The 1939 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the franchise's seventh season as a professional football club in the National Football League (NFL). The Pirates brought John McNally back for his third year, however, after finishing with a 2–9 record, Owner Art Rooney provided him with support by signing Walt Kiesling during the offseason. Despite this, the Pirates experienced their worst season yet, placing last in the league with a 1–9–1 record. The team just barely tallied a number in the win column, but during Week 11, they beat the Philadelphia Eagles. It was their first win at home in 9 games at Forbes Field (Week 10, 1937). It was also the final season for the franchise before becoming the "Steelers" the following season.

Offseason

1939 NFL draft

Pittsburgh's 1939 Draft (like many of the Steelers drafts from these days) was useless. The one player that played longer 1 season was Sam Boyd who played just 3 seasons for the Pirates/Steelers. The Pirates also traded their first two picks to Chicago and Brooklyn. The Bears would draft future Hall of Famer, QB Sid Luckman, and the Dodgers would select Clarence "Pug" Manders who eventually played 9 years of pro ball.

Regular season

Schedule

Game summaries

Week 1 (Thursday September 14, 1939): Brooklyn Dodgers

at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, New York

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 19,444
• Referee:

Scoring Drives:

• Brooklyn – FG Kercheval 27
• Pittsburgh – Platukis 30 pass from Wheeler (Niccolai kick)
• Brooklyn – Parker 10 run (Kinard kick)
• Brooklyn – Safety, Wheeler tackled in end zone by Hill

Week 2 (Sunday, September 24, 1939): Chicago Cardinals

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 19,008
• Referee:

Scoring Drives:

• Chicago Cardinals – Goldberg 4 run (Monahan kick)
• Chicago Cardinals – FG Monahan 32

Week 3 (Monday October 2, 1939): Chicago Bears

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 10,325
• Referee:

Scoring Drives:

• Chicago Bears – Omanski 21 run (Stydahar kick)
• Chicago Bears – Manske 24 pass from Masterson (kick failed)
• Chicago Bears – Maniaci 75 run (kick failed)
• Chicago Bears – Maniaci 4 run (Manders kick)
• Chicago Bears – MacLeod 29 pass from Patterson (kick failed)

Between this game and the next, the Pirates shoehorned in a midseason exhibition game against the McKeesport Olympics, in McKeesport on October 4. The Pirates won that game, 9–6.^[1]

Week 4 (Sunday October 8, 1939): New York Giants

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 9,663
• Referee:

Scoring Drives:

• Pittsburgh – Johnson 1 run (Niccolai kick)
• New York – Cuff 20 pass from Danowski (Cuff kick)
• New York – Cuff 5 pass from Danowski (Cuff kick)

Week 5 (Sunday October 15, 1939): Washington Redskins

at Griffith Stadium, Washington, DC

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 25,982
• Referee:

Scoring Drives:

• Washington – German 15 run (kick failed)
• Pittsburgh – Francis run (Niccolai kick)
• Washington – German 14 run (Russell kick)
• Pittsburgh – McDonough 3 pass from Tomasetti (Niccolai kick)
• Washington – Farkas 11 run (kick blocked)
• Washington – Farkas 99 pass from Filchock (kick failed)
• Washington – Todd 19 pass from Filchock (Todd kick)
• Washington – Todd 60 run (kick failed)
• Washington – Justice 33 run (kick failed)

Week 6 (Sunday October 22, 1939): Washington Redskins

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 8,602
• Referee:

Scoring Drives:

• Washington – Millner 56 pass from Filchock (Russell kick)
• Washington – Farkas 40 pass from Filchock (Russell kick)
• Pittsburgh – Boyd pass from McDonough (Niccolai kick)
• Washington – Irwin 25 run (Farkas kick)
• Pittsburgh – Brumbaugh pass from McDonough (Niccolai kick)

Week 7 (Sunday October 29, 1939): Cleveland Rams

at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 11,579
• Referee:

Scoring Drives:

• Cleveland – Hall 88 run (Spadaccini kick)
• Pittsburgh – McCullough 9 run (Niccolai kick)
• Pittsburgh – Boyd 27 pass from McCullough (Niccolai kick)
• Cleveland – Drake 3 run (Spadaccini kick)

Week 8 (Monday November 6, 1939): Brooklyn Dodgers

at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, New York

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 8,951
• Referee:

Scoring Drives:

• Brooklyn – Schwartz 9 pass from Parker (Kinard kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 25
• Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 37
• Brooklyn – Parker 28 run (Kinard kick)
• Brooklyn – FG Parker 28
• Pittsburgh – Sortet 22 pass from McCullough (Niccolai kick)

Week 9 (Sunday November 19, 1939): New York Giants

at Polo Grounds, New York, NY

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 19,372
• Referee:

Scoring Drives:

• New York – Soar 2 run (Strong kick)
• New York – FG Barnum 37
• New York – FG Barnum 28
• New York – FG Strong 24
• Pittsburgh – Brumbaugh 19 run (Niccolai kick)
• New York – Miller 21 run (Barnum kick)

Week 10 (Thursday November 23, 1939): Philadelphia Eagles

at Shibe Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 20,000
• Referee:

Scoring Drives:

• Philadelphia – Carter 65 pass from O'Brien (Murray kick)
• Philadelphia – FG Murray 32
• Pittsburgh – Brumbaugh 1 run (Niccolai kick)

Week 11 (Sunday November 26, 1939): Philadelphia Eagles

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 8,788
• Referee:

Scoring Drives:

• Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 28
• Pittsburgh – Johnston 2 run (Niccolai kick)
• Pittsburgh – Tomasetti 1 run (Niccolai kick)
• Pittsburgh – Platukis 37 pss from Brumbaugh (Niccolai kick)
• Philadelphia – O'Brien 2 run (kick blocked)
• Philadelphia – Bukant 3 run (kick blocked)

Standings

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