1959 Pittsburgh Steelers season

1959 Pittsburgh Steelers season
Head coach	Buddy Parker
Home field	Forbes Field
Results
Record	6–5–1
Division place	4th NFL Eastern
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

The 1959 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the franchise's 27th in the National Football League.

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record
1	September 26	Cleveland Browns	W 17–7	1–0
2	October 4	Washington Redskins	L 17–23	1–1
3	October 11	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 24–28	1–2
4	October 18	at Washington Redskins	W 27–6	2–2
5	October 25	New York Giants	L 16–21	2–3
6	November 1	at Chicago Cardinals	L 24–45	2–4
7	November 8	Detroit Lions	T 10–10	2–4–1
8	November 15	at New York Giants	W 14–9	3–4–1
9	November 22	at Cleveland Browns	W 21–20	4–4–1
10	November 29	Philadelphia Eagles	W 31–0	5–4–1
11	December 6	at Chicago Bears	L 21–27	5–5–1
12	December 13	Chicago Cardinals	W 35–20	6–5–1

Game summaries

Week 1 (Saturday September 26, 1959): Cleveland Browns

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

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 33,844
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

• Cleveland – Plum 1 run (Groza kick) CLE 7–0
• Pittsburgh – FG Layne 26 CLE 7–3
• Pittsburgh – Orr 20 pass from Layne (Layne kick)PIT 10–7
• Pittsburgh – Brewster 19 pass from Layne (Bobby PIT 17-7ne kick)

Week 2 (Sunday October 4, 1959): Washington Redskins

	1	2	3	4	Total
Redskins	3	6	14	0	23
Steelers	0	0	10	7	17

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 26,750
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

• Washington – FG Baker 25 WSH 3–0
• Washington – FG Baker 47 WSH 3–0
• Washington – FG Baker 48 WSH 9–0
• Washington – Anderson 70 pass from Gugliemi (Baker kick) WSH 16–0
• Pittsburgh – FG Layne 32 WSH 16–3
• Washington – Walton 26 pass from Gugliemi (Baker kick)WSH 23–3
• Pittsburgh – Brewster 30 pass from Layne (Bobby WSH 23-10 NEKICK)
• Pittsburgh – Krutko 2 run (Layne kick)WSH 23–17

Week 3 (Sunday October 11, 1959): Philadelphia Eagles

Week Three: Pittsburgh Steelers (1–1) at Philadelphia Eagles (1–1)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	7	3	7	7	24
Eagles	7	7	7	7	28

at Franklin Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

• Date: October 11, 1959
• Game attendance: 27,343
• Referee: Bud Brubaker
• Box Score

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Steelers	Passing	Bobby Layne	18/33, 209 Yds, 2 TD, INT
	Rushing	Tom Tracy	11 Rush, 33 Yds
	Receiving	Tom Tracy	4 Rec, 70 Yds, TD
Eagles	Passing	Norm Van Brocklin	13/27, 172 Yds, TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Clarence Peaks	14 Rush, 42 Yds
	Receiving	Tommy McDonald	4 Rec, 66 Yds, TD

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP PIT PHI 1 Steelers Bobby Layne 10-yard touchdown run, Bobby Layne kick good 7 0 1 Eagles Billy Ray Barnes 3-yard touchdown run, Bobby Walston kick good 7 7 2 Eagles Punt returned 58 yards for touchdown by Art Powell, Bobby Walston kick good 7 14 2 Steelers 12-yard field goal by Bobby Layne 10 14 3 Eagles Norm Van Brocklin 1-yard touchdown run, Bobby Walston kick good 10 21 3 Steelers Tom Tracy 11-yard touchdown reception from Bobby Layne, Bobby Layne kick good 17 21 4 Eagles Tommy McDonald 18-yard touchdown reception from Norm Van Brocklin, Bobby Walston kick good 17 28 4 Steelers Jimmy Orr 17-yard touchdown reception from Bobby Layne, Bobby Layne kick good 24 28 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 24 28

Week 4 (Sunday October 18, 1959): Washington Redskins

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	14	7	0	6	27
Redskins	6	0	0	0	6

at Griffith Stadium, Washington, DC

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 28,218
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

• Pittsburgh – Krutko 1 run (Layne kick)
• Pittsburgh – Tarasovic 38 fumble run (Layne kick)
• Washington – FG Baker 30
• Washington – FG Baker 39
• Pittsburgh – Krutko 4 run (Layne kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Layne 23
• Pittsburgh – FG Layne 22

Week 5 (Sunday October 25, 1959): New York Giants

	1	2	3	4	Total
Giants	14	0	0	7	21
Steelers	10	0	3	3	16

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 33,596
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

• Pittsburgh – FG Layne 37
• New York Giants – Gifford 77 pass from Conerly (Summerall kick)
• New York Giants – Gifford 28 pass from Conerly (Summerall kick)
• Pittsburgh – Dial 35 pass from Layne (Layne kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Layne 19
• New York Giants – Huff 5 fumble run (Summerall kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Layne 17

Week 6 (Sunday November 1, 1959): Chicago Cardinals

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	0	10	7	7	24
Cardinals	14	21	0	10	45

at Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance:
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Week 7 (Sunday November 8, 1959): Detroit Lions

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lions	7	0	0	3	10
Steelers	0	0	3	7	10

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 24,614
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

• Detroit – Rote 1 run (Perry kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Layne 29
• Detroit – FG Martin 27
• Pittsburgh – Tracy 20 pass from Layne (Layne kick)

Week 8 (Sunday November 15, 1959): New York Giants

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

at Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 66,786
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

• New York Giants – FG Summerall 21
• New York Giants – FG Summerall 27
• Pittsburgh – Orr 4 pass from Layne (Layne kick)
• New York Giants – FG Summerall 29
• Pittsburgh – Tracy 45 pass from Layne (Layne kick)

Week 9 (Sunday November 22, 1959): Cleveland Browns

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	0	14	0	7	21
Browns	0	6	0	14	20

at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 68,563
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

• Pittsburgh – Tracy 4 run (Layne kick)
• Pittsburgh – Tracy 1 run (Layne kick)
• Cleveland – Renfro 30 pass from Plum (kick failed)
• Cleveland – Renfro 28 pass from Plum (Groza kick)
• Cleveland – Renfro 70 pass from Plum (Groza kick)
• Pittsburgh – Nagler 17 pass from Layne (Layne kick)

Week 10 (Sunday November 29, 1959): Philadelphia Eagles

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	0	0	0	0	0
Steelers	3	7	7	14	31

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 22,191
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

• Pittsburgh – FG Layne 17
• Pittsburgh – Dial 12 pass from Layne (Layne kick)
• Pittsburgh – Orr 19 pass from Layne (Layne kick)
• Pittsburgh – Tracy 23 pass from Layne (Layne kick)
• Pittsburgh – Nagler 2 pass from Layne (Layne kick)

Week 11 (Sunday December 5, 1959): Chicago Bears

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	6	14	7	0	27
Steelers	0	7	7	7	21

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 41,476
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

• Chicago Bears – Casares 3 run (kick failed)
• Chicago Bears – Casares 1 run (Aveni kick)
• Chicago Bears – Casares 1 run (Aveni kick)
• Pittsburgh – Tracy 2 run (Layne kick)
• Chicago Bears – Casares 1 run (Aveni kick)
• Pittsburgh – Krutko 7 run (Layne kick)
• Pittsburgh – Dial 25 pass from Layne (Layne kick)

Week 12 (Sunday December 12, 1959): Chicago Cardinals

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	6	0	7	7	20
Steelers	0	28	7	0	35

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 19,011
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

• Chicago Cardinals – FG Conrad 37
• Chicago Cardinals – FG Conrad 20
• Pittsburgh – Layne 9 run (Layne kick)
• Pittsburgh – Dial 35 pass from Layne (Layne kick)
• Pittsburgh – Dial 11 pass from Layne (Layne kick)
• Pittsburgh – Tracy 16 pass from Layne (Layne kick)
• Chicago Cardinals – Conrad 21 pass from Hill (Conrad kick)
• Pittsburgh – Orr 16 pass from Layne (Layne kick)
• Chicago Cardinals – Crow 7 pass from Hill (Conrad kick)

Standings

NFL Eastern Conference
	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
New York Giants	10	2	0	.833	8–2	284	170	W4
Philadelphia Eagles	7	5	0	.583	6–4	268	278	L1
Cleveland Browns	7	5	0	.583	6–4	270	214	W1
Pittsburgh Steelers	6	5	1	.545	6–4	257	216	W1
Washington Redskins	3	9	0	.250	2–8	185	350	L5
Chicago Cardinals	2	10	0	.167	2–8	234	324	L6

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