Pittsburgh Steelers 41st US football season
The 1973 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the team's 41st season in the National Football League . The team finished second in the AFC Central division, but qualified for the postseason for the second consecutive season. The Steelers got off to a terrific start winning eight of their first nine games. However, a costly three game losing streak would put their playoff hopes in jeopardy. The Steelers would recover to win their last two games, but had to settle for a Wild Card berth with a 10–4 record. The Steelers would lose in the playoffs to the Oakland Raiders 33–14 in Oakland.
The 1973 Steelers' pass defense is arguably the greatest in the history of the NFL. Their defensive passer rating—the quarterback passer rating of all opposing quarterbacks throughout the season—was 33.1, an NFL record for the Super Bowl era.
According to Cold Hard Football Facts:[1]
Pittsburgh's pass-defense numbers that year were stunning. Opposing passers compiled the following stat-line:
164 of 359 (45.7%) for 1,923 yards, 5.36 [yards-per-attempt], 11 [touchdowns] and 37 [interceptions]
The figure that leaps screaming off the sheet is the amazing 37 picks in 14 games. The 2009 Jets , by comparison, allowed a puny 8 TDs in 16 games, but hauled in just 17 picks.
Pittsburgh's all-time best pass defense was an equal-opportunity unit: Mike Wagner led the team with 8 INT, but 10 other guys recorded at least one pick. Amazing. Eleven defenders boasted at least one INT for Pittsburgh that season. The entire starting secondary recorded 24 picks alone, and Hall of Fame cornerback Mel Blount was last on the list: Wagner (8), safety Glen Edwards (6), cornerback John Rowser (6) and Blount (4).
The campaign was chronicled in Roy Blount Jr. 's 1974 book About Three Bricks Shy of a Load . The source of its title was Craig Hanneman whose endearing description of himself and his teammates after the regular season away victory over the Oakland Raiders was "We’re all about three bricks shy of a load."[2]
Regular season
Game summaries
Week 1
Scoring summary
Quarter
Time
Drive
Team
Scoring information
Score
Plays
Yards
TOP
DET
PIT
2
Steelers
11-yard field goal by Roy Gerela
0
3
3
Steelers
Bradshaw 1-yard touchdown run, Gerela kick good
0
10
3
Lions
Jessie 84-yard touchdown reception from Landry , Mann kick good
7
10
3
Lions
40-yard field goal by Mann
10
10
4
Steelers
McMakin 24-yard touchdown reception from Bradshaw, Gerela kick good
10
17
4
Steelers
Shanklin 6-yard touchdown reception from Bradshaw, Gerela kick good
10
24
"TOP" = time of possession . For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football .
10
24
Week 2
Cleveland Browns (1–0) at Pittsburgh Steelers (1–0)
Period
1
2
3 4 Total
Browns
3
0
0 3 6
Steelers
10
6
10 7 33
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Scoring summary
Quarter
Time
Drive
Team
Scoring information
Score
Plays
Yards
TOP
CLE
PIT
1
Steelers
12-yard field goal by Gerela
0
3
1
Browns
43-yard field goal by Cockroft
3
3
1
Steelers
Fuqua 4-yard touchdown run, Gerela kick good
3
10
2
Steelers
40-yard field goal by Gerela
3
13
2
Steelers
26-yard field goal by Gerela
3
16
3
Steelers
44-yard field goal by Gerela
3
19
4
Steelers
Lewis 8-yard touchdown reception from Bradshaw , Gerela kick good
3
26
4
Browns
28-yard field goal by Cockroft
6
26
4
Steelers
Lewis 53-yard touchdown reception from Hanratty , Gerela kick good
6
33
"TOP" = time of possession . For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football .
6
33
Week 3
Pittsburgh Steelers (2–0) at Houston Oilers (0–2)
Period
1
2
3 4 Total
Steelers
3
3
13 17 36
Oilers
0
7
0 0 7
at Astrodome , Houston, Texas
Scoring summary
Quarter
Time
Drive
Team
Scoring information
Score
Plays
Yards
TOP
PIT
HOU
1
Steelers
20-yard field goal by Gerela
3
0
2
Oilers
Alston 7-yard touchdown reception from Pastorini , Butler kick good
3
7
2
Steelers
47-yard field goal by Gerela
6
7
3
Steelers
Bradshaw 1-yard touchdown run, Gerela kick no good
12
7
3
Steelers
Interception returned 45 yards for touchdown by Russell , Gerela kick good
19
7
4
Steelers
Shanklin 26-yard touchdown reception from Bradshaw, Gerela kick good
26
7
4
Steelers
26-yard field goal by Gerela
29
7
4
Steelers
Interception returned 86 yards for touchdown by Edwards , Gerela kick good
36
7
"TOP" = time of possession . For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football .
36
7
Week 4
Johnny Unitas playing for San Diego is knocked out of the game after completing only 3 of 15 passes for 24 yards and three interceptions.
Scoring summary
Quarter
Time
Drive
Team
Scoring information
Score
Plays
Yards
TOP
SD
PIT
1
Steelers
Shanklin 12-yard touchdown reception from Bradshaw , Gerela kick good
0
7
1
Steelers
Bradshaw 1-yard touchdown run, Gerela kick good
0
14
1
Steelers
38-yard field goal by Gerela
0
17
2
Steelers
Davis 1-yard touchdown run, Gerela kick good
0
24
2
Steelers
Blocked punt recovered in end zone for touchdown by Wagner , Gerela kick good
0
31
3
Steelers
Shanklin 37-yard touchdown reception from Hanratty , Gerela kick good
0
38
4
Chargers
LeVias 13-yard touchdown reception from Fouts , Wersching kick good
7
38
4
Chargers
Jones 3-yard touchdown run, Wersching kick good
14
38
4
Chargers
Holmes 1-yard touchdown run, Wersching kick good
21
38
"TOP" = time of possession . For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football .
21
38
Week 5
Scoring summary
Quarter
Time
Drive
Team
Scoring information
Score
Plays
Yards
TOP
PIT
CIN
1
Bengals
20-yard field goal by Muhlmann
0
3
1
Bengals
19-yard field goal by Muhlmann
0
6
2
Bengals
20-yard field goal by Muhlmann
0
9
3
Bengals
Clark 3-yard touchdown run, Muhlmann kick good
0
16
4
Bengals
41-yard field goal by Muhlmann
0
19
4
Steelers
Pearson 1-yard touchdown run, Gerela kick good
7
19
"TOP" = time of possession . For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football .
7
19
Week 6
Scoring summary
Quarter
Time
Drive
Team
Scoring information
Score
Plays
Yards
TOP
NYJ
PIT
1
Jets
Riggins 1-yard touchdown run, Howfield kick good
7
0
2
Steelers
27-yard field goal by Gerela
7
3
2
Steelers
29-yard field goal by Gerela
7
6
2
Jets
Caster 28-yard touchdown reception from Demory , Howfield kick good
14
6
2
Steelers
36-yard field goal by Gerela
14
9
3
Steelers
13-yard field goal by Gerela
14
12
4
Steelers
Shanklin 16-yard touchdown reception from Hanratty , Gerela kick good
14
19
4
Steelers
Harris 2-yard touchdown run, Gerela kick good
14
26
"TOP" = time of possession . For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football .
14
26
Week 7 vs Bengals
Week 8 vs Washington Redskins
Joe Gilliam makes Monday Night Football debut
Week 9 at Raiders
Week 10 vs Broncos
Team
Category
Player
Statistics
Broncos
Passing
Charley Johnson
13/20, 86 Yds, TD
Rushing
Floyd Little
27 Rush, 88 Yds, TD
Receiving
Riley Odoms
6 Rec, 47 Yds, TD
Steelers
Passing
Terry Hanratty
10/19, 217 Yds, TD
Rushing
Franco Harris
11 Rush, 53 Yds
Receiving
John McMakin
3 Rec, 64 Yds
Week 11
1
2 3 4 Total
Steelers
7
3 3 3
16
• Browns
7
7 0 7
21
Game summary
Scoring drives:
Week 12 (Monday December 3, 1973): at Miami Dolphins
1
2 3 4 Total
Steelers
0
3 7 16
26
• Dolphins
20
10 0 0
30
Date: Monday, December 3Location: Miami Orange Bowl , Miami, Florida Game start: 9:00 p.m. Game attendance: 68,901Game weather: 75 F, wind 14 mph (23 km/h)Referee: Ben Dreith TV announcers (ABC): Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, and Don Meredith
Game summary
Scoring drives:
Week 13
1
2 3 4 Total
Oilers
7
0 0 0
7
• Steelers
3
14 10 6
33
Game summary
Scoring drives:
Week 14
1
2 3 4 Total
• Steelers
7
7 13 10
37
49ers
0
7 0 7
14
Game summary
John Brodie 's number 12 was retired prior to game.
Scoring drives:
Pittsburgh – Rowser 71 interception return (Gerela kick) – Steelers 7–0
San Francisco – Hall recovered blocked punt in end zone (Gossett kick) – Tie 7–7
Pittsburgh – P. Pearson 1 run (Gerela kick) – Steelers 14–7
Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 27 – Steelers 17–7
Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 27 – Steelers 20–7
Pittsburgh – Lewis 50 pass from Bradshaw (Gerela kick) – Steelers 27–7
Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 35 – Steelers 30–7
Pittsburgh – Steve Davis 1 run (Gerela kick) – Steelers 37–7
San Francisco – Atkins 3 run (Gossett kick) – Steelers 37–14
Standings