | Recap | ||
| Note: Conference opponents in Bold. | |||||||||
Standings
| NFL Eastern Conference | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | CONF | PF | PA | STK | ||
| New York Giants | 9 | 3 | 0 | .750 | 7–3 | 246 | 183 | W4 | |
| Cleveland Browns | 9 | 3 | 0 | .750 | 8–2 | 302 | 217 | L1 | |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 7 | 4 | 1 | .636 | 6–3–1 | 261 | 230 | W1 | |
| Washington Redskins | 4 | 7 | 1 | .364 | 3–6–1 | 214 | 268 | W1 | |
| Chicago Cardinals | 2 | 9 | 1 | .182 | 2–7–1 | 261 | 356 | L6 | |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 2 | 9 | 1 | .182 | 2–7–1 | 235 | 306 | L4 | |
- Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
Game summaries
Game 1 (Sunday September 28, 1958): San Francisco 49ers
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steelers | 0 | 7 | 13 | 0 | 20 |
| 49ers | 7 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 23 |
at Kezar Stadium, San Francisco, California
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 32,150
- Referee:
Scoring Drives:
- San Francisco – McElhenny 2 run (Soltau kick)
- Pittsburgh – Mathews 10 pass from Morrall (Miner kick)
- Pittsburgh – FG Miner 22
- Pittsburgh – Younger 1 run (Miner kick)
- Pittsburgh – FG Miner 23
- San Francisco – Pace 11 run (kick blocked)
- San Francisco – Brodie 1 run (Soltau kick)
- San Francisco – FG Soltau 22
Game 2 (Sunday October 5, 1958): Cleveland Browns
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Browns | 7 | 17 | 14 | 7 | 45 |
| Steelers | 0 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 12 |
at Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 31,130
- Referee:
- TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
- Cleveland – Brown 23 run (Groza kick)
- Cleveland – Mitchell 21 pass from Plum (Groza kick)
- Cleveland – Brewster 8 pass from Plum (Groza kick)
- Pittsburgh – Tracy 1 run (Miner kick)
- Pittsburgh – FG Miner 31
- Cleveland – FG Groza 32
- Cleveland – Brown 59 run (Groza kick)
- Cleveland – Brown 3 run (Groza kick)
- Cleveland – P. Carpenter 4 pass from Ninowski (Groza kick)
- Pittsburgh – Safety, Ninowski tackled by Stautner in end zone
Game 3 (Sunday October 12, 1958): Philadelphia Eagles
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eagles | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Steelers | 14 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 24 |
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 23,153
- Referee:
Scoring Drives:
Game 4 (Sunday October 19, 1958): Cleveland Browns
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steelers | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| Browns | 7 | 14 | 0 | 6 | 27 |
at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 66,852
- Referee:
- TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
Game 5 (Sunday October 26, 1958): New York Giants
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steelers | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| Giants | 7 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
at Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 25,007
- Referee:
Scoring Drives:
Game 6 (Sunday November 2, 1958): Washington Redskins
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Redskins | 3 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 16 |
| Steelers | 0 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 24 |
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 19,525
- Referee:
Scoring Drives:
Game 7 (Sunday November 9, 1958): Philadelphia Eagles
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steelers | 3 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 31 |
| Eagles | 7 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 24 |
at Franklin Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 26,306
- Referee:
Scoring Drives:
- Pittsburgh – FG Miner 38
- Philadelphia – Retzlaff 18 pass from Barnes (Walston kick)
- Pittsburgh – Tracy 13 pass from Layne (Miner kick)
- Pittsburgh – Tracy 25 pass from Layne (Miner kick)
- Philadelphia – FG Walston 16
- Philadelphia – Barnes 3 run (Walston kick)
- Pittsburgh – Mathews 34 pass from Layne (Miner kick)
- Pittsburgh – Tracy 40 pass from Layne (Miner kick)
- Philadelphia – McDonald 10 pass from Van Brocklin (Walston kick)
Game 8 (Sunday November 16, 1958): New York Giants
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giants | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Steelers | 0 | 7 | 14 | 10 | 31 |
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 30,030
- Referee:
Scoring Drives:
Game 9 (Sunday November 23, 1958): Chicago Cardinals
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steelers | 10 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 27 |
| Cardinals | 10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 20 |
at Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 15,946
- Referee:
Scoring Drives:
- Chicago Cardinals – Matson 101 kick return (Conrad kick)
- Pittsburgh – Elter 5 run (Miner kick)
- Pittsburgh – FG Miner 37
- Chicago Cardinals – FG Conrad 38
- Pittsburgh – Elter 8 run (Miner kick)
- Pittsburgh – FG Miner 30
- Chicago Cardinals – FG Conrad 12
- Chicago Cardinals – Matson 1 run (Conrad kick)
- Pittsburgh – Orr 78 pass from Layne (Miner kick)
Game 10 (Sunday November 30, 1958): Chicago Bears
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bears | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| Steelers | 7 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 24 |
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 20,094
- Referee:
Scoring Drives:
Game 11 (Sunday December 7, 1958): Washington Redskins
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steelers | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
| Redskins | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
at Griffith Stadium, Washington, DC
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 23,370
- Referee:
Scoring Drives:
Game 12 (Saturday December 13, 1958): Chicago Cardinals
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cardinals | 0 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 21 |
| Steelers | 0 | 17 | 7 | 14 | 38 |
at Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Game time:
- Game weather: Sunny, cold (the water pipes in Pitt Stadium froze)
- Game attendance: 16,660
- Referee:
Scoring Drives:
- Pittsburgh – Orr 36 pass from Layne (Miner kick)
- Chicago Cardinals – Matson 92 kick return (Conrad kick)
- Pittsburgh – FG Miner 13
- Pittsburgh – Layne 17 run (Miner kick)
- Chicago Cardinals – Watkins 48 pass from Reynolds (Conrad kick)
- Pittsburgh – Orr 17 pass from Layne (Miner kick)
- Chicago Cardinals – Matson 1 run (Conrad kick)
- Pittsburgh – Orr 72 pass from Tracy (Miner kick)
- Pittsburgh – Reynolds 5 run (Miner kick)
Roster
Quarterbacks (QB)
Running backs (RB)
Wide receivers (WR)
Tight ends (TE)
|
Offensive linemen (OL)
Defensive linemen (DL)
|
Linebackers (LB)
Defensive backs (DB)
Special teams (ST)
|
Reserve
Rookies in italics |
