1952 Pittsburgh Steelers season

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1952 Pittsburgh Steelers season
Head coachJoe Bach
Home fieldForbes Field
Results
Record5–7
Division place4th NFL American
Playoff finishDid not qualify

The 1952 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the franchise's 20th in the National Football League they finished the season with a 5–7 record under head coach Joe Bach, who returned to the organization replacing John Michelosen.

The season was notable in that it was the last year the Steelers used the single-wing formation on offense, switching to the T formation the following year. The Steelers were the last NFL team to use the single-wing as their primary offensive formation.

Regular season[edit]

Schedule[edit]

Week Date Opponent Result Record
1 September 28 Philadelphia Eagles L 25–31 0–1
2 October 4 Cleveland Browns L 20–21 0–2
3 October 12 at Philadelphia Eagles L 21–26 0–3
4 October 19 Washington Redskins L 24–28 0–4
5 October 26 at Chicago Cardinals W 34–28 1–4
6 November 2 at Washington Redskins W 24–23 2–4
7 November 9 Detroit Lions L 6–31 2–5
8 November 16 at Cleveland Browns L 28–29 2–6
9 November 23 Chicago Cardinals W 17–14 3—6
10 November 30 New York Giants W 63–7 4–6
11 December 7 at San Francisco 49ers W 24–7 5–6
12 December 14 at Los Angeles Rams L 14–28 5–7

Game summaries[edit]

Week 1 (Sunday September 28, 1952): Philadelphia Eagles[edit]

1 2 3 4 Total
Eagles 14 3 7 7 31
Steelers 0 12 0 13 25

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 22,501
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

  • Philadelphia – Grant 84 pass from Burk (Walston kick)
  • Philadelphia – Ziegler 4 pass from Burk (Walston kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Finks 20 run (kick blocked)
  • Philadelphia – FG Walston 32
  • Pittsburgh – Modzelewski 1 run (kick blocked)
  • Philadelphia – Ziegler 3 run (Walston kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Finks 1 run (Kerkorian kick)
  • Philadelphia – Pihos 25 pass from Burk (Walston kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Mathews 27 pass from Finks (kick blocked)

Week 2 (Saturday October 4, 1952): Cleveland Browns[edit]

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

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 27,923
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

  • Pittsburgh – Nickel 10 pass from Finks (kick failed)
  • Cleveland – Motley 68 pass from Graham (Groza kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Nickel 30 pass from Finks (Kerkorian kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Finks 1 run (Kerkorian kick)
  • Cleveland – Jones 17 pass from Graham (Groza kick)
  • Cleveland – Howard 57 pass from Graham (Groza kick)

Week 3 (Sunday October 12, 1952): Philadelphia Eagles[edit]

1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 0 7 7 7 21
Eagles 3 10 0 13 26

at Shibe Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 18,648
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

'Scoring drives:

  • Philadelphia – FG Walston 25
  • Philadelphia – FG Walston 20
  • Pittsburgh – Chandnois 93 kick return (Kerkorian kick)
  • Philadelphia – Brewer 1 run (Walston kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Mathews 25 pass from Finks (Kerkorian kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Nickel 54 pass from Finks (Kerkorian kick)
  • Philadelphia – Grant 17 pass from Enke (Walston kick)
  • Philadelphia – FG Walston 24
  • Philadelphia – FG Walston 19

Week 4 (Sunday October 19, 1952): Washington Redskins[edit]

1 2 3 4 Total
Redskins 14 0 7 7 28
Steelers 7 10 0 7 24

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 22,605
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

  • Washington – Williams 62 punt return (LeBaron kick)
  • Washington – Heath 1 run (LeBaron kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Nickel 6 pass from Finks (Kerkorian kick)
  • Pittsburgh – FG Kerkorian 36
  • Pittsburgh – Hays 1 interception (Kerkorian kick)
  • Washington – Taylor 11 pass from Gilmer (LeBaron kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Nickel 36 pass from Finks (Kerkorian kick)
  • Washington – Taylor 43 pass from LeBaron (LeBaron kick)

Week 5 (Sunday October 26, 1952): Chicago Cardinals[edit]

1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 0 20 7 7 34
Cardinals 0 0 7 21 28

at Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 20,395
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

Week 6 (Sunday November 2, 1952): Washington Redskins[edit]

1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 7 10 7 0 24
Redskins 7 0 0 16 23

at Griffith Stadium, Washington, DC

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 25,866
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

  • Pittsburgh – Dodrill 35 blocked field goal return (Kerkorian kick)
  • Washington – LeBaron 2 run (Rykovich kick)
  • Pittsburgh – FG Kerkorian 23
  • Pittsburgh – Mathews 70 punt return (Kerkorian kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Rogel 1 run (Kerkorian kick)
  • Washington – Safety, Finks tackled in end zone by Hennessey
  • Washington – Taylor 40 pass from LeBaron (LeBaron kick)
  • Washington – Justice 13 pass from LeBaron (Buksar kick)

Week 7 (Sunday November 9, 1952): Detroit Lions[edit]

1 2 3 4 Total
Lions 3 7 7 14 31
Steelers 0 0 6 0 6

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 26,170
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

  • Detroit – FG Walker 16
  • Detroit – Girard 1 run (Walker kick)
  • Detroit – Box 46 pass from Layne (Walker kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Rogel 3 run (kick failed)
  • Detroit – Girard 31 run (Walker kick)
  • Detroit – Bailey 9 run (Layne kick)

Week 8 (Sunday November 16, 1952): Cleveland Browns[edit]

1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 0 0 14 14 28
Browns 9 6 7 7 29

at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 34,973
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

  • Cleveland – Lavelli 22 pass from Graham (Groza kick)
  • Cleveland – Safety, Finks tackled in end zone by Young
  • Cleveland – FG Groza 11
  • Cleveland – FG Groza 34
  • Cleveland – Lavelli 22 pass from Graham (Groza kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Mathews 33 pass from Finks (Kerkorian kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Butler 7 pass from Finks (Kerkorian kick)
  • Cleveland – Graham 2 run (Groza kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Mathews 38 pass from Finks (Kerkorian kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Nickel 9 pass from Finks (Kerkorian kick)

Week 9 (Sunday November 23, 1952): Chicago Cardinals[edit]

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

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 18,330
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

  • Pittsburgh – FG Kerkorian 23
  • PIttsburgh – Modzelewski 6 run (Kerkorian kick)
  • Chicago Cardinals – Paul 9 pass from Panciera (Geri kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Finks 1 run (Kerkorian kick)
  • Chicago Cardinals – Cross 38 pass from Panciera (Geri kick)

Week 10 (Sunday November 30, 1952): New York Giants[edit]

1 2 3 4 Total
Giants 0 0 7 0 7
Steelers 14 14 7 28 63

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 15,140
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

Notes: Tom Landry was brought in as a 3rd string quarterback for New York to complete the game for the entire 2nd half.[1]

Week 11 (Sunday December 7, 1952): San Francisco 49ers[edit]

1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 7 3 14 0 24
49ers 7 0 0 0 7

at Kezar Stadium, San Francisco, California

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 13,886
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

Week 12 (Sunday December 14, 1952): Los Angeles Rams[edit]

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

at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 71,130
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

  • Los Angeles – Fears 10 pass from Van Brocklin (Waterfield kick)
  • Los Angeles – Lane 42 interception return (Waterfield kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Hogan 15 interception return (Kerkorian kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Nickel 13 pass from Finks (Kerkorian kick)
  • Los Angeles – Hirsch 65 pass from Van Brocklin (Waterfield kick)
  • Los Angeles – Fears 5 pass from Van Brocklin (Waterfield kick)

Standings[edit]

NFL American Conference
W L T PCT CONF PF PA STK
Cleveland Browns 8 4 0 .667 7–3 310 213 L1
Philadelphia Eagles 7 5 0 .583 6–4 252 271 L1
New York Giants 7 5 0 .583 5–4 234 231 W1
Pittsburgh Steelers 5 7 0 .417 4–5 300 273 L1
Chicago Cardinals 4 8 0 .333 3–7 172 221 L2
Washington Redskins 4 8 0 .333 4–6 240 287 W2

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

References[edit]

External links[edit]