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1961 Pittsburgh Steelers season
1961 Pittsburgh Steelers season
Owner	Art Rooney
Head coach	Buddy Parker
Home field	Forbes Field
Results
Record	6–8
Division place	5th NFL Eastern
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
	← 1960; Steelers seasons; 1962 →;

The 1961 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the franchise's 29th in the National Football League.

Roster

**1961 Pittsburgh Steelers roster**
Quarterbacks (QB) 22 Bobby Layne 18 Terry Nofsinger Running backs (RB) 35 John Henry Johnson FB Wide receivers (WR) 23 Red Mack 84 Buddy Dial FL 87 Harlon Hill Tight ends (TE) 40 Preston Carpenter		Offensive linemen (OL) 71 Charlie Bradshaw RT 64 John Kapele 51 Buzz Nutter C Defensive linemen (DL) 74 George Demko 75 Joe Krupa DT 76 Big Daddy Lipscomb DE 70 Ernie Stautner DT		Linebackers (LB) 67 Bob Schmitz OLB 82 George Tarasovic Defensive backs (DB) 27 Dick Haley S 47 Jackie Simpson DB Special teams 79 Lou Michaels K		Rookies in italics 0 active, 0 reserve, 0 practice squad

Regular season

Schedule

Game	Date	Opponent	Result	Record
1	September 17	at Dallas Cowboys	L 24–27	0–1
2	September 24	New York Giants	L 14–17	0–2
3	October 1	at Los Angeles Rams	L 14–24	0–3
4	October 8	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 16–21	0–4
5	October 15	Washington Redskins	W 20–0	1–4
6	October 22	Cleveland Browns	L 28–30	1–5
7	October 29	San Francisco 49ers	W 20–10	2–5
8	November 5	at Cleveland Browns	W 17–13	3–5
9	November 12	Dallas Cowboys	W 37–7	4–5
10	November 19	at New York Giants	L 21–42	4–6
11	November 26	St. Louis Cardinals	W 30–27	5–6
12	December 3	Philadelphia Eagles	L 24–35	5–7
13	December 10	at Washington Redskins	W 30–14	6–7
14	December 17	at St. Louis Cardinals	L 0–20	6–8
Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1 (Sunday September 17, 1961): Dallas Cowboys

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	0	14	0	10	24
Cowboys	7	3	7	10	27

at Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 23,500
Referee:
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

Dallas – Clarke 44 pass from LeBaron (Green kick)
Pittsburgh – Johnson 1 run (Layne kick)
Pittsburgh – Dial 44 pass from Layne (Layne kick)
Dallas – FG Green 15
Dallas – Howton 45 pass from LeBaron (Green kick)
Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 12
Pittsburgh – Sample 39 interception return (Layne kick)
Dallas – Bieski 17 pass from Meredith (Green kick)
Dallas – FG Green 27

Week 2 (Sunday September 24, 1961): New York Giants

	1	2	3	4	Total
Giants	0	7	10	0	17
Steelers	7	0	7	0	14

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 35,587
Referee:
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

Pittsburgh – Johnson 1 run (Tracy kick)
New York Giants – Shofner 16 pass from Conerly (Summerall kick)
New York Giants – FG Summerall 19
New York Giants – Morrison 5 pass from Tittle (Summerall kick)
Pittsburgh – Dial 4 pass from Layne (Tracy kick)

Week 3 (Sunday October 1, 1961): Los Angeles Rams

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	0	14	0	0	14
Rams	7	7	0	10	24

at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 40,070
Referee:
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

Los Angeles – Bratkowski 2 run (Villanueva kick)
Pittsburgh – Dial 20 pass from Bukich (Layne kick)
Pittsburgh – Johnson 5 run (Layne kick)
Los Angeles – Phillips 15 pass from Ryan (Villanueva kick)
Los Angeles – Matson 96 pass from Ryan (Villanueva kick)
Los Angeles – FG Villanueva 15

Week 4 (Sunday October 8, 1961): Philadelphia Eagles

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	3	7	0	6	16
Eagles	0	7	7	7	21

at Franklin Field, Philadelphia

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 60,671
Referee: George Rennix
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 23
PIttsburgh – Bukich 1 run (Michaels kick)
Philadelphia – Retzlaff 17 pass from Jurgensen (Walston kick)
Philadelphia – Peaks 1 run (Walston kick)
Pittsburgh – Dial 13 pass from Bukich (kick failed)
Philadelphia – Retzlaff 2 pass from Jurgensen (Walston kick)

Week 5 (Sunday October 15, 1961): Washington Redskins

	1	2	3	4	Total
Redskins	0	0	0	0	0
Steelers	17	0	0	3	20

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 15,072
Referee:
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

Pittsburgh – Carpenter 8 pass from Bukich (Michaels kick)
Pittsburgh – Dial 23 pass from Bukich (Michaels kick)
Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 13
Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 36

Week 6 (Sunday October 22, 1961): Cleveland Browns

	1	2	3	4	Total
Browns	3	7	3	17	30
Steelers	0	0	14	14	28

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 29,266
Referee:
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

Cleveland – FG Groza 24
Cleveland – Mitchell 6 run (Groza kick)
Pittsburgh – Dial 12 pass from Bukich (Michaels kick)
Pittsburgh – Tracy 1 run (Michaels kick)
Cleveland – FG Groza 36
Cleveland – Mitchell 9 run (Groza kick)
Pittsburgh – Tracy 1 run (Michaels kick)
Cleveland – Mitchell 18 run (Groza kick)
Cleveland – FG Groza 12
Pittsburgh – Dial 88 pass from Bukich (Michaels kick)

Week 7 (Sunday October 29, 1961): San Francisco 49ers

	1	2	3	4	Total
49ers	0	7	3	0	10
Steelers	17	0	3	0	20

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 21,686
Referee:
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

Pittsburgh – Johnson 30 run (Michaels kick)
Pittsburgh – Tracy 11 pass from Bukich (Michaels kick)
Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 16
San Francisco – Stickles 50 pass from Brodie (Davis kick)
San Francisco – FG Davis 20
Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 24

Week 8 (Sunday November 5, 1961): Cleveland Browns

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	0	0	10	7	17
Browns	7	0	3	3	13

at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 62,723
Referee:
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

Cleveland – J. Brown 3 run
Cleveland – FG Groza 27
Pittsburgh – Bukich 1 run (Michaels kick)
Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 10
Cleveland – FG Groza 37
Pittsburgh – Schnelker 26 pass from Bukich (Michaels kick)

Week 9 (Sunday November 12, 1961): Dallas Cowboys

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	7	13	7	10	37
Cowboys	0	7	0	0	7

at Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 17,519
Referee:
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

Pittsburgh – Johnson 1 run (Michaels kick)
Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 28
Dallas – Perkins 11 run (Green kick)
Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 19
Pittsburgh – Dial 73 pass from Bukich (Michaels kick)
Pittsburgh – Butler 71 interception (Michaels kick)
Pittsburgh – Dial 15 pass from Bikich (Michaels kick)
Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 47

Week 10 (Sunday November 19, 1961): New York Giants

	1	2	3	4	Total
Giants	7	7	14	14	42
Steelers	7	0	0	14	21

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 62,592
Referee:
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

Pittsburgh – Dial 15 pass from Bukich (Michaels kick)
New York Giants – Walton 9 pass from Tittle (Summerall kick)
New York Giants – Gaiters 3 run (Summerall kick)
New York Giants – Webster 23 pass from Tittle (Summerall kick)
New York Giants – Rote 20 pass from Tittle (Summerall kick)
New York Giants – Rote 9 pass from Gaiters (Summerall kick)
Pittsburgh – Carpenter 13 pass from Hoak (Michaels kick)
Pittsburgh – Dial 3 pass from Layne (Michaels kick)
New York Giants – Webster 32 run (Summerall kick)

Week 11 (Sunday November 26, 1961): St. Louis Cardinals

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	13	0	0	14	27
Steelers	0	13	14	0	27

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 17,090
Referee:
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

St. Louis – Norton 47 interception return (kick failed)
St. Louis – Randle 3 pass from Etcheverry (Perry kick)
Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 18
Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 36
Pittsburgh – Schnelker 11 pass from Layne (Michaels kick)
Pittsburgh – Sample 55 punt return (Michaels kick)
Pittsburgh – Johnson 2 run (Michaels kick)
St. Louis – Crow 61 pass from Guglielmi (Conrad kick)
St. Louis – Norton 37 interception return (Conrad kick)
Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 18

Week 12 (Sunday December 3, 1961): Philadelphia Eagles

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	14	7	7	7	35
Steelers	7	3	7	7	24

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 21,653
Referee:
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

Philadelphia – Walston 17 pass from Jurgensen (Walston kick)
Philadelphia – Peaks 1 run (Walston kick)
Pittsburgh – Carpenter 7 pass from Layne (Michaels kick)
Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 37
Philadelphia – Lucas 7 pass from Jurgensen (Walston kick)
Philadelphia – Brown 66 punt return (Walston kick)
Pittsburgh – Johnson 7 pass from Layne (Michaels kick)
Pittsburgh – Schnelker 8 pass from Layne (Michaels kick)
Philadelphia – Brown 42 run (Walston kick)

Week 13 (Sunday December 10, 1961): Washington Redskins

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	7	3	14	6	30
Redskins	0	7	0	7	14

at D.C. Stadium, Washington, D.C.

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 21,134
Referee:
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

Pittsburgh – Mack 10 pass from Layne (Michaels kick)
Washington – Dugan 9 pass from Snead (Aveni kick)
Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 42
Pittsburgh – Carpenter 40 pass from Layne (Michaels kick)
Pittsburgh – Mack 6 pass from Layne (Michaels kick)
Washington – Dugan 11 pass from Izo (Aveni kick)
Pittsburgh – Dial 5 pass from Layne (kick failed)

Week 14 (Sunday December 17, 1961): St. Louis Cardinals

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

at Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 16,298
Referee:
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

St. Louis – Randle 3 pass from Etcheverry (Perry kick)
St. Louis – Stacy 25 fumble run (kick failed)
St. Louis – Crow 15 pass from Etcheverry (Perry kick)

Standings

NFL Eastern Conference
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
New York Giants	10	3	1	.769	9–2–1	368	220	T1
Philadelphia Eagles	10	4	0	.714	8–4	361	297	W1
Cleveland Browns	8	5	1	.615	8–3–1	319	270	T1
St. Louis Cardinals	7	7	0	.500	7–5	279	267	W3
Pittsburgh Steelers	6	8	0	.429	5–7	295	287	L1
Dallas Cowboys	4	9	1	.308	2–9–1	236	380	L4
Washington Redskins	1	12	1	.077	1–10–1	174	392	W1

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

NFL Western Conference
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Green Bay Packers	11	3	0	.786	9–3	391	223	W1
Detroit Lions	8	5	1	.615	7–4–1	270	258	L1
Chicago Bears	8	6	0	.571	7–5	326	302	W2
Baltimore Colts	8	6	0	.571	6–6	302	307	W1
San Francisco 49ers	7	6	1	.538	6–5–1	346	272	L1
Los Angeles Rams	4	10	0	.286	3–9	263	333	L1
Minnesota Vikings	3	11	0	.214	3–9	285	407	L2