1950 Pittsburgh Steelers season

Program for the Steelers' December 3 game against Sammy Baugh and the visiting Washington Redskins.
1950 Pittsburgh Steelers season
OwnerRooney family
Head coachJohn Michelosen
Home fieldForbes Field
Results
Record6–6
Division place3rd (tied) American
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro Bowlers
3
AP All-ProsJoe Geri (1st team)

The 1950 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the franchise's 18th season in the National Football League (NFL). It was the team's third season under head coach John Michelosen who had led the team to a combined 10–13–1 record over the previous two years.[1]

Despite finishing last in the league in scoring, the team compiled a 6–6 record which left them tied for third place among the six teams in the NFL's American Conference.[2] The Steelers were the league's only team that employed the single wing; most of the league's other franchises had switched to the T formation.[3]

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap
1 September 17 New York Giants L 7–18 0–1 Forbes Field Recap
2 September 24 at Detroit Lions L 7–10 0–2 Briggs Stadium Recap
3 October 1 at Washington Redskins W 26–7 1–2 Griffith Stadium Recap
4 October 7 Cleveland Browns L 17–30 1–3 Forbes Field Recap
5 October 15 at New York Giants W 17–6 2–3 Polo Grounds Recap
6 October 22 Philadelphia Eagles L 10–17 2–4 Forbes Field Recap
7 October 29 at Cleveland Browns L 7–45 2–5 Cleveland Stadium Recap
8 November 5 at Philadelphia Eagles W 9–7 3–5 Shibe Park Recap
9 November 12 Baltimore Colts W 17–7 4–5 Forbes Field Recap
10 Bye
11 November 23 at Chicago Cardinals W 28–17 5–5 Comiskey Park Recap
12 December 3 Washington Redskins L 7–24 5–6 Forbes Field Recap
13 December 10 Chicago Cardinals W 28–7 6–6 Forbes Field Recap
Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFL American Conference
W L T PCT CONF PF PA STK
Cleveland Browns 10 2 0 .833 8–2 310 144 W6
New York Giants 10 2 0 .833 8–2 268 150 W6
Pittsburgh Steelers 6 6 0 .500 5–5 180 195 W1
Philadelphia Eagles 6 6 0 .500 4–6 254 141 L4
Chicago Cardinals 5 7 0 .417 3–6 233 287 L1
Washington Redskins 3 9 0 .250 1–8 232 326 L1
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.


NFL National Conference
W L T PCT CONF PF PA STK
Los Angeles Rams 9 3 0 .750 9–2 466 309 W1
Chicago Bears 9 3 0 .750 8–2 279 207 W1
New York Yanks 7 5 0 .583 7–4 366 367 W1
Detroit Lions 6 6 0 .500 5–6 321 285 L1
San Francisco 49ers 3 9 0 .250 3–8 213 300 W1
Green Bay Packers 3 9 0 .250 2–9 244 406 L2
Baltimore Colts 1 11 0 .083 1–4 213 462 L5
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.



Game summaries

Week 1 (Sunday September 17, 1950): New York Giants

1 2 3 4 Total
Giants 0 2 0 16 18
Steelers 0 0 7 0 7

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Scoring Drives:

  • New York Giants – Safety, Hartley tackled in end zone by Roberts
  • Pittsburgh – Shipkey 1 run (Geri kick)
  • New York Giants – Safety, punt snapped out of end zone
  • New York Giants – Landry 37 fumble run (Poole kick)
  • New York Giants – DeRogatis fumble recovery in end zone (Poole kick)

Week 2 (Sunday September 24, 1950): Detroit Lions

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

at University of Detroit Stadium, Detroit, Michigan

  • Game time: 2:00 pm[6]
  • Game weather: cold and dreary[7]
  • Game attendance: 18,707[7]
  • Referee: Yans Wallace[7]
  • Radio announcer: Joe Tucker (WPIT)[6]
  • TV announcer: not televised

Scoring Drives:

  • Pittsburgh – Nickel 43 pass from Gage (Geri kick)
  • Detroit – Walker 11 pass from Layne (Walker kick)
  • Detroit – FG Walker 20

Week 3 (Sunday October 1, 1950): Washington Redskins

1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 3 7 7 9 26
Redskins 7 0 0 0 7

at Griffith Stadium, Washington, DC

  • Game time: 2:00pm[8]
  • Game weather: Hot, sunny[9]
  • Game attendance: 25,008[9]
  • Referee: Sam Giangreco[9]
  • Radio announcer: Joe Tucker (WPIT)[6]
  • TV announcer: not televised

Scoring Drives:

  • Washington – Taylor 70 pass from Gilmer (Dudley kick)
  • Pittsburgh – FG Geri 40
  • Pittsburgh – Gage 5 run (Geri kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Nickel 28 pass from Geri (Geri kick)

Week 4 (Saturday October 7, 1950): Cleveland Browns

1 2 3 4 Total
Browns 7 14 2 7 30
Steelers 3 0 7 7 17

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time: evening[10]
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 35,399[10]
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

  • Pittsburgh – Geri 30-yard FG
  • Cleveland – Graham 1 run (Groza kick)
  • Cleveland – Graham 1 run (Groza kick)
  • Cleveland – Jones 7 run (Groza kick)
  • Cleveland – Safety, Chandnois tackled in end zone by Kissell
  • Pittsburgh – Seabright 13 pass from Geri (Geri kick)
  • Cleveland – Jones 48 run (Groza kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Shipkey 1 run (Geri kick)

Week 5 (Sunday October 15, 1950): New York Giants

1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 7 3 0 7 17
Giants 0 0 6 0 6

at Polo Grounds, New York, New York

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 21,725
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

  • Pittsburgh – Nickel 58 pass from Geri (Geri kick)
  • Pittsburgh – FG Geri 21
  • New York Giants – Scott 33 pass from Conerly (kick failed)
  • Pittsburgh – Shipkey 1 run (Geri kick)

Week 6 (Sunday October 22, 1950): Philadelphia Eagles

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

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time: 2:00pm[11]
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 35,662
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

  • Philadelphia – Willey 41 interception (Patton kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Rogel 64 pass from Geri (Geri kick)
  • Pittsburgh – FG Geri 24
  • Philadelphia – FG Patton 23
  • Philadelphia – Van Buren 5 run (Patton kick)

Week 7 (Sunday October 29, 1950): Cleveland Browns

1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 0 0 0 7 7
Browns 7 10 14 14 45

at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 40,714
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

  • Cleveland – Graham 1 run (Groza kick)
  • Cleveland – FG Groza 13
  • Cleveland – Motley 33 pass from Graham (Groza kick)
  • Cleveland – Motley 69 run (Groza kick)
  • Cleveland – Phelps 14 run (Groza kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Gage 29 pass from Gasparella (Geri kick)
  • Cleveland – Jones 80 pass from Graham (Groza kick)
  • Cleveland – Gillom 38 pass from Lewis (Groza kick)

Week 8 (Sunday November 5, 1950): Philadelphia Eagles

1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 3 3 3 0 9
Eagles 0 7 0 0 7

at Shibe Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 24,629
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

  • Pittsburgh – FG Geri 11
  • Philadelphia – Van Buren 1 run (Patton kick)
  • Pittsburgh – FG Geri 36
  • Pittsburgh – FG Geri 13

Week 9 (Sunday November 12, 1950): Baltimore Colts

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

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 24,141
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

  • Pittsburgh – FG Geri 37
  • PIttsburgh – Rogel 15 run (Geri kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Gage 1 run (Geri kick)
  • Baltimore – Spaniel 15 run (Grossman kick)

Week 11 (Thursday November 23, 1950): Chicago Cardinals

1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 7 7 7 7 28
Cardinals 3 0 0 14 17

at Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 11,622
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

  • Pittsburgh – Geri 5 run (Geri kick)
  • Chicago Cardinals – FG Harder 18
  • Pittsburgh – Geri 4 run (Geri kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Nuzum 1 run (Geri kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Gage 13 run (Geri kick)
  • Chicago Cardinals – Shaw 45 pass from Hardy (Harder kick)
  • Chicago Cardinals – Polsfoot 22 pass from Hardy (Harder kick)

Week 12 (Sunday December 3, 1950): Washington Redskins

1 2 3 4 Total
Redskins 7 10 0 7 24
Steelers 0 0 0 7 7

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 19,741
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

  • Washington – Dudley 96 punt return (Dudley kick)
  • Washington – Saenz 34 pass from Baugh (Dudley kick)
  • Washington – FG Dudley 15
  • Washington – Goode 5 run (Dudley kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Nickel 65 pass from Geri (Geri kick)

Week 13 (Sunday December 10, 1950): Chicago Cardinals

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

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 18,301
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

References

  1. ^ "Franchise Encyclopedia: Pittsburgh Steelers". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on January 22, 2012. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
  2. ^ "1950 Pittsburgh Steelers season". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on February 7, 2012. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
  3. ^ a b c d Sell, Jack (September 16, 1950). "Steelers set for league inaugural". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 12. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
  4. ^ "The Weather". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. September 18, 1950. p. 4. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
  5. ^ Sell, Jack (September 18, 1950). "Steelers lose on fumbles, 18–7". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. pp. 22, 24. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
  6. ^ a b c Livingston, Pat (September 24, 1950). "Steelers play Lions in Detroit". Pittsburgh Press. p. 44. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
  7. ^ a b c Sell, Jack (September 25, 1950). "Lion rally beats Steelers, 10–7". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. pp. 18, 20. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
  8. ^ Livingston, Pat (October 1, 1950). "Steelers must win to stay in race". Pittsburgh Press. p. 46. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
  9. ^ a b c Sell, Jack (October 2, 1950). "Steelers top Redskins for first victory". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. pp. 1, 28. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
  10. ^ a b "Browns rebound, 30–17". Milwaukee Sentinel. AP. October 8, 1950. p. B-1. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
  11. ^ "Eagles preparing for tough battle Sunday". Beaver Valley Times. October 18, 1950. p. 14. Retrieved January 26, 2012.