1951 Pittsburgh Steelers season

1951 Pittsburgh Steelers season
Head coach	John Michelosen
Home field	Forbes Field
Results
Record	4–7–1
Division place	4th NFL American
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

The 1951 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the franchise's 19th in the National Football League.

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record
1	October 1	New York Giants	T 13–13	0–0–1
2	October 7	at Green Bay Packers	L 33–35	0–1–1
3	October 14	San Francisco 49ers	L 24–28	0–2–1
4	October 21	at Cleveland Browns	L 0–17	0–3–1
5	October 28	at Chicago Cardinals	W 28–14	1–3–1
6	November 4	Philadelphia Eagles	L 13–34	1–4–1
7	November 11	Green Bay Packers	W 28–7	2–4–1
8	November 18	Washington Redskins	L 7–22	2–5–1
9	November 25	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 17–13	3–5–1
10	December 2	at New York Giants	L 0–14	3–6–1
11	December 9	Cleveland Browns	L 0–28	3–7–1
12	December 16	at Washington Redskins	W 20–10	4–7–1

Game summaries

Week 1 (Monday October 1, 1951): New York Giants

	1	2	3	4	Total
Giants	3	7	3	0	13
Steelers	3	7	3	0	13

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 27,984
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

• Pittsburgh – FG Geri 31
• New York Giants – FG Poole 11
• New York Giants – Scott 56 pass from Tidwell (Poole kick)
• Pittsburgh – Geri 1 run (Geri kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Geri 26
• New York Giants – FG Poole 21

Week 2 (Sunday October 7, 1951): Green Bay Packers

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	0	23	10	0	33
Packers	21	7	0	7	35

at City Stadium, Green Bay, Wisconsin

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 8,324
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

• Green Bay – Grimes 18 run (Cone kick)
• Green Bay – Mann 40 pass from Rote (Cone kick)
• Green Bay – Pelfrey 20 pass from Thomason (Cone kick)
• Green Bay – Rote 1 run (Cone kick)
• Pittsburgh – Chandnois 33 pass from Ortmann (Geri kick)
• Pittsburgh – Chandnois 2 run (Geri kick)
• Pittsburgh – Rogel 1 run (Geri kick)
• Pittsburgh – Safety, Cloud tackled by Mehelich in end zone
• Pittsburgh – Finks 25 interception (Geri kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Geri 26
• Green Bay – Mann 16 pass from Rote (Cone kick)

Week 3 (Sunday October 14, 1951): San Francisco 49ers

	1	2	3	4	Total
49ers	7	0	21	0	28
Steelers	0	10	0	14	24

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 27,307
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

'Scoring drives:

• San Francisco – Cason 65 interception (Soltau kick)
• Pittsburgh – Nickel 77 pass from Geri (Geri kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Geri 16
• San Francisco – Monachino 7 run (Soltau kick)
• San Francisco – Perry 4 pass from Albert (Soltau kick)
• San Francisco – Schabarum 8 run (Soltau kick)
• Pittsburgh – Chandnois 8 pass from Mathews (Geri kick)
• Pittsburgh – Nickel 22 pass from Mathews (Geri kick)

Week 4 (Sunday October 21, 1951): Cleveland Browns

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	0	0	0	0	0
Browns	0	10	7	0	17

at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 32,409
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

• Cleveland – Gillom 38 fumble run (Groza kick)
• Cleveland – FG Groza 25
• Cleveland – Lahr 27 interception (Groza kick)

Week 5 (Sunday October 28, 1951): Chicago Cardinals

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	0	7	0	21	28
Cardinals	0	0	14	0	14

at Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 14,773
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

• Pittsburgh – Jansante 46 pass from Geri (Geri kick)
• Chicago Cardinals – Cross 1 run (Patton kick)
• Chicago Cardinals – Cross 7 run (Patton kick)
• Pittsburgh – Geri 49 pass from Chandnois (Geri kick)
• Pittsburgh – Nickel 33 pass from Ortmann (Geri kick)
• Pittsburgh – Butler 52 interception (Geri run)

Week 6 (Sunday November 4, 1951): Philadelphia Eagles

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	0	14	13	7	34
Steelers	3	7	3	0	13

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 19,649
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• Pittsburgh – FG Geri 22
• Pittsburgh – Shipkey 20 interception (Geri kick)
• Philadelphia – Walston 26 pass from Burk (Waltson kick)
• Philadelphia – Pihos 12 pass from Burk (Walston kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Geri 40
• Philadelphia – S. Van Buren 2 run (kick failed)
• Philadelphia – Cowhig 25 fumble run (Walston kick)
• Philadelphia – Sandifer 30 pass from Burk (Walston kick)

Week 7 (Sunday November 11, 1951): Green Bay Packers

	1	2	3	4	Total
Packers	0	0	0	7	7
Steelers	14	7	0	7	28

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 20,080
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

• Pittsburgh – Chandnois 13 run (Geri kick)
• Pittsburgh – Nuzum 3 run (Geri kick)
• Pittsburgh – Geri 3 run (Geri kick)
• Pittsburgh – Minarik 35 pass from Chandnois (Geri kick)
• Green Bay – Mann 20 pass from Rote (Cone kick)

Week 8 (Sunday November 18, 1951): Washington Redskins

	1	2	3	4	Total
Redskins	0	6	3	13	22
Steelers	0	7	0	0	7

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 15,060
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

• Washington – Goode 2 run (kick blocked)
• Pittsburgh – Mathews 68 punt return (Geri kick)
• Washington – FG Dudley 30
• Washington – FG Dudley 37
• Washington – FG Dudley 37
• Washington – Goode 10 run (Dudley kick)

Week 9 (Sunday November 25, 1951): Philadelphia Eagles

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	10	7	0	0	17
Eagles	0	6	0	7	13

at Shibe Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 15,537
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

• Pittsburgh – FG Geri 24
• Pittsburgh – Rogel 1 run (Geri kick)
• Philadelphia – Pihos 16 pass from Burk (kick blocked)
• Pittsburgh – Chandnois 37 pass from Ortmann (Geri kick)
• Philadelphia – Parmer 15 run (Walston kick)

Week 10 (Sunday December 2, 1951): New York Giants

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	0	0	0	0	0
Giants	0	7	0	7	14

at Polo Grounds, New York, New York

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 19,196
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

• New York Giants – Landry 9 fumble run (Poole kick)
• New York Giants – Schnellbacher 46 interception (Poole kick)

Week 11 (Sunday December 9, 1951): Cleveland Browns

	1	2	3	4	Total
Browns	0	21	0	7	28
Steelers	0	0	0	0	0

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 24,229
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

• Cleveland – Carpenter 24 run (Groza kick)
• Cleveland – Motley 8 run (Groza kick)
• Cleveland – Lavelli 7 pass from Graham (Groza kick)
• Cleveland – Taseff 3 run (Groza kick)

Week 13 (Sunday December 16, 1951): Washington Redskins

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	0	0	0	20	20
Redskins	3	7	0	0	10

at Griffith Stadium, Washington, DC

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 18,969
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

• Washington – FG Dudley 15
• Washington – Tereshinski 16 pass from Baugh (Dudley kick)
• Pittsburgh – Chandnois 40 pass from Finks (Geri kick)
• Pittsburgh – Rogel 3 run (Geri kick)
• Pittsburgh – Geri 4 run (kick failed)

Standings

NFL American Conference
	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Cleveland Browns	11	1	0	.917	9–0	331	152	W11
New York Giants	9	2	1	.818	7–2–1	254	161	W4
Washington Redskins	5	7	0	.417	4–5	183	296	L1
Pittsburgh Steelers	4	7	1	.364	3–5–1	183	235	W1
Philadelphia Eagles	4	8	0	.333	3–6	234	264	L2
Chicago Cardinals	3	9	0	.250	0–8	210	287	W1

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