1953 Pittsburgh Steelers season

1953 Pittsburgh Steelers season
Head coachJoe Bach
Home fieldForbes Field
Results
Record6–6
Division place4th NFL Eastern
Playoff finishDid not qualify

The 1953 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the franchise's 21st in the National Football League.

Regular season

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Schedule

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Week Date Opponent Result Record
1 September 27 at Detroit Lions L 21–38 0–1
2 October 3 New York Giants W 24–14 1–1
3 October 11 Chicago Cardinals W 31–28 2–1
4 October 17 at Philadelphia Eagles L 7–23 2–2
5 October 24 Green Bay Packers W 31–14 3–2
6 November 1 Philadelphia Eagles L 7–35 3–3
7 November 8 at Cleveland Browns L 16–34 3–4
8 November 15 at New York Giants W 14–10 4–4
9 November 22 Cleveland Browns L 16–20 4–5
10 November 29 Washington Redskins L 9–17 4–6
11 December 6 at Chicago Cardinals W 21–17 5–6
12 December 13 at Washington Redskins W 14–13 6–6

Game summaries

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Week 1 (Sunday September 27, 1953): Detroit Lions

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1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 7 7 0 7 21
Lions 7 17 7 7 38

at Briggs Stadium, Detroit, Michigan

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 20,675
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

  • Detroit – Carpenter 73 interception (Walker kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Nickel 14 pass from Finks (Bolkovac kick)
  • Detroit – Gedman 1 run (Walker kick)
  • Detroit – FG Walker 40
  • Pittsburgh – Mathews 1 fumble run (Bolkovac kick)
  • Detroit – Hart 49 pass from Layne (Walker kick)
  • Detroit – Walker 8 pass from Hoernschmeyer (Walker kick)
  • Detroit – Hoernschemeyer 29 pass from Layne (Walker kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Nickel 15 pass from Marchibroda (Bolkovac kick)

Week 2 (Saturday October 3, 1953): New York Giants

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1 2 3 4 Total
Giants 7 7 0 0 14
Steelers 7 3 0 14 24

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 31,500
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

  • New York Giants – Clay 2 pass from Conerly (Clay kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Chandnois 93 kick return (Bolkovac kick)
  • New York Giants – Long 55 pass from Conerly (Clay kick)
  • Pittsburgh – FG Bolkovac 35
  • Pittsburgh – Nickel 4 pass from Finks (Bolkovac kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Bolkovac 14 fumble run (Bolkovac kick)

Week 3 (Sunday October 11, 1953): Chicago Cardinals

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1 2 3 4 Total
Cardinals 7 14 7 0 28
Steelers 0 7 7 17 31

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 25,953
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

  • Chicago Cardinals – Olszewski 1 run (Summerall kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Rogel 1 run (Bolkovac kick)
  • Chicago Cardinals – Nagler 34 pass from Root (Summerall kick)
  • Chicago Cardinals – Nagler 6 pass from Root (Summerall kick)
  • Chicago Cardinals – Stonesifer 3 pass from Trippi (Summerall kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Mathews 19 pass from Finks (Bolkovac kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Rogel 4 run (Bolkovac kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Barker 4 pass from Finks (Bolkovac kick)
  • Pittsburgh – FG Bolkovac 28

Week 4 (Saturday October 17, 1953): Philadelphia Eagles

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1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 0 0 7 0 7
Eagles 0 0 6 17 23

at Connie Mack Stadium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 18,681
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

  • Philadelphia – Pihos 28 pass from Burk (kick blocked)
  • Pittsburgh – Mathews 23 pass from Finks (Bolkovac kick)
  • Philadelphia – FG Walston 11
  • Philadelphia – Giancanelli 16 pass from Thomason (Walston kick)
  • Philadelphia – Ziegler 1 run (Walston kick)

Week 5 (Saturday October 24, 1953): Green Bay Packers

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1 2 3 4 Total
Packers 0 0 7 7 14
Steelers 7 10 14 0 31

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 22,918
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

Week 6 (Sunday November 1, 1953): Philadelphia Eagles

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1 2 3 4 Total
Eagles 14 7 0 14 35
Steelers 0 7 0 0 7

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 27,547
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

  • Philadelphia – Gianganelli 7 run (Walston kick)
  • Philadelphia – Williams 48 run (Walston kick)
  • Philadelphia – Walston 21 pass from Thomason (Walston kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Mathews 11 pass from Finks (Bolkovac kick)
  • Philadelphia – Pihos 26 pass from Thomason (Walston kick)
  • Philadelphia – Giancanelli 8 pass from Thomason (Walston kick)

Week 7 (Sunday November 8, 1953): Cleveland Browns

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1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 9 7 0 0 16
Browns 0 24 0 10 34

at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 35,592
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

  • Pittsburgh – FG Bolkovac 27
  • Pittsburgh – Mathews 2 run (kick failed)
  • Cleveland – Carpenter 7 run (Groza kick)
  • Cleveland – FG Groza 20
  • Cleveland – Renfro 44 run (Groza kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Mathews 77 pass from Finks (Bolkovac kick)
  • Cleveland – Renfro 79 blocked field goal return (Groza kick)
  • Cleveland – Lavelli 17 pass from Graham (Groza kick)
  • Cleveland – FG Groza 14

Week 8 (Sunday November 15, 1953): New York Giants

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

at Polo Grounds, New York, New York

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 20,411
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

  • Pittsburgh – Dodrill 16 fumble run (Bolkovac kick)
  • New York Giants – Gifford 6 pass from Conerly (Gifford kick)
  • New York Giants – FG Clay 20
  • Pittsburgh – Butler 33 pass from Finks (Bolkovac kick)

Week 9 (Sunday November 22, 1953): Cleveland Browns

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1 2 3 4 Total
Browns 7 10 3 0 20
Steelers 9 0 0 7 16

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 32,904
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

  • Cleveland – Renfro 54 pass from Graham (Groza kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Finks 1 run (Bolkovac kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Safety, Lahr tackled in end zone by Mathews
  • Cleveland – FG Groza 50
  • Cleveland – Brewster 31 pass from Graham (Groza kick)
  • Cleveland – FG Groza 41
  • Pittsburgh – Mathews 1 run (Bolkovac kick)

Week 10 (Sunday November 29, 1953): Washington Redskins

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1 2 3 4 Total
Redskins 0 7 0 10 17
Steelers 2 0 0 7 9

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 17,206
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

  • Pittsburgh – Safety, Heath tackled by Ferry in end zone
  • Washington – Taylor 5 pass from LeBaron (Dudley kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Chandnois 5 run (Bolkovac kick)
  • Washington – FG Dudley 41
  • Washington – Rykovich 5 pass from LeBaron (Dudley kick)

Week 11 (Sunday December 6, 1953): Chicago Cardinals

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1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 0 0 7 14 21
Cardinals 7 0 3 7 17

at Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 14,138
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

  • Chicago Cardinals – Olszewski 1 run (Summerall kick)
  • Chicago Cardinals – FG Summerall 12
  • Pittsburgh – Brandt 1 run (Bolkovac kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Nickel 6 pass from Mackrides (Bolkovac kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Mackrides 2 run (Bolkovac kick)
  • Chicago Cardinals – Paul 5 pass from Romanik (Summerall kick)

Week 12 (Sunday December 13, 1953): Washington Redskins

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1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 0 0 0 14 14
Redskins 7 3 3 0 13

at Griffith Stadium, Washington, DC

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 22,057
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

  • Washington – Dekker 34 pass from LeBaron
  • Washington – FG Dudley 39
  • Washington – FG Dudley 20
  • Pittsburgh – Chandnois 23 lateral from Mathews (Bolkovac kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Butler 5 interception (Bolkovac kick)

Standings

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NFL Eastern Conference
W L T PCT CONF PF PA STK
Cleveland Browns 11 1 0 .917 9–1 348 162 L1
Philadelphia Eagles 7 4 1 .636 6–3–1 352 215 W1
Washington Redskins 6 5 1 .545 6–3–1 208 215 L1
Pittsburgh Steelers 6 6 0 .500 5–5 211 263 W2
New York Giants 3 9 0 .250 3–7 179 277 L2
Chicago Cardinals 1 10 1 .091 0–10 190 337 W1
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

References

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