1965 Pittsburgh Steelers season

1965 Pittsburgh Steelers season
Head coach	Mike Nixon
Home field	Pitt Stadium
Results
Record	2–12
Division place	7th NFL Eastern
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
←  1964 Steelers seasons 1966  →

The 1965 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the team's 33rd in the National Football League.

The team set a modern NFL record with a minus-30 turnover ratio.^{[ citation needed ]}

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue
1	September 19	Green Bay Packers	L 9–41	0–1	Pitt Stadium
2	September 26	at San Francisco 49ers	L 17–27	0–2	Kezar Stadium
3	October 3	New York Giants	L 13–23	0–3	Pitt Stadium
4	October 9	at Cleveland Browns	L 19–24	0–4	Cleveland Municipal Stadium
5	October 17	St. Louis Cardinals	L 7–20	0–5	Pitt Stadium
6	October 24	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 20–14	1–5	Franklin Field
7	October 31	Dallas Cowboys	W 22–13	2–5	Pitt Stadium
8	November 7	at St. Louis Cardinals	L 17–21	2–6	Busch Stadium (I)
9	November 14	at Dallas Cowboys	L 17–24	2–7	Cotton Bowl
10	November 21	Washington Redskins	L 3–31	2–8	Pitt Stadium
11	November 28	Cleveland Browns	L 21–42	2–9	Pitt Stadium
12	December 5	at New York Giants	L 10–35	2–10	Yankee Stadium
13	December 12	Philadelphia Eagles	L 13–47	2–11	Pitt Stadium
14	December 19	at Washington Redskins	L 14–35	2–12	D. C. Stadium

Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1 (Sunday September 19, 1965): Green Bay Packers

	1	2	3	4	Total
Packers	0	7	13	21	41
Steelers	0	9	0	0	9

at Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 38,383
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• Pittsburgh – FG Clark 21
• Pittsburgh – FG Clark 34
• Green Bay – Adderley 34 interception (Chandler kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Clark 32
• Green Bay – Fleming 31 pass from Starr (Chandler kick)
• Green Bay – FG Chandler 9
• Green Bay – FG Chandler 19
• Green Bay – Hornung 10 pass from Starr (Chandler kick)
• Green Bay – Pitts 2 run (Chandler kick)
• Green Bay – Pitts 2 run (Chandler kick)

Week 2 (Sunday September 26, 1965): San Francisco 49ers

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	7	0	10	0	17
49ers	7	6	7	7	27

at Kezar Stadium, San Francisco, California

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 30,140
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• San Francisco – Crow 49 pass from Brodie (Davis kick)
• Pittsburgh – Hoak 1 run (Clark kick)
• San Francisco – FG Davis 37
• San Francisco – FG Davis 27
• Pittsburgh – FG Clark 32
• San Francisco – Wiltard 9 run (Davis kick)
• Pittsburgh – Campbell 15 fumble return (Clark kick)
• San Francisco – Brodie 4 run (Davis kick)

Week 3 (Sunday October 3, 1965): New York Giants

	1	2	3	4	Total
Giants	7	7	0	9	23
Steelers	0	3	3	7	13

at Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 31,871
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• New York Giants – Thurlow 6 run (Stynchula kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Clark 22
• New York Giants – Morrison 4 pass form Morrall (Stynchula kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Clark 48
• New York Giants – FG Timberlake 43
• Pittsburgh – Hoak 1 run (Clark kick)
• New York Giants – Thomas 29 pass form Morrall (kick failed)

Week 4 (Saturday October 9, 1965): Cleveland Browns

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	0	6	6	7	19
Browns	10	0	7	7	24

at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 80,187
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• Cleveland – FG Groza 38
• Cleveland – Brown 4 pass from Ryan (Groza kick)
• Pittsburgh – Nelsen 1 run (kick failed)
• Pittsburgh – Hoak – 42 run (kick failed)
• Cleveland – Brown 1 run (Groza kick)
• Pittsburgh – Hoak 15 run (Clark kick)
• Cleveland – Collins 14 pass from Ryan (Groza kick)

Week 5 (Sunday October 17, 1965): St. Louis Cardinals

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	7	0	3	10	20
Steelers	7	0	0	0	7

at Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 31,085
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• St. Louis – Randle 8 pass from Johnson (Bakken kick)
• Pittsburgh – Ballman 5 run (Clark kick)
• St. Louis – FG Bakken 32
• St. Louis – Conrad 71 pass from Johnson (Bakken kick)
• St. Louis – FG Bakken 35

Week 6 (Sunday October 24, 1965): Philadelphia Eagles

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	6	7	7	0	20
Eagles	7	0	0	7	14

at Franklin Field, Philadelphia

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 56,515
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• Philadelphia – Gros 4 run (Baker kick)
• Pittsburgh – Daniel 17 fumble return (kick failed)
• Pittsburgh – J. Bradshaw 82 interception return (Clark kick)
• Pittsburgh – Lind 4 pass from Nelsen (Clark kick)
• Philadelphia – Poage 14 pass from Concannon (Baker kick)

Week 7 (Sunday October 31, 1965): Dallas Cowboys

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cowboys	6	0	7	0	13
Steelers	0	19	0	3	22

at Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 37,804
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• Dallas – Smith 2 pass from Meredith (kick failed)
• Pittsburgh – Hoak 2 pass from Nelsen (kick failed)
• Pittsburgh – Ballman 20 pass from Nelsen (kick failed)
• Pittsburgh – Ballman 72 pass from Nelsen (Clark kick)
• Dallas – Gent 8 pass from Meredith (Villanueva kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Clark 18

Week 8 (Sunday November 7, 1965): St. Louis Cardinals

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

at Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 31,899
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• Pittsburgh – FG Clark 11
• St. Louis – Triplett 3 run (Bakken kick)
• St. Louis – Randle 15 pass from Johnson (Bakken kick)
• Pittsburgh – Jefferson 50 pass from Nelsen (Clark kick)
• Pittsburgh – Lind 2 run (Clark kick)
• St. Louis – Gambrell 59 pass from Johnson (Bakken kick)

Week 9 (Sunday November 14, 1965): Dallas Cowboys

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	7	0	10	0	17
Cowboys	7	3	0	14	24

at Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 57,293
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• Pittsburgh – Hoak 3 run (Clark kick)
• Dallas – Clarke 1 pass from Meredith (Villanueva kick)
• Dallas – FG Villanueva 33
• Pittsburgh – FG Clark 32
• Pittsburgh – Folkins 18 fumble return (Clark kick)
• Dallas – Reeves 2 run (Villanueva kick)
• Dallas – Hayes 28 pass from Meredith (Villanueva kick)

Week 10 (Sunday November 21, 1965): Washington Redskins

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

at Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 25,052
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• Pittsburgh – FG Clark 34
• Washington – Lewis 1 run (Jencks kick)
• Washington – FG Jencks 9
• Washington – Taylor 8 run (Jencks kick)
• Washington – Coia 45 pass from Jurgensen (Jencks kick)
• Washington – Harris 57 punt return (Jencks kick)

Week 11 (Sunday November 28, 1965): Cleveland Browns

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

at Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 42,757
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• Cleveland – Kelly 56 punt return (Groza kick)
• Cleveland – Brown 2 run (Groza kick)
• Cleveland – Brown 2 run (Groza kick)
• Pittsburgh – Ballman 87 pass from Nelsen (Clark kick)
• Cleveland – Brown 15 run (Groza kick)
• Pittsburgh – Butler 43 pass from Nelsen (Clark kick)
• Cleveland – Brewer 25 pass from Ninowski (Groza kick)
• Pittsburgh – Thomas 80 pass from Nelsen (Clark kick)
• Cleveland – Brown 27 pass from Ninowski (Groza kick)

Week 12 (Sunday December 5, 1965): New York Giants

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	3	7	0	0	10
Giants	7	21	0	7	35

at Yankee Stadium, The Bronx, New York

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 62,735
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• New York Giants – Shofner 33 pass from Morrall (Timberlake kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Clark 25
• Pittsburgh – Ballman 1 run (Clark kick)
• New York Giants – Frederickson 13 run (Timberlake kick)
• New York Giants – Frederickson 3 run (Timberlake kick)
• New York Giants – Frederickson 19 pass from Morrall (Timberlake kick)
• New York Giants – Jones 28 pass from Wood (Timberlake kick)

Week 13 (Sunday December 12, 1965): Philadelphia Eagles

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	27	7	6	7	47
Steelers	0	13	0	0	13

at Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 22,002
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• Philadelphia – Gros 2 run (Baker kick)
• Philadelphia – Retzlaff 13 pass from Snead (kick failed)
• Philadelphia – Matson 8 run (Baker kick)
• Philadelphia – Baughan 33 interception return (Baker kick)
• Philadelphia – Nettles 56 interception return (Baker kick)
• Pittsburgh – Ballman 20 pass from Wade (Clark kick)
• Pittsburgh – Woodson 61 interception return (kick failed)
• Philadelphia – Tarasovic 40 interception return (kick failed)
• Philadelphia – Lang 8 run (Baker kick)

Week 14 (December 19, 1965): Washington Redskins

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

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

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 49,806
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• Washington – Lewis 10 pass from Jurgensen (Jencks kick)
• Washington – Harris 34 interception (Jencks kick)
• Pittsburgh – Ballman 2 run (Clark kick)
• Washington – Walters 63 interception return (Jencks kick)
• Pittsburgh – Ballman 44 pass from Wade (Clark kick)
• Washington – Pellegrini 31 fumble return (Jencks kick)
• Washington – Hughley 4 pass from Jurgensen (Jencks kick)

Standings

NFL Eastern Conference
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Cleveland Browns	11	3	0	.786	11–1	363	325	W1
Dallas Cowboys	7	7	0	.500	6–6	325	280	W3
New York Giants	7	7	0	.500	7–5	270	338	L1
Washington Redskins	6	8	0	.429	6–6	257	301	W1
Philadelphia Eagles	5	9	0	.357	5–7	363	359	L1
St. Louis Cardinals	5	9	0	.357	5–7	296	309	L6
Pittsburgh Steelers	2	12	0	.143	2–10	202	397	L7

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

External links

• 1965 Pittsburgh Steelers season at Profootballreference.com
• 1965 Pittsburgh Steelers season statistics at jt-sw.com