1937 Pittsburgh Pirates (NFL) season
1937 Pittsburgh Pirates season | |
---|---|
Owner | Art Rooney |
Head coach | John McNally |
Home field | Forbes Field |
Results | |
Record | 4–7 |
Division place | 3rd NFL Eastern |
Playoff finish | Did not qualify |
The 1937 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the team's fifth season as a professional sports club in the National Football League (NFL). The team hired John McNally as head coach after John Bach stepped down during the offseason. McNally was a former player, who played halfback for the Pirates during the 1934 season. His team finished with another 4–7 record however, McNally was welcomed back the next season.
Offseason
[edit]Draft
[edit]1937 Pittsburgh Pirates draft | |||||
Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 5 | Mike Basrak | C | Duquesne | |
2 | 15 | Bob Finley | B | SMU | Played pro baseball |
3 | 25 | Bill Breeden | B | Oklahoma | |
4 | 35 | Elmo "Bo" Hewes | B | Oklahoma | |
5 | 45 | Jack Frye | B | Missouri | |
6 | 55 | Walt Roach | E | TCU | |
7 | 65 | Byron Haines | HB | Washington | |
8 | 75 | Marty Kordich | G | Saint Mary's (CA) | |
9 | 85 | Matt Patanelli | E | Michigan | |
10 | 95 | Stan Nevers | T | Kentucky | |
Made roster |
Regular season
[edit]Schedule
[edit]Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Recap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | September 5 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 27–14 | 1–0 | Forbes Field | Recap |
2 | Bye | |||||
3 | September 19 | at Brooklyn Dodgers | W 21–0 | 2–0 | Ebbets Field | Recap |
4 | September 26 | New York Giants | L 7–10 | 2–1 | Forbes Field | Recap |
5 | October 4 | Chicago Bears | L 0–7 | 2–2 | Forbes Field | Recap |
6 | October 10 | at Detroit Lions | L 3–7 | 2–3 | University of Detroit Stadium | Recap |
7 | October 17 | at Washington Redskins | L 20–34 | 2–4 | Griffith Stadium | Recap |
8 | October 24 | Chicago Cardinals | L 7–13 | 2–5 | Forbes Field | Recap |
9 | October 31 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 16–7 | 3–5 | Forbes Field | Recap |
10 | November 7 | at New York Giants | L 0–17 | 3–6 | Polo Grounds | Recap |
11 | November 14 | Washington Redskins | W 21–13 | 4–6 | Forbes Field | Recap |
12 | November 21 | Brooklyn Dodgers | L 0–23 | 4–7 | Forbes Field | Recap |
13 | Bye | |||||
14 | Bye |
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries
[edit]Week 1 (Sunday September 5, 1937): Philadelphia Eagles
[edit]1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Eagles | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
Pirates | 7 | 0 | 7 | 13 | 27 |
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 8,588
- Referee:
Scoring Drives:
- Pittsburgh – Brett 39 pass from Thompson (Weinstock kick)
- Philadelphia – Hanson 3 run (Smukler kick)
- Pittsburgh – Davidson 19 pass from Gildea (Niccolai kick)
- Philadelphia – Hewitt 7 pass from Smukler (Smukler kick)
- Pittsburgh – McNally 92 kick return (Breeden kick)
- Pittsburgh – McNally 44 pass from Fiske (kick failed)
Week 2 (Sunday September 19, 1937): Brooklyn Dodgers
[edit]1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pirates | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
Dodgers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, New York
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 18,000
- Referee:
Scoring Drives:
- Pittsburgh – Karcis 3 run (Kakasic kick)
- Pittsburgh – Gildea 1 run (Kakasic kick)
- Pittsburgh – McNally 6 pass from Fiske (Niccolai kick)
Week 3 (Sunday September 26, 1937): New York Giants
[edit]1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Giants | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
Pirates | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 33,095
- Referee:
Scoring Drives:
- New York – Richards 13 pass from Danowski (Manton kick)
- Pittsburgh – Karcis 4 run (Niccolai kick)
- New York – FG Manton 13
Week 4 (Monday October 4, 1937): Chicago Bears
[edit]1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bears | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
Pirates | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 22,511
- Referee:
Scoring Drives:
- Chicago Bears – Nolting 13 run (Manders kick)
Week 5 (Sunday October 10, 1937): Detroit Lions
[edit]1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pirates | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Lions | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
at Titan Stadium, Detroit, Michigan
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 16,000
- Referee:
Scoring Drives:
- Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 11
- Detroit – Caddel 2 run (Clark kick)
Week 6 (Sunday October 17, 1937): Washington Redskins
[edit]1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pirates | 0 | 13 | 0 | 7 | 20 |
Redskins | 7 | 0 | 13 | 14 | 34 |
at Griffith Stadium, Washington, DC
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 12,835
- Referee:
Scoring Drives:
- Washington – Battles 65 interception (Smith kick)
- Pittsburgh – McNally 43 pass from Fiske (Weinstock kick)
- Pittsburgh – Thompson 55 pass from McNally (kick blocked)
- Washington – Malone 7 pass from Baugh
- Washington – Justice 3 pass from Smith (Smith kick)
- Washington – Battles 60 run (Smith kick)
- Washington – Battles 62 run (Smith kick)
- Pittsburgh – McNally 2 pass from Karcis (Niccolai kick)
Week 7 (Sunday October 24, 1937): Chicago Cardinals
[edit]1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cardinals | 0 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 13 |
Pirates | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 8,963
- Referee:
Scoring Drives:
- Chicago Cardinals – Deskin 18 pass from Coffee (May kick)
- Chicago Cardinals – Lawrence 2 run (kick failed)
- Pittsburgh – Davidson 65 pass from Fiske (Weinstock kick)
Week 8 (Sunday October 31, 1937): Philadelphia Eagles
[edit]1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Eagles | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
Pirates | 6 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 16 |
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 2,772
- Referee:
Scoring Drives:
- Philadelphia – Pilconis 22 fumble run (Smukler kick)
- Pittsburgh – Davidson 87 interception (kick failed)
- Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 27
- Pittsburgh – Sortet 26 pass from Gildea (Niccolai kick)
Week 9 (Sunday November 7, 1937): New York Giants
[edit]1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pirates | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Giants | 0 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 17 |
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 21,447
- Referee:
Scoring Drives:
- New York – Burnett 5 pass from Danowski (Manton kick)
- New York – FG Cuf 35
- New York – Soar 25 interception
Week 10 (Sunday November 14, 1937): Washington Redskins
[edit]1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Redskins | 6 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 13 |
Pirates | 7 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 21 |
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 12,000
- Referee:
Scoring Drives:
- Washington – Pinckert 3 pass from Smith (kick failed)
- Pittsburgh – Davidson 68 run (Weinstock kick)
- Pittsburgh – Safety, Baugh tackled in end zone by Mayhew
- Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 21
- Washington – Justice 40 pass from Baugh (Smith kick)
- Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 41
- Pittsburgh – Karcis 21 run (kick failed)
Week 11 (Sunday November 21, 1937): Brooklyn Dodgers
[edit]1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dodgers | 0 | 0 | 13 | 10 | 23 |
Pirates | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 3,706
- Referee:
Scoring Drives:
- Brooklyn – Parker 2 run (Parker kick)
- Brooklyn – Parker 44 punt return (kick failed)
- Brooklyn – FG Maniaci 29
- Brooklyn – Mitchell 15 pass from Parker (Maniaci kick)
Standings
[edit]NFL Eastern Division | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
W | L | T | PCT | DIV | PF | PA | STK | ||
Washington Redskins | 8 | 3 | 0 | .727 | 6–2 | 195 | 120 | W2 | |
New York Giants | 6 | 3 | 2 | .667 | 5–2–1 | 128 | 109 | L1 | |
Pittsburgh Pirates | 4 | 7 | 0 | .364 | 4–4 | 122 | 145 | L1 | |
Brooklyn Dodgers | 3 | 7 | 1 | .300 | 2–5–1 | 82 | 174 | T1 | |
Philadelphia Eagles | 2 | 8 | 1 | .200 | 2–6 | 86 | 177 | L1 |
- Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
References
[edit]- ^ "1937 Pittsburgh Pirates Draftees". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved February 20, 2022.