1959 Pittsburgh Steelers season

1959 Pittsburgh Steelers season
Head coach	Buddy Parker
Home stadium	Forbes Field
Results
Record	6–5–1
Division place	4th NFL Eastern
Playoffs	Did not qualify
←  1958 Steelers seasons 1960  →

The 1959 Pittsburgh Steelers season marked the franchise's 27th year in the National Football League (NFL). The team won one fewer game than it did the previous year, finishing with a record of 6 wins, 5 losses, and 1 tie.

Regular season

In 1959 the Steelers offered seats at four price levels — $6.00, $5.00, $4.00, and $3.00. ^[1] No season prices for the six game slate were published. ^[1]

Schedule

Game	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap	Sources
1	September 26	Cleveland Browns	W 17–7	1–0	Forbes Field	33,844	Recap
2	October 4	Washington Redskins	L 17–23	1–1	Forbes Field	26,750	Recap
3	October 11	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 24–28	1–2	Franklin Field	27,343	Recap
4	October 18	at Washington Redskins	W 27–6	2–2	Griffith Stadium	28,218	Recap
5	October 25	New York Giants	L 16–21	2–3	Forbes Field	33,596	Recap
6	November 1	at Chicago Cardinals	L 24–45	2–4	Soldier Field	23,187	Recap
7	November 8	Detroit Lions	T 10–10	2–4–1	Forbes Field	24,614	Recap
8	November 15	at New York Giants	W 14–9	3–4–1	Yankee Stadium	66,786	Recap
9	November 22	at Cleveland Browns	W 21–20	4–4–1	Cleveland Stadium	68,563	Recap
10	November 29	Philadelphia Eagles	W 31–0	5–4–1	Forbes Field	22,191	Recap
11	December 6	at Chicago Bears	L 21–27	5–5–1	Wrigley Field	41,476	Recap
12	December 13	Chicago Cardinals	W 35–20	6–5–1	Forbes Field	19,011	Recap
Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1 (Saturday September 26, 1959): Cleveland Browns

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

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 33,844
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

• Cleveland – Plum 1 run (Groza kick) CLE 7–0
• Pittsburgh – FG Layne 26 CLE 7–3
• Pittsburgh – Orr 20 pass from Layne (Layne kick) PIT 10–7
• Pittsburgh – Brewster 19 pass from Layne (Layne kick) PIT 17-7

Week 2 (Sunday October 4, 1959): Washington Redskins

	1	2	3	4	Total
Redskins	3	6	14	0	23
Steelers	0	0	10	7	17

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 26,750
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

• Washington – FG Baker 25 WSH 3–0
• Washington – FG Baker 47 WSH 3–0
• Washington – FG Baker 48 WSH 9–0
• Washington – Anderson 70 pass from Gugliemi (Baker kick) WSH 16–0
• Pittsburgh – FG Layne 32 WSH 16–3
• Washington – Walton 26 pass from Gugliemi (Baker kick)WSH 23–3
• Pittsburgh – Brewster 30 pass from Layne (Layne kick) WSH 23-10
• Pittsburgh – Krutko 2 run (Layne kick) WSH 23–17

Week 3 (Sunday October 11, 1959): Philadelphia Eagles

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	7	3	7	7	24
Eagles	7	7	7	7	28

at Franklin Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 27,343
• Referee: Bud Brubaker
• TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

• Steelers – Bobby Layne 10 run (Layne kick), PIT 7–0
• Eagles – Billy Ray Barnes 3 run (Walston kick), TIE 7–7
• Eagles – Art Powell 58 punt return (Walston kick), PHI 14–7
• Steelers – FG Bobby Lane 12, PHI 14–10
• Eagles – Norm Van Brocklin 1 run (Walston kick), PHI 21–10
• Steelers – Tom Tracy 11 pass from Layne (Layne kick), PHI 21–17
• Eagles – Tommy McDonald 18 pass from Van Brocklin (Walston kick), PHI 28–17
• Steelers – Jimmy Orr 17 pass from Layne (Layne kick), PHI 28–24

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Steelers	Passing	Bobby Layne	18/33, 209 Yds, 2 TD, INT
	Rushing	Tom Tracy	11 Rush, 33 Yds
	Receiving	Tom Tracy	4 Rec, 70 Yds, TD
Eagles	Passing	Norm Van Brocklin	13/27, 172 Yds, TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Clarence Peaks	14 Rush, 42 Yds
	Receiving	Tommy McDonald	4 Rec, 66 Yds, TD

Week 4 (Sunday October 18, 1959): Washington Redskins

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	14	7	0	6	27
Redskins	6	0	0	0	6

at Griffith Stadium, Washington, DC

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 28,218
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

• Pittsburgh – Krutko 1 run (Layne kick)
• Pittsburgh – Tarasovic 38 fumble run (Layne kick)
• Washington – FG Baker 30
• Washington – FG Baker 39
• Pittsburgh – Krutko 4 run (Layne kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Layne 23
• Pittsburgh – FG Layne 22

Week 5 (Sunday October 25, 1959): New York Giants

	1	2	3	4	Total
Giants	14	0	0	7	21
Steelers	10	0	3	3	16

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 33,596
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

• Pittsburgh – FG Layne 37
• New York Giants – Gifford 77 pass from Conerly (Summerall kick)
• New York Giants – Gifford 28 pass from Conerly (Summerall kick)
• Pittsburgh – Dial 35 pass from Layne (Layne kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Layne 19
• New York Giants – Huff 5 fumble run (Summerall kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Layne 17

Week 6 (Sunday November 1, 1959): Chicago Cardinals

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	0	10	7	7	24
Cardinals	14	21	0	10	45

at Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance:
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Week 7 (Sunday November 8, 1959): Detroit Lions

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

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 24,614
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

• Detroit – Rote 1 run (Perry kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Layne 29
• Detroit – FG Martin 27
• Pittsburgh – Tracy 20 pass from Layne (Layne kick)

Week 8 (Sunday November 15, 1959): New York Giants

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	0	7	0	7	14
Giants	0	6	3	0	9

at Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 66,786
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

• New York Giants – FG Summerall 21
• New York Giants – FG Summerall 27
• Pittsburgh – Orr 4 pass from Layne (Layne kick)
• New York Giants – FG Summerall 29
• Pittsburgh – Tracy 45 pass from Layne (Layne kick)

Week 9 (Sunday November 22, 1959): Cleveland Browns

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

at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 68,563
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

• Pittsburgh – Tracy 4 run (Layne kick)
• Pittsburgh – Tracy 1 run (Layne kick)
• Cleveland – Renfro 30 pass from Plum (kick failed)
• Cleveland – Renfro 28 pass from Plum (Groza kick)
• Cleveland – Renfro 70 pass from Plum (Groza kick)
• Pittsburgh – Nagler 17 pass from Layne (Layne kick)

Week 10 (Sunday November 29, 1959): Philadelphia Eagles

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	0	0	0	0	0
Steelers	3	7	7	14	31

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 22,191
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

• Pittsburgh – FG Layne 17
• Pittsburgh – Dial 12 pass from Layne (Layne kick)
• Pittsburgh – Orr 19 pass from Layne (Layne kick)
• Pittsburgh – Tracy 23 pass from Layne (Layne kick)
• Pittsburgh – Nagler 2 pass from Layne (Layne kick)

Week 11 (Sunday December 5, 1959): Chicago Bears

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	6	14	7	0	27
Steelers	0	7	7	7	21

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 41,476
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

• Chicago Bears – Casares 3 run (kick failed)
• Chicago Bears – Casares 1 run (Aveni kick)
• Chicago Bears – Casares 1 run (Aveni kick)
• Pittsburgh – Tracy 2 run (Layne kick)
• Chicago Bears – Casares 1 run (Aveni kick)
• Pittsburgh – Krutko 7 run (Layne kick)
• Pittsburgh – Dial 25 pass from Layne (Layne kick)

Week 12 (Sunday December 12, 1959): Chicago Cardinals

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	6	0	7	7	20
Steelers	0	28	7	0	35

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 19,011
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring drives:

• Chicago Cardinals – FG Conrad 37
• Chicago Cardinals – FG Conrad 20
• Pittsburgh – Layne 9 run (Layne kick)
• Pittsburgh – Dial 35 pass from Layne (Layne kick)
• Pittsburgh – Dial 11 pass from Layne (Layne kick)
• Pittsburgh – Tracy 16 pass from Layne (Layne kick)
• Chicago Cardinals – Conrad 21 pass from Hill (Conrad kick)
• Pittsburgh – Orr 16 pass from Layne (Layne kick)
• Chicago Cardinals – Crow 7 pass from Hill (Conrad kick)

Standings

NFL Eastern Conference
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
New York Giants	10	2	0	.833	8–2	284	170	W4
Philadelphia Eagles	7	5	0	.583	6–4	268	278	L1
Cleveland Browns	7	5	0	.583	6–4	270	214	W1
Pittsburgh Steelers	6	5	1	.545	6–4	257	216	W1
Washington Redskins	3	9	0	.250	2–8	185	350	L5
Chicago Cardinals	2	10	0	.167	2–8	234	324	L6

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
Baltimore Colts	9	3	0	.750	9–1	374	251	W5
Chicago Bears	8	4	0	.667	6–4	252	196	W7
San Francisco 49ers	7	5	0	.583	5–5	255	237	L2
Green Bay Packers	7	5	0	.583	6–4	248	246	W4
Detroit Lions	3	8	1	.273	2–8	203	275	L1
Los Angeles Rams	2	10	0	.167	2–8	242	315	L8

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

References

1. E.J. O'Malley, "Purchasing NFL Tickets: A Guide to Ticket Information," Sports Forecast, vol. 2, no. 2. Chicago: E.J. O'Malley Publishing Co., 1959; p. 78.