1998 Pittsburgh Steelers season

Last updated

1998 Pittsburgh Steelers season
Owner The Rooney Family
General manager Tom Donahoe
Head coach Bill Cowher
Home stadium Three Rivers Stadium
Results
Record7–9
Division place3rd AFC Central
PlayoffsDid not qualify
Pro Bowlers C Dermontti Dawson
All-Pros Dermontti Dawson (1st team)
Team MVP Levon Kirkland
Team ROY Alan Faneca

The 1998 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the franchise's 66th season as a professional sports franchise and as a member of the National Football League (NFL).

Contents

This season marked the first time since the 1991 season that the Steelers failed to make the playoffs. Pittsburgh finished 7–9 after starting the season 5–2, losing their last five games to lose a spot in the playoffs. It was Bill Cowher's first losing record as head coach of the Steelers.

The season was marked by a controversial ending to the team's Thanksgiving Day game against the Detroit Lions, where Jerome Bettis claimed he called the coin toss in overtime as "tails" although referee Phil Luckett heard "heads." The Lions won 19–16 and started the Steelers' losing streak to finish the season.

The inept plays of Kordell Stewart was cited as another conflict, as the fans slowly began to turn on him. After their 11–5 1997 season, Pittsburgh lost two key offensive components: Chan Gailey, the offensive coordinator who went on to become head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, and their leading receiver, Yancey Thigpen, a Pro Bowler for Pittsburgh in 1997, who joined the Tennessee Oilers.

Offseason

NFL draft

1998 Pittsburgh Steelers draft
RoundPickPlayerPositionCollegeNotes
126 Alan Faneca *  Guard LSU
241 Jeremy Staat   Defensive end Arizona State
366 Chris Conrad   Tackle Fresno State
392 Hines Ward *  Wide receiver Georgia
4117 Deshea Townsend   Cornerback Alabama
4123 Carlos King   Running back NC State
5137 Jason Simmons   Safety Arizona State from Atlanta
6178 Chris Fuamatu-Maʻafala   Fullback Utah
6186Ryan Olson  Defensive tackle Colorado
7221 Angel Rubio   Defensive tackle SE Missouri State
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff

1998 Pittsburgh Steelers staff

Front office

  • President – Daniel M. Rooney
  • Vice president – John R. McGinley
  • Vice president – Arthur J. Rooney, Jr.
  • Vice president and general counsel – Arthur J. Rooney II
  • Administration advisor – Chuck Noll
  • Director of business – Mark Hart
  • Business relations coordinator – Dan Ferens
  • Business accounting coordinator – Jim Ellenberger
  • Office/ticket coordinator – Geraldine Glenn
  • Communications coordinator – Ron Wahl
  • Public relations/media manager – David Lockett
  • Marketing coordinator – Mark Fuhrman
  • Merchandising manager – Tim Carey
  • Assistant marketing manager – Lynne Molyneaux
  • Marketing assistant – Jill Sklar
  • Ticket manager – Brian Bonifate
  • Football operations
  • Director of football operations – Tom Donahoe
  • Personnel staff
  • Pro personnel coordinator – Charles Bailey
  • College scouting coordinator – Max McCartney
  • College scout – Mark Gorscak
  • College scout – Phil Kreidler
  • College scout – Bob Lane
  • College scout – Dan Rooney
  • College scout – Bill Scheider

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Conditioning coordinator – Chet Fuhrman
  • Medical staff
  • Ophthalmologist – Dr. Randy Beatty
  • Physician, orthopedic – Dr. James P. Bradley
  • Neurological surgery consultant – Dr. Joseph Maroon
  • Physician, M.D. – Dr. Richard Rydze
  • Physician, consultant – Dr. Abraham J. Twerski
  • Physician, M.D. – Dr. Anthony P. Yates
  • Training staff
  • Head trainer – John Norwig
  • Assistant trainer – Rick Burkholder
  • Equipment manager – Rodgers Freyvogel
  • Field manager – Rich Baker
  • Field/equipment assistant – Paul Gallagher
  • Video coordinator – Bob McCartney
  • Player development coordinator – Anthony Griggs
  • Photographers – Mike Fabus, Bill Amatucci

[1]

Notable additions include Hines Ward, Alan Faneca and Deshea Townsend.

Roster

1998 Pittsburgh Steelers roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams (ST)

Practice squad

[1] [2] [3] [4] Reserve

Rookies in italics
53 active, 4 reserve, 5 practice squad

Preseason

Schedule

WeekDateOpponentGame siteKickoff (ET)TVResultRecord
1 August 1vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Fawcett Stadium (Canton, Ohio)7:00 p.m. ABC L 30–60–1
2August 8 Buffalo Bills Three Rivers Stadium 7:30 p.m. KDKA W 24–131–1
3August 14at Philadelphia Eagles Veterans Stadium 8:00 p.m.KDKAL 21–171–2
4August 22vs. Atlanta Falcons Mountaineer Field (Morgantown, West Virginia)6:00 p.m.KDKAW 28–222–2
5August 29 Carolina Panthers Three Rivers Stadium8:00 p.m. ESPN W 38–243–2

Regular season

Schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenue
1September 6at Baltimore Ravens W 20–131–0 Ravens Stadium
2September 13 Chicago Bears W 17–122–0 Three Rivers Stadium
3September 20at Miami Dolphins L 0–212–1 Pro Player Stadium
4September 27 Seattle Seahawks W 13–103–1Three Rivers Stadium
5Bye
6October 11at Cincinnati Bengals L 20–253–2 Cinergy Field
7October 18 Baltimore Ravens W 16–64–2Three Rivers Stadium
8October 26at Kansas City Chiefs W 20–135–2 Arrowhead Stadium
9November 1 Tennessee Oilers L 31–415–3Three Rivers Stadium
10November 9 Green Bay Packers W 27–206–3Three Rivers Stadium
11November 15at Tennessee Oilers L 14–236–4 Vanderbilt Stadium
12November 22 Jacksonville Jaguars W 30–157–4Three Rivers Stadium
13 November 26 at Detroit Lions L 16–19 (OT)7–5 Pontiac Silverdome
14December 6 New England Patriots L 9–237–6Three Rivers Stadium
15December 13at Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 3–167–7 Raymond James Stadium
16December 20 Cincinnati Bengals L 24–257–8Three Rivers Stadium
17December 28at Jacksonville Jaguars L 3–217–9 Alltel Stadium

Game summaries

Week 1 (Sunday September 6, 1998): at Baltimore Ravens

1234Total
Steelers3010720
Ravens3001013

at Ravens Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland

Scoring drives:

  • Pittsburgh – FG N. Johnson 27
  • Baltimore – FG Stover 41
  • Pittsburgh – FG N. Johnson 49
  • Pittsburgh – Stewart 1 run (N. Johnson kick)
  • Pittsburgh – C. Johnson 20 pass from Stewart (N. Johnson kick)
  • Baltimore – FG Stover 25
  • Baltimore – J. Lewis 64 pass from Zeier (Stover kick)

Week 2 (Sunday September 13, 1998): vs. Chicago Bears

1234Total
Bears090312
Steelers0710017

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Scoring drives:

  • Chicago – Engram 54 pass from Kramer (kick failed)
  • Pittsburgh – Bettis 1 run (N. Johnson kick)
  • Chicago – FG Jaeger 19
  • Pittsburgh – FG N. Johnson 49
  • Pittsburgh – Coleman 13 pass from Stewart (N. Johnson kick)
  • Chicago – FG Jaeger 36

Week 3 (Sunday September 20, 1998): at Miami Dolphins

1234Total
Steelers00000
Dolphins0147021

at Pro Player Stadium, Miami, Florida

Scoring drives:

  • Miami – Abdul-Jabbar 3 run (Mare kick)
  • Miami – L. Thomas 8 pass from Marino (Mare kick)
  • Miami – Z. Thomas 17 interception return (Mare kick)

Week 4 (Sunday September 27, 1998): vs. Seattle Seahawks

1234Total
Seahawks073010
Steelers373013

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time: 4:05 pm EDT
  • Game weather:83 °F (28 °C) (Partly sunny)
  • Game attendance: 58,413
  • Referee: Johnny Grier
  • TV announcers: (CBS) Kevin Harlan (play by play), Sam Wyche (color commentator)

Scoring drives:

  • Pittsburgh – FG N. Johnson 33
  • Seattle – Fauria 14 pass from Moon (Peterson kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Fuamatu-Ma'afala 10 run (N. Johnson kick)
  • Pittsburgh – FG N. Johnson 25
  • Seattle – FG Peterson 47

Week 5 (Sunday October 4, 1998): Bye Week

Week 6 (Sunday October 11, 1998): at Cincinnati Bengals

1234Total
Steelers0107320
Bengals0931325

at Cinergy Field, Cincinnati

Scoring drives:

  • Pittsburgh – FG N. Johnson 40
  • Pittsburgh – Bettis 13 run (N. Johnson kick)
  • Cincinnati – FG Pelfrey 44
  • Cincinnati – Scott 44 pass from O'Donnell (pass failed)
  • Pittsburgh – Huntley 9 run (N. Johnson kick)
  • Cincinnati – FG Pelfrey 48
  • Cincinnati – Scott 30 pass from O'Donnell (pass failed)
  • Pittsburgh – FG N. Johnson 40
  • Cincinnati – Pickens 25 pass from O'Donnell (Pelfrey kick)

Week 7 (Sunday October 18, 1998): vs. Baltimore Ravens

1234Total
Ravens33006
Steelers307616

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time: 1:00 pm EDT
  • Game weather:73 °F (23 °C) (Partly sunny)
  • Game attendance: 58,620
  • Referee: Ron Blum
  • TV announcers: (CBS) Kevin Harlan (play by play), Sam Wyche (color commentator)

Scoring drives:

  • Pittsburgh – FG N. Johnson 41
  • Baltimore – FG Stover 41
  • Baltimore – FG Stover 40
  • Pittsburgh – C. Johnson 55 pass from Stewart (N. Johnson kick)
  • Pittsburgh – FG N. Johnson 42
  • Pittsburgh – FG N. Johnson 40

Week 8 (Monday October 26, 1998): at Kansas City Chiefs

1234Total
Steelers733720
Chiefs337013

at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

Scoring drives:

  • Pittsburgh – McAfee recovered blocked punt in end zone (N. Johnson kick)
  • Kansas City – FG Stoyanovich 20
  • Kansas City – FG Stoyanovich 28
  • Pittsburgh – FG N. Johnson 34
  • Pittsburgh – FG N. Johnson 22
  • Kansas City – Rison 2 pass from Grbac (Stoyanovich kick)
  • Pittsburgh – C. Johnson 5 pass from Stewart (N. Johnson kick)

Week 9 (Sunday November 1, 1998): vs. Tennessee Oilers

1234Total
Oilers314101441
Steelers0702431

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time: 1:00 pm EST
  • Game weather:55 °F (13 °C) (Cloudy)
  • Game attendance: 58,222
  • Referee: Mike Carey
  • TV announcers: (CBS) Ian Eagle (play by play), Mark May (color commentator)

Scoring drives:

  • Tennessee – FG Del Greco 43
  • Tennessee – Wycheck 2 pass from McNair (Del Greco kick)
  • Pittsburgh – C. Johnson 9 pass from Stewart (N. Johnson kick)
  • Tennessee – Dyon 6 pass from McNair (Del Greco kick)
  • Tennessee – FG Del Greco 32
  • Tennessee – George 37 run (Del Greco kick)
  • Tennessee – Davis 29 pass from McNair (Del Greco kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Hawkins 3 pass from Stewart (C. Johnson pass from Stewart)
  • Tennessee – Marts 27 interception return (Del Greco kick)
  • Pittsburgh – C. Johnson 37 pass from Tomczak (C. Johnson pass from Tomczak)
  • Pittsburgh – C. Johnson 2 pass from Tomczak (Blackwell pass from Tomczak)

Week 10 (Monday November 9, 1998): vs. Green Bay Packers

1234Total
Packers0031720
Steelers14103027

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Scoring drives:

  • Pittsburgh – C. Johnson 8 pass from Stewart (N. Johnson kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Stewart 1 run (N. Johnson kick)
  • Pittsburgh – FG N. Johnson 45
  • Pittsburgh – Fuamatu-Ma'afala 5 run (N. Johnson kick)
  • Pittsburgh – FG N. Johnson 21
  • Green Bay – FG Longwell 42
  • Green Bay – McKenzie 88 fumble return (pass failed)
  • Green Bay – Harris 2 run (Freeman pass from Favre)
  • Green Bay – FG Longwell 37

Week 11 (Sunday November 15, 1998): at Tennessee Oilers

1234Total
Steelers0140014
Oilers31001023

at Vanderbilt Stadium, Nashville, Tennessee

Scoring drives:

  • Tennessee – FG Del Greco 46
  • Pittsburgh – Bruener 10 pass from Stewart (George kick)
  • Tennessee – Davis 25 pass from McNair (Del Greco kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Fuamatu-Ma'afala 26 pass from Stewart (George kick)
  • Tennessee – FG Del Greco 24
  • Tennessee – FG Del Greco 22
  • Tennessee – Roan recovered fumble in end zone (Del Greco kick)

Week 12 (Sunday November 22, 1998): vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

1234Total
Jaguars007815
Steelers7631430

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time: 1:00 pm EST
  • Game weather:47 °F (8 °C) (Mostly sunny)
  • Game attendance: 59,124
  • Referee: Walt Coleman
  • TV announcers: (CBS) Kevin Harlan (play by play), Sam Wyche (color commentator)

Scoring drives:

  • Pittsburgh – Washington 52 interception return (N. Johnson kick)
  • Pittsburgh – FG N. Johnson 38
  • Pittsburgh – FG N. Johnson 29
  • Jacksonville – Taylor 2 run (Hollis kick)
  • Pittsburgh – FG N. Johnson 41
  • Pittsburgh – Bruener 9 pass from Stewart (N. Johnson kick)
  • Jacksonville – J. Smith 33 pass from Brunell (McCardell pass from Brunell)
  • Pittsburgh – Washington 78 interception return (N. Johnson kick)

Week 13 (Thursday November 26, 1998): at Detroit Lions

1234OTTotal
Steelers0673016
Lions03310319

at Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac, Michigan

Scoring drives:

  • Pittsburgh – FG N. Johnson 30
  • Pittsburgh – FG N. Johnson 38
  • Detroit – FG Hanson 45
  • Pittsburgh – Blackwell 24 pass from Stewart (N. Johnson kick)
  • Detroit – FG Hanson 52
  • Detroit – Moore 21 pass from Batch (Hanson kick)
  • Detroit – FG Hanson 35
  • Pittsburgh – FG N. Johnson 25
  • Detroit – FG Hanson 42

Week 14 (Sunday December 6, 1998): vs. New England Patriots

1234Total
Patriots31001023
Steelers63009

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Scoring drives:

  • New England – FG Vinatieri 21
  • New England – FG Vinatieri 29
  • Pittsburgh – FG N. Johnson 49
  • New England – Glenn 86 pass from Bledsoe (Vinatieri kick)
  • Pittsburgh – FG N. Johnson 26
  • Pittsburgh – FG N. Johnson 43
  • New England – FG Vinatieri 35
  • New England – Edwards 4 run (Vinatieri kick)

Week 15 (Sunday December 13, 1998): at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

1234Total
Steelers30003
Buccaneers337316

at Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida

Scoring drives:

  • Pittsburgh – FG N. Johnson 27
  • Tampa Bay – FG Husted 39
  • Tampa Bay – FG Husted 37
  • Tampa Bay – Alstott 3 run (Husted kick)
  • Tampa Bay – FG Husted 21

Week 16 (Sunday December 20, 1998): vs. Cincinnati Bengals

1234Total
Bengals3136325
Steelers0714324

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time: 1:00 pm EST
  • Game weather:42 °F (6 °C) (Cloudy)
  • Game attendance: 52,017
  • Referee: Bernie Kukar
  • TV announcers: (CBS) Ian Eagle (play by play), Mark May (color commentator)

Scoring drives:

  • Cincinnati – FG Pelfrey 33
  • Cincinnati – Shade 55 fumble return (Pelfrey kick)
  • Cincinnati – FG Pelfrey 37
  • Pittsburgh – Lake 15 interception return (N. Johnson kick)
  • Cincinnati – FG Pelfrey 43
  • Pittsburgh – Oldham 54 fumble return (N. Johnson kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Bettis 4 run (N. Johnson kick)
  • Cincinnati – Scott 61 pass from Blake (bad snap)
  • Pittsburgh – FG N. Johnson 22
  • Cincinnati – FG Pelfrey 21

Week 17 (Monday December 28, 1998): at Jacksonville Jaguars

1234Total
Steelers03003
Jaguars0147021

at Alltel Stadium, Jacksonville, Florida

Scoring drives

  • Pittsburgh – FG N. Johnson 24
  • Jacksonville – Quinn 15 run (Hollis kick)
  • Jacksonville – Taylor 9 pass from Quinn (Hollis kick)
  • Jacksonville – Taylor 12 run (Hollis kick)

Standings

AFC Central
WLTPCTPFPASTK
(3) Jacksonville Jaguars 1150.688392338W1
Tennessee Oilers 880.500330320L2
Pittsburgh Steelers 790.438263303L5
Baltimore Ravens 6100.375269335W1
Cincinnati Bengals 3130.188268452L1

[5]

References

  1. 1 2 1998 Pittsburgh Steelers Media Guide.
  2. 1999 Pittsburgh Steelers Media Guide.
  3. "1998 Pittsburgh Steelers". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
  4. "1999 Pittsburgh Steelers". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
  5. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, ISBN   0-7611-2480-2