1979 Pittsburgh Steelers regular season

That decision was made when the Steelers fumbled to a 34-10 loss in Cincinnati. All seven defensive linemen are healthy and will play against the Dallas Cowboys.

Defensive coordinator George Perles’ cup runneth over and he couldn’t be happier. He alternated six linemen in Monday night’s win over Denver and plans to add Tom Beasley to the shuffle service against the Cowboys.

“The time to do it is after a loss and so far the move has looked great in the films,” Perles said. “We’ve seen no appreciable drop off from any changes during the game. We have seven guys who everybody knows can start for other teams in pro football. Not only start, they can contribute to a championship.”

Against Denver, the musical linemen went like this. Gary Dunn started at right tackle and alternated with Steve Furness. John Banaszak started at right end and alternated with Dwight White. Only the left side of the line, L.C. Greenwood and Joe Greene went untouched.

That, however, will change this week when Beasley, in his second year, plays either left end or left tackle. Most likely, he’ll probably alternate in both spots.

“We’ll not only looking for playing talent, we are looking for emotion, for personality,” Perles explained. “We are going for every piece of emotion we can throw together. Each player has a different personality, and we can use that.”

“We don’t worry about the post-season honours and I don’t think the players mind either,” Perles said. The key is putting pressure on the quarterback. “That’s the idea, we want to keep throwing fresh people at teams, hoping to wear teams down,” Perles added.

There didn’t seem to be loud protests coming from the Steelers locker room. Furness, who missed five weeks because of stretched knee ligaments was a little grumpy though.

“Guys are always making jokes to me for not playing,” grumbled Furness, who led the line with six tackles Monday. “I’m used to not playing.”

Post-Gazette’s Vito Stellino asked Dallas coach Tom Landry if he had heard Howard Cosell on television predict the Cowboys would beat the Steelers in their next game? “That’s the kiss of death,” joked Landry.

Landry turned serious when the subject turned to Super Bowl XIII. Although nine months had passed since the Steelers beat the Cowboys 35-31, the memories remained at the front of Landry’s mind.

The day after the loss, Landry said, “I was really upset about this game and seldom do I get upset.” Time has healed the torment. “In the third quarter, we had the game under control which we never did in the first half,” Landry recalled. He admitted the Steelers should have blown his team away in the first half and it took a fortunate turn for Dallas on a touchdown after a fumble recovery to keep Dallas in the game.

“We had escaped disaster and we did have the game under control,” Landry said. “We felt we were stopping them pretty well and we were moving it better. Then, they got the big break with the penalty. They scored, we fumbled and they scored again and the game was over. There wasn’t much we could do.”

There are pass receivers and there are outstanding pass receivers and then there is Lynn Swann. At least that’s an observation made by Jack Butler, once an end in college and later one of the best defensive backs in the NFL when he starred for the Steelers in the fifties.

Today, Butler is the boss of BLESTO, Inc., a pro scouting combine headquarted in Pittsburgh and supplying information to the Steelers and several other NFL teams as an aid to drafting college prospects.
The Steelers selected Swann as their number one pick in 1974 and have been patting themselves on the back for it ever since. Butler was a press box observer at Monday night’s 42-7 blitzing of the Denver Broncos and saw Swann show once again what separates him from the pack in pro ball.

“He’s a great, gifted player, a real athlete,” began Butler in assessing Swann, who was expected to resume his starting role in the game with the Cowboys. “John Stallworth is a great wide receiver in his own right, but he’s just that much better when Swann is out there too. They’re like home run hitters in baseball.

You can get guys who can catch a lot of passes. Like when Fran Tarkenton was throwing all those short passes to his receivers and backs at Minnesota, and they’d have three guys with 50 or more catches, but these guys can beat you on one play.

You can’t put double coverage on both of them at the same time. Or else, someone else is going to get free for a pass.”

That someone else turned out to be Jim Smith, the team’s number three receiver, or tight end Randy Grossman, or one of the running backs in the blowout of the Broncos. Terry Bradshaw was passing the ball to everybody.

Butler was asked why Swann was so much better than everybody else when it came to catching passes?
“He has such great control of his body,” said Butler. “He’s really quick. I don’t know what his speed is – it’s not the greatest because that guy (Louis Wright) caught him from behind – but he gets free.

He makes a super adjustment to get into the best possible position to catch the ball, and he leaps so damn high. He gets his body into such a position when he accepts the ball that, in order to break up the play, you have to interfere with him.”

Butler played nine seasons (1951-59) with the Steelers before a knee injury cut short his career and left him with a limp. He will be inducted next month into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame. Two former Steelers, flanker Ray Matthews and defensive back Paul Martha are among the thirteen living inductees to be similarly honoured.

Mathews, who starred at McKeesport High and Clemson before coming to the Steelers, is second only to Elbie Nickel among the team’s all-time receivers. Swann and Stallworth are still chasing after their records.

Nickel, Matthews and Buddy Dial rank ahead of Swann in career receptions whilst Stallworth has moved from fourteenth to seventh this season. He needs three more receptions to pass Ron Shanklin for the sixth spot behind Roy Jefferson.

Swann’s touchdown catch Monday night moved him ahead of Matthews into third place with 35 career scoring catches, behind Dial (42) and Nickel (39).

“There’s no comparison between the receivers today and the ones of my day,” offered Butler. “We had guys with speed who could catch the ball like Nickel and my roommate, Ray Matthews, but they didn’t know the things these guys know today.

They’re coached differently today. That’s a big difference, and they are better athletes. They know what the defensive backs are doing, and how to get in the seams of a zone defense and so forth. It’s much more sophisticated today.”

Butler still holds the Steelers career interception record with 52, which is 12 more than runner-up Mel Blount. But he wouldn’t want to trade places with Blount.

“It’s awful tough to play in the defensive secondary now,” admitted Butler. “When the Steelers get the combination of Swann and Stallworth going, who would want to cover them?”

Some view the game against Dallas as a rematch of Super Bowl XIII, in which the Steelers defeated the Cowboys, 35-31, but most of the Steelers don’t see it that way.

As team leader Joe Greene pointed out on the opening day of training camp for the veterans: “You can only defend the Super Bowl in the Super Bowl.”

That’s not to say the Steelers weren’t looking at this game as a special challenge.

Terry Bradshaw, the MVP in January’ Super Bowl, felt the Steelers practiced during the past week with the same intensity with which they approached and played in last Monday’s game when they walloped the Broncos 42-7.

“It’s still there,” Bradshaw said, “and the Cowboys coming in behind the Broncos makes it necessary to maintain that edge.”

Rocky Bleier, who made a leaping catch of a 7-yard pass from Bradshaw for a touchdown with 26 seconds left in the first half of the Super Bowl, passed along this observation:

“You can use all the clichés you want, but it’s still just another game, one of sixteen on the schedule, and it only counts as one game. You have to prepare for Dallas as you do any of the other teams. But it’s a pride game, no doubt about that, and seeing Hollywood Henderson and all their guys will remind us of that. There’s always something to prove.”

John Stallworth, who caught two touchdown passes in the championship game got straight to the point:
“We have to play our best ball offensively and defensively to beat them. Some teams can play and make a few mistakes, like we did Monday night, but the Cowboys will capitalise on them.

We had three turnovers Monday and nine the week before. You cannot make those mistakes against the Cowboys. We have to be even more intense than we were Monday night.”
Asked if that was possible, Stallworth shot back, “I think so.”

Going into the contest, Franco Harris made the most forthright comment. “I don’t think what you do in one game has any bearing on what you do in the next game,” he suggested. “

On the game against the Cowboys, Harris added, “We’re playing the team that has the best record in the NFL. They’re 7-1, right? That’s pretty strong. We’re 5-2. Right now, they have that over us. We’ll see what we can do to change that.”

Lynn Swann believes he’ll be stronger for this game and Bennie Cunningham was thought to be ready to return to duty after a week off because of recurring headaches. Outside linebacker Robin Cole, who missed three games with a knee injury, was hopeful of playing.

“There were a lot of little things I did against Denver I shouldn’t be doing,” admitted Swann. After a two-week layoff, he caught a 65-yard – the longest of the season so far for the Steelers – and an 11-yard touchdown pass, his first of the season.

I feel I’ll be a lot stronger,” said Swann. “Plus, I wasn’t playing the whole game and I have more confidence now.

Coach Noll noted that more Steelers contributed to the blowout of the Broncos than in any other game this season. He wants to see the same sort of effort against Dallas. “It’s the only way we can win in this league,” he said.

The Steelers defense dominated their opponents for sixty minutes. As both quarterbacks struggled to spark their offenses, it was the Steelers defense that made the difference in a low scoring game.

The Steelers set the tone on the Cowboys second possession. Faced with a second and 10 on their own 14, Dallas called a draw play. Dallas right tackle Jim Cooper faked the pass block to set up the draw, but L.C. Greenwood simply threw Cooper into Tony Dorsett for a four-yard loss.

A scoreless first quarter was followed with the first of two touchdowns from Franco Harris as the game edged into the second period. A Steelers drive of 66 yards stalled on the Dallas 1-yard line. Although Coach Noll would usually go for the sure three points, Bradshaw admitted, “I knew we were going for it. There was no way I was going to let him call a field goal.”

The play was a tight end lead in which Randy Grossman went left and plunged into the line. Harris ran right behind him for the 1-yard touchdown.

On the following Cowboys’ possession, a phantom personal foul penalty on Jack Lambert saw the Dallas drive extended to enable them to kick a 32-yard field goal.

On the next Dallas series, quarterback Danny White was faced with a fourth and five on their own 31-yard line. Coach Tom Landry was expecting his team to punt, but White called for a pass which fell incomplete to give the Steelers Albert M. Herrmann photo of Greenwood sack

Albert M. Herrmann photo of Greenwood sack

great field position. The Dallas defense held the Steelers to a 32-yard field goal that Matt Bahr missed.

In the third quarter, with Steeler fans on their edge of their seats as the defenses controlled the game, Pittsburgh began a drive on their opponents’ 48-yard line. Coach Noll called for a trap on the weak side. Dallas were expecting a pass play and had the wideouts covered by their defensive backs with a linebacker covering Sidney Thornton.

Harris took the ball, tore himself loose from Randy White and was faced with just Cliff Harris to beat. A clever feint spun the Dallas defender around, and Harris was free with the end zone in sight. His touchdown run of 48 yards gave the Steelers a 14-3 advantage they saw out until the end as the teams' defenses continued to dictate the pace of the game.

Roger Staubach suffered a concussion in the final period when he was sacked by Greenwood (picture left). He was replaced by Danny White.

The Pittsburgh Steelers 14 vs the Dallas Cowboys 3
Three Rivers Stadium October 28, 1979; 50,199

The Steelers held the Cowboys to 77 yards on the ground and the three points their opponents scored was their lowest for seven years. The Cowboys’ top receiver Tony Hill was shut out, failing to catch a pass. Tony Dorsett’s previous run of 100+ yard games was broken as he was held to 73 yards.

“I don’t know anything about the Super Bowl today,” suggested Coach Noll. “Our emphasis is to win every time we go out on the field. This was a good defensive game. A couple of big plays and some big tackles made the difference.”

“Rematches are never any good,” said the Cowboys coach Tom Landry. “Everyone builds them up and then you don’t do well. Our general execution today was not sharp. They shut us down. It seems like they had twelve men in there most of the time.”

“If I was them, I’d really start to respect the Pittsburgh Steelers,” offered Dwight White. “It was convincing. I’d say that if any group needed to be convinced about the Pittsburgh Steelers, it was the Dallas Cowboys.”

AFC Central
Houston 27 N.Y. Jets 24
Cincinnati 37 Philadelphia 13
Cleveland 38 St. Louis 20

At his weekly press conference, Coach Noll fielded several questions regarding the Cowboys accusations of foul play in their defeat at the hands of the Steelers. “When you have to defend a victory, it’s not much fun,” he admitted.

When asked if beating Dallas is more satisfying, Noll replied, “No, it doesn’t follow. My experience is that every week is a new challenge. You are measure by your last story. It’s a weekly battle. A win like this builds confidence in our ability to get done what we need to get done. They know they have to play like this the rest of the way.”

With Ron Johnson in hospital recovering from a concussion, rookie defensive back Dwayne Woodruff could make his first start in pro football against Washington. “I never expected to be starting in my first year in the NFL,” Woodruff told the Pittsburgh Press. “I thought I would play a lot of special teams and go in when five defensive backs were needed.”

The BLESTO scouting report on Woodruff indicated he had a 4.7 speed in the 40. “A 4.7 speed is free agent stuff,” said Steelers defensive coach Dick Walker. “We went down to Louisville before the draft and timed him. He did a 4.5.”

The Steelers used a sixth-round pick on Woodruff and it was paying off. “Dwayne has learned the cornerback and safety positions very quickly,” Walker said.

When Mike Wagner was placed on injured reserve the previous week, the coaches were confident enough to make Woodruff the backup for all four secondary positions.

“You sit on the sidelines and anticipate going into a game,” Woodruff offered. “So, whenever I get the call, I’m ready.”

He replaced Wagner late in the Cincinnati disaster and acknowledged, “I got caught out of position and got burned for a touchdown.”

He entered the Denver game in the second quarter at cornerback and performed well. “They didn’t deviate from their game plan when I came into the game, so they didn’t pick on me,” Woodruff noted. “But I guess against Washington, they will try to pick on the rookie. It will be on my mind before the game, but if they want to, they can throw at me all day. I’ll be ready.”

John Stallworth may become the first receiver to win the receiving title playing without the full use of his hands.

“I sprained both of my wrists in the Dallas exhibition game, “ Stallworth explained. “I was falling backwards and landed on my wrists. The wrists were so sore that I couldn’t pick up my baby girl. I had to cradle her in my arms.”

Despite his setback, Stallworth leads the NFL with 718 yards. “I’ve had my legs and that’s the most important thing,” Stallworth said. “If you can’t run, then you have problems.”
Stallworth’s receiver coach Tom Moore suggested, “He can play with pain. He is able to concentrate even though he has some ailments.

Coach Noll will win his 96th victory if the Steelers beat the Redskins. That would tie him with Vince Lombardi for fourteenth place on the all-time list of victories in the NFL for coaches.

Noll admitted that he didn’t know much about the Washington team as the last time they played them was in 1973 when the Steelers won 21-16. “I have respect for them,” he said. “It won’t make any difference that they lost last week to New Orleans. Their record shows what kind of club they are.”

1979 Game 10: The (7-2) Pittsburgh Steelers vs the (6-3) Washington Redskins

The game began tentatively as both teams felt their opponents out. When the Redskins’ Mike Brago shanked a punt that presented the Steelers with the ball on their own 45, Terry Bradshaw took control. Passes of 12 and 33 yards to Randy Grossman moved the chains and John Stallworth caught an 11-yard touchdown pass to give the Steelers the lead.

The Redskins struck back on their next possession. Going 77 yards in 11 plays with a drive that was extended by a holding penalty on Dwayne Woodruff, John Riggins finished it with a 4-yard touchdown run.
The Steelers edged back into the lead as Bradshaw found Lynn Swann with a 41-yard pass and Stallworth with pass of 21 yards to put Pittsburgh in position to kick a 21-yard field goal.

Bradshaw continued to hit form with passes of 27 yards to Swann, 18 yards to Jim Smith, 21 yards to Sidney Thornton and a 16-yard touchdown pass to Bennie Cunningham to move the ball 78 yards in seven plays.

Bradshaw threw an interception late in the second quarter, but a Washington fumble returned the favour. Mel Blount picked up the loose ball and returned it to the Redskins’ 4. Bradshaw’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Grossman and Matt Bahr’s extra point gave the Steelers a 24-7 lead at the half.

Stallworth caught a 65-yard touchdown pass early in the third quarter to extend the Steelers advantage before Mike Kruczek came in for Bradshaw. Another Washington fumble that John Banaszak recovered on the Redskins 20 gave the Steelers their final opportunity to score. Rick Moser finished the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run as the Steelers ran out 38-7 victors.

The 545 yards on offense gave Pittsburgh their third 500-yard game in five weeks. Bradshaw’s 311 yards with 4 touchdowns were a personal regular season high and achieved before leaving at the beginning of the second half after suffering a minor head injury in the first.”

The Pittsburgh Steelers 38 vs the Washington Redskins 7
Three Rivers Stadium November 4, 1979; 49,462

Passing: Bradshaw 15-27-311-4TD-1INT, Kruczek 5-7-79
Theismann 14-31-147-0TD-1INT, McQuilken 1-3-12-1INT

Rushing: Harris 15-62, Anderson 6-56, Bleier 6-26, Moser 5-16-1TD, Thornton 6-13, Kruczek 2-0

Receiving: Stallworth 6-126-2TD, Swann 5-106, Grossman 3-49-1TD, Bell 1-31, Cunningham 2-29-1TD, Smith 1-18

“Whoever controls the line of scrimmage controls the game,” noted Coach Noll. “The line play was exceptional. We played super offensively and defensively in every area except possibly our kick-off coverage, which we’ll have to work on. Our pass protection was outstanding. We had great respect for the Redskins pass rush, but our line gave Terry all the time he needed. It seemed like he had all day to throw.”

“You dream about days like this, but you don’t design them,” Said Bradshaw. “They just happen.”

“Bradshaw was hot,” suggested Washington Coach Jack Pardee. “We didn’t put enough pressure on him. That’s the best day I’ve seen Bradshaw have. He was near perfect.”

AFC Central
Houston 9 Miami 6
Baltimore 38 Cincinnati 28
Cleveland 24 Philadelphia 19

Pittsburgh 8-2
Cleveland 7-3
Houston 7-3
Cincinnati 2-8

Rocky Bleier will be back in the starting lineup, paired with Franco Harris at the running back slots, when the Steelers travel to Kansas to play the Chiefs.

Sidney Thornton, who started the first ten games in the offensive backfield will sit this one out. He sprained an ankle in last Sunday’s 38-7 victory over the Redskins at Three Rivers Stadium. He returned there yesterday to see trainer Ralph Berlin and was seen hobbling through a hallway with the aid of a single crutch.

It must be comforting to Coach Noll though, to know that when a back who has as much success as Thornton gets hurt, he has a replacement like Rocky Bleier to call upon. Behind Bleier, he has Anthony Anderson who was spectacular in the late going against the Redskins, as he was against the Broncos two weeks earlier.

Then there’s Rick Moser, who ran well and scored his first NFL touchdown Sunday. Top rookie draftee Greg Hawthorne is healthier, after being slowed by an ankle injury, and saw action although he didn’t carry the ball.

“It’d just another example of the Steelers’ depth,” declared Mike Kruczek, who came off the bench when Terry Bradshaw got his bell rung and did some impressive relief pitching.

Bleier has only seen spot duties this season but has been useful in many ways and contributed big plays on several occasions. Bleier came off the bench in St. Louis for example when Harris hurt his ankle and the Steelers were struggling and sparked a second-half comeback that resulted in a victory.

Against the Cowboys a week ago, Bleier carried the ball only once, but it was an 8-yard off tackle slant on third down that put the ball on the Cowboys’ 1-yard line. Harris scored the first of his two touchdowns on the next play. Bleier carried the ball six times against the Redskins and gained 26 yards and threw a crunching block that enabled Moser to score.

Noll expects Bleier to be excited about being back in the starting lineup and will look upon it as a new challenge.

“I think Rocky has always entered into everything eagerly,” said Noll, while his assistants screened films in nearby rooms and began the preparation for the next opponents. “That’s one of the joys of having Rocky around.”

This is Bleier’s eleventh season with the Steelers and everybody who hasn’t been ship-wrecked on a South Seas Island the last decade is familiar with his heroic tale.

Of the Steelers, only Sam Davis is older than the 33-year old Bleier. There has been talk that Bleier might retire at the end of the season to devote full time to his extensive business interests.

Being used on a part-time basis by the Steelers, as he has this season, might enable Bleier to continue his playing an extra year or two. The demands on his body just haven’t been as great as he might have expected at the outset of training camp.

Noll acknowledged that this is a possibility. “Yes, it could extend his career,” the coach said in reply to a question. “The thing Rocky has going for him is that he’s helpful in a lot of areas. You know he’ll do the right thing and use good judgment. He’s still a demon on special teams and he’s like the quarterback of our punting team.”

Noll also noted that it takes longer to recover from injuries, even bruises at Bleier’s age, so the lighter workload could work to his benefit. Bleier could be the Steelers designated hitter. “In a sense, yes,” said Noll.

Owning a piece of the Rock provides the Steelers coach with a sense of security.

His legs don’t pump like they used to. He still charges with his old intimidating fury, but each step is a new challenge.

“When I was 22 or 23, I was hell-bent; I pumped my legs in anticipation,” said Jack Lambert. “Now, it’s all I can do to break into a walk.”

Lambert is now a grand, old man of 27, no longer a 22-year-old assassin, hell bent and injury-free. His ankles ache, his bones creak and his shoulder throbs. And for the last seven weeks, Lambert has been playing with a separated shoulder.

“When I came into this league at the age of 22, I thought I could last fifteen years,” said the six-year vet. “Now I’m lucky to last ten.”

Lambert has played in pain most of his career. His missing front teeth might prevent him from biting a Silver Bullet, but he’d sure gum it to death.

Despite a shoulder separation, the Steelers middle linebacker is having his best season since 1976, the year he was the NFL’s most valuable defensive player.

“I’m not only sore after games, I’m sore after practice,” Lambert said with his usual straight delivery. “I don’t have a lot of meat on me; I don’t have that fatty tissue that Dennis Winston has. That helps absorb the impact. I’m just a bunch of bone.”

Hearing that, Winston appropriately fired a towel near Lambert’s feet. Winston has been Lambert’s backup for three years, but recently has been terrorising offenses from the outside linebacker spot.

But unless Lambert is confined to a wheelchair, Winston remains a backup middle linebacker. He was summoned for temporary help following the Friday practice before the Baltimore game seven weeks ago.

Lambert’s 6-4, 218-pound bony frame was in an awkward position when he was making a tackle. Sidney (Thundering Bull) Thornton directed his hoofs at the middle linebacker. Thornton won the meeting; Winston temporary won the middle linebacker job.

"It was a horizontal separation where the bones are pushed sideways instead of vertically,” Lambert said.

“Dr. Steele (the team physician) said it was only the second time he’s seen a separation like that. When I get injured, I do a good job of it.”

How true. Lambert makes his injuries count. He broke his ankle in the second quarter of Super Bowl IX but didn’t realise it was fractured until the parties cooled two days later.

After holding out the 1977 pre-season, Lambert damaged his knee, but made a quick return.

“I came back too soon, missing only three games,” Lambert said. “I had the same knee injury that Bennie Cunningham had that kept him out the last half of last season. I just like to forget 1977.”

But 1979 is a season to remember. He leads the Steelers with 72 tackles and 27 assist and leads NFL linebackers with five interceptions, a career high. Lambert has missed very little playing time because of his shoulder separation even though he’s turned a six-week injury to an eleven-week survival test.

“It’s still sore and it should take about four more weeks to heal,” Lambert said. “If I didn’t play, it would take six weeks to heal. I want to play.”

Two days after the separation, Lambert challenged Baltimore on third down situations. He ruined a late Colts drive by reaching into the air and snaring a pass interception on a fourth down.

“I took a lot of ribbing because my teammates wanted me to knock the pass down,” Lambert pointed out. “It was the first time I’ve ever been criticised for an interception.

“Six years in the league I should be able to know my job,” Lambert retorted. “My pass defense has improved. I’ve really concentrated on improving my pass defense.”

Lambert is now a consistent middle linebacker, effectively responding to the run and to the pass. Certainly, his performance this year should spark the All-Pro controversy. Denver’s Randy Gradishar has won the middle spot for the last two years.

“I’m not thinking about post-season honours,” Lambert explained. “We have a lot of guys that are sharing time on this team like the defensive linemen who won’t have a chance to win any awards. The big thing is making the Super Bowl and the playoffs.
Playoffs however take their toll.

“You figure with the three extra games from the playoffs and the Super Bowl and the preseason, we’re going like 23 games a year,” Lambert said. “That takes a lot out of you.”

Kansas City Coach Marv Levy spent the early part of the week studying Steeler game film. He would have seen the Steelers overwhelm Denver, Dallas and Washington by 94-17. “We had to watch them,” conceded Levy. “They look awesome. They look like Super Bowl champions. I don’t know when is a good time to hit them; maybe the week they played Cincinnati (when they lost 34-10).”

The Chiefs are on a four-game losing streak and host the Steelers at Arrowhead Stadium next. “I agree 100 percent that they are better than last year’s Super Bowl team,” Levy acknowledged.

“Their defense is better than last year’s. And, I marvel at their bench strength. They are a well-coached, confident team. They look like a championship team. Nobody has a better computer breakdown on teams than Dallas. It didn’t help them the day they played the Steelers.”

The day before the game, Terry Bradshaw suffered with back spasms and it continued to bother him throughout the game as some of his passes went astray. Despite his suffering, Bradshaw led his team to a scoring drive on their first series.

The first points came from a Bradshaw handoff to Franco Harris who pitched it back to Bradshaw who found John Stallworth in the end zone with a 26-yard touchdown pass.

The teams exchanged turnovers after Bradshaw’s first interception of the game before Jack Ham’s sack of Chiefs’ quarterback Steve Fuller produced a fumble recovered by Donnie Shell. When the following Steelers drive faltered, Matt Bahr kicked a 31-yard field goal to put Pittsburgh 10-0 ahead.

The Steelers continued their dominance into the second quarter when their 10-play, 71-drive finished when Lynn Swann made a leaping catch and managed to keep both feet inbounds for a 16-yard touchdown completion.

That drive was the furthest the offense had to move the chains as Pittsburgh’s defense consistently furnished the team with short fields. The Steelers added to their score when Matt Bahr kicked a 20-yard field goal that gave them a 20-0 advantage at half time.

Pittsburgh’s defense controlled the game except for the opening drive of the second half when Kansas scored their only points with Jan Stenerud’s 42-yard field goal.
Bahr replied in the final quarter with a field goal from 37 yards before Coach Noll put several reserves into

the Steelers lineup. A drive of 42 yards in 9 plays completed the scoring after Larry Brown lined up as an eligible receiver and caught a 1-yard touchdown pass.

Although Bradshaw was dissatisfied with his game, the Steelers offense struggled with a lack of a running game that had been shut down by the Chiefs.

The Pittsburgh Steelers 30 at the Kansas City Chiefs 3
Arrowhead Stadium November 11, 1979; 70,132

Rushing: Harris 20-68, Bleier 12-24, Bradshaw 2-10, Anderson 5-20, Moser 2-4, Hawthorne 2-3, Kruczek 1-(-2)

Receiving: Stallworth 4-88-1TD, Swann 5-55-1TD, Cunningham 2-29, Bleier 3-40, Smith 1-12, Grossman 1-7, Brown 1-1-1TD

“The scoreboard looks a lot better than our offense did,” suggested a self-critical Terry Bradshaw. “We didn’t run the ball well enough and I didn’t throw the ball well enough. I hurt the team more than anything. It was my worse game this season.”

“The defense played well and did it for us today,” Coach Noll acknowledged. “And we got good field position from our kicking game, and some punt returners helped us out. We got timely scores, but we weren’t able to move the ball. We ran a lot on first down because we wanted to get a running game going, but they controlled it very well. We weren’t able to get any runs of substance going.”

Regarding Bradshaw, Noll noted, “His back was bothering him a bit and that, and the medicine, took a lot out of him. It was one of those things you wake up with in the morning. He didn’t have a lot of zip on the ball.”

AFC Central
San Diego 26 Cincinnati 24
Seattle 29 Cleveland 24
Houston 31 Oakland 17

Chuck Noll with Terry Bradshaw media photo

Q: The Steelers had a mistake-ridden offense, yet they beat the Chiefs by a score of 30-3. Is it possible that the Steelers might be the best team in the history of pro football?
A: The measure of a football team, I’ve said before, comes at the end of the season. It could be. If they go undefeated the rest of the way, it could be put in that category.

Q: Some people are saying the Steelers are getting boring, that they are just too good for the rest of the league. Do you think the Steelers are a boring team?
A: When I was in Baltimore, we had a similar problem. They liked to have Johnny Unitas pull them out of the fire at the end. We had a string of shutouts there and the people wanted more excitement. Who can argue with the boss? The consumer has the final say. But we’re going to try and win by a hundred points if we can and shut out the other guy.

Q: Why the fleas flicker pass (Terry Bradshaw’s hand off to Franco Harris who pitched it back to Bradshaw who threw a touchdown pass to John Stallworth)? Is that something you do to let Cleveland know it’s still in the playbook?
A: It’s to give the other team something to worry about, and (with a smile) it’s for the Monday night highlights. We like to do those kinds of plays once in a while, but we want to be successful on them. We’re not interested in just showing them for the sake of showing them.”

Q: How good are the Steelers?
A: You’re only as good as your last game. It’s as simple as that. There’s a new problem every week. As soon as you start thinking you’re better than everybody, you have a Cincinnati (when the Steelers lost 34-10). We know our opponents will be as good as they possible can be, and we better be ready to offset that.

When Andy Russell retired after the 1976 season, the Steelers looked to Loren Toews as his logical successor at the right linebacker position.

Russell was a perennial all-pro, and tutored Toews for a four-year period before stepping aside. It appeared then that Toews would enjoy a reign similar to Russell.

That has hardly been the case. Goring into the Steelers Sunday test in San Diego, Toews is the number three linebacker on the squad. He sees action two or three times a game in obvious passing situations. Otherwise he is limited to special teams duty.

Against the Chargers, whose quarterback Dan Fouts throws 40 times a game, Toews might get more playing time.

Dirt Winston has started at the outside linebacker spot the last six games, and is spelled by Robin Cole, who was the number one there at the outset of this season. Cole suffered a knee injury in the fifth game at Philadelphia and has been unable to reclaim the job since coming back two weeks ago. Toews hurt his neck in the same game against the Eagles and was put on the injured reserve list for four weeks, coming back to active duty two weeks ago.

“I saw Toews grow and develop, and he’s a fine linebacker,” Russell remarked the other day. “It’s unreal though. They’ve got three guys there now, and they’re all outstanding. They’ve got to have the best group of linebackers in the league.”

Toss in two all-pros, left linebacker Jack Lambert, with rookies Zack Valentine and Tom Graves waiting their turn, and one can appreciate Russell’s rating.

Toews, Cole and Winston all caught attention in a one-minute span in last Sunday’s 30-3 victory over the Chefs. On a Craig Colquitt punt, Toews got into a shoving match with one of the Chiefs. Three plays later, Winston and Cole combined to intercept a Steve Fuller pass.

On third and nine at the Pittsburgh 40, the Steelers employed a 3-4 defense with a defensive lineman giving way to Cole who came in at the right linebacker position, with Winston shifting inside next to Lambert.

Earlier this season in such a situation, the Steelers would go into a “prevent” defense with Cole giving way to Toews, who is regarded as the better defender against the pass while Cole is considered better against the run.

At Kansas, the Steelers blitzed and Cole caught Fuller’s throwing arm as he released his pass. It caused a short pop fly and Winston made a quick side movement and dive to grab the ball.

Winston has been a sensation in recent games. “Nobody’s ever hit me harder,” said Drew Pearson of the Dallas Cowboys. Winston got off to a rough start in Cleveland when he was thrown into a strange position because both Cole and Toews were out with injuries. All Winston’s previous experience and camp work had been at middle linebacker.

Browns’ quarterback Brian Sipe picked on Winston which is one of the reasons the Browns got back in the game in that wild 51-35 Steelers win.

“He’s come on strong since then,” said Mel Blount, who plays behind him. “He gets better every week. He loves contact.”

“I’m getting on the job training,” Winston said. “I think this will help our team a lot more. Jack’s shoulder has been hurting him and I know the middle. Now I can play any linebacker spot depending on the team’s needs at that time.

When I played in college, I played middle linebacker the first wo years and defensive end the last two. So, I’ve played other positions before. I still have a lot of learning to do.”

Cole was a defensive end at New Mexico and must resist the urge to rush the quarterback instead of staying back and seeing what develops. Ham has a knack for knowing when to come in and when to stay back, as if he were tuned in to the other team’s huddle.

Going into the first game of the season in New England, linebacker coach Woody Widenhofer was so excited about Cole’s camp and preseason performance, and was anxious to keep Toews involved too. Now, Winston is out in front.

“When you get hurt, you have to wait your turn,” Cole conceded. “You’ll get another chance. I believe in myself, just as I’m sure Dennis Winston and Loren Toews believe in themselves. Your time comes.”

The Steelers next opponents were the San Diego Chargers and Vito Stellino reported on the media questions and answers with Coach Don Coryell for the Post-Gazette.

Asked if the present Steelers team was the best Steelers team and possibly one of the best ever football teams, Coryell was quite emphatic. “Shoot, I think they have to be,” he responded. I would say they are the best team of all time. I don’t know how the hell you can say anything different.

They’re playing super defense, just super defense, and they have a great pass offense to go with a great running offense.

I don’t know what other team in history can match them. I know doggone well that the teams nowadays are a lot better than they were ten years ago. I don’t know who could argue. I guess maybe the great Miami team that won 17 straight games, but that was a lot of years ago.”

In San Diego, the matchup was being hailed as the game of the year in the city. One team official suggested it is the biggest regular-season game in the team’s history. The game was the earliest sellout in the Chargers history and Coryell confirmed, “The fans are excited. You get a chance to see the best etam of all time, why wait. The fans are up and I’m sure the players will be,” before adding, “We’ll show up Sunday.”

Lynn Swann was running a sideline pattern and the pass from Terry Bradshaw seemed too high for Swann to catch. Swann stuck out his gloved right hand up as high as he could reach and pulled the ball out of the air with a single hand.

Swann’s spectacular catch, good for an 18-yard gain on the Steelers third offensive play of the game, gave the Pittsburgh team a first down at the Kansas 26-yard line. It drew a roar from the Arrowhead Stadium crowd of 70,132. It was that good.

If that wasn’t enough, the Steelers pulled a flea flicker out of their grab bag on the next play, and Bradshaw passed 26 yards into the end zone to John Stallworth who was wide open. The Steelers had a fast start on their 30-3 victory over the Chiefs.

On Swann’s catch, Jim Schaaf, who came out of Erie to play guard for Notre Damme in the mid-50s and is now the general manager of the Chiefs, turned to his right hand man Otis Taylor, and told him, “He reminds me of a guy I used to know.”

Otis Taylor was once one of the most feared wide receivers in the American Football League and similarly respected after the merger with the National Football League. He was one of the heroes in the 1970 Super Bowl triumph by the Chiefs over the Vikings.

Taylor sat in the press box alongside Schaaf and marvelled at the pass catching ability of both Swann and Stallworth. “They are great athletes, first of all,” said Taylor. “They know what to do and what not to do. When they get back on the sideline, whether of not they score, they go talk to Bradshaw. They do it all the time, watch them. They’ve got great communication. You’ve got to let the quarterback know what you can do.”

“The greatest thing out there,” added Taylor nodding towards the field, “is Bradshaw’s belief in his receivers and their belief in him.”

He cited a second period touchdown pass of 16 yards from Bradshaw to Swann as an example. Swann was well covered by cornerback Gary Green, but Bradshaw fired the ball over Green’s head – Green had his back turned to Bradshaw and couldn’t see the ball coming – and Swann simply soared high to grab it, managing at the same time to get both feet down inside the back line of the end zone.

“We made mistakes, but they turned into big plays,” said Noll. “That touchdown pass to Swann was not executed the way we wanted to do it, and you wouldn’t normally throw the ball in there with the kind of coverage they had. But we made a mistake and it ends up being a big play. That’s a sign of talent.”

Swann recalled telling Bradshaw earlier, “Their guys aren’t that tall, and they can’t jump that high… throw it to me!”

On the next play, in a similar situation, Bradshaw purposely threw the ball way over Swann’s head and out of the end zone. Swann wanted that one too and told Bradshaw so on the sideline.

Bradshaw also speaks in superlatives about Swann and Stallworth and includes Jim Smith and Theo Bell when he boasts about the Steelers receiving corps. “They make some great catches,” Bradshaw acknowledged. “They know I’ll throw it. I expect them to make great catches. They make my job more fun. I just throw it up, and I know it’ll either get knocked down or caught.”

Taylor suggested, “A lot of people think Terry is underthrowing the ball when they have to go down to the ground to get it, but that’s by design. They slide in on one leg or one knee and curl around the ball. A low pass like that across the middle saves you (the receiver) from taking the hard hit from the defensive backs and also reduces the chances of interceptions.”

Taylor turned into a quarterback when asked who was better, Swann or Stallworth? “I’ll pass on that one,” he replied with a smile.

When the Chargers intercepted Terry Bradshaw’s first pass of the game, it was an indication that the Steelers might not enjoy a good day. After the Chargers Dan Fouts used just three plays to find John Jefferson in the end zone it was confirmation the Steelers day could be in trouble.

Usually as the Steelers offense struggled, their defense would come to the rescue, but they also had a bad day at the office.

In the second quarter, the Chargers increased their advantage after a 9-play drive of 73 yards that finished with Bob Klein’s 6-yard catch. Another Bradshaw interception when he under threw to Jim Smith enabled San Diego to forge ahead. Ray Preston returned it to the Steelers 2-yard line and Bo Matthews burst over for the score to give the Chargers a 21-0 lead at the half.

Rocky Bleier fights off Chargers Bob Horn for a four-yard gain, photo by Albert M Herrmann Jr.

In the third quarter, Bradshaw put his best series together after Jack Lambert forced the Chargers to punt following his sack of Fouts. Theo Bell returned the punt 18 yards to the Chargers 48. The 6-play drive saw Bradshaw connect for the first time with a receiver finding John Stallworth for a gain of 25 yards. Rocky Bleier hurdled the San Diego line for the touchdown as the Steelers reduced their deficit.

As the Steelers pressed to close the 14-point gap, Bradshaw’s pass to Lynn Swann was tipped into he hands of San Diego’s Woodrow Lowe who raced down the sideline for a 77-yard touchdown.

In the final period, a Bradshaw pass was flipped by Wilbur Young and intercepted by Mike Williams to give the Chargers a short field of 18 yards. Hank Bauer completed the Steelers misery with his 2-yard touchdown run as the Steelers lost their third game of the season.

The Pittsburgh Steelers 7 at the San Diego Chargers 35
San Diego Stadium November 18, 1979; 51,910

Passing: Bradshaw 18-36-0TD-5INT-153, Kruczek 2-2-0-0-11
Fouts 11-24-2TD-2INT-137

Receiving: Harris 7-50, Stallworth 4-55, Bleier 4-28, Swann 2-28, Moser 1-6, Hawthorne 1-5, Cunningham 1-(-8)

The Chargers made more yards from the passing of Bradshaw than the Steelers did. Bradshaw’s five interceptions were returned 171 yards while he passed for 153 yards.

“It looked like a replay of the Cincinnati game,” conceded Terry Bradshaw with a reference to their 34-10 loss to the Bengals. “I wish I had a real good excuse. I haven’t dreamed one up yet. I’m going to have a bunch more of these games before I get out. I can’t let it get me down.”

After studying a statistical report of the game, Coach Noll noted, “I see that we stunk. That’s what I see.”

“We better get our act together for these last few games against teams in our division,” said Jack Lambert. “These games will determine our season. Don’t ask me about how good our team is until the season’s over.”

Addressing Sunday’s defeat in San Diego, Coach Noll noted, “The loss makes it clear that we have to win, period. If we don’t win the last four, we’ll have to have help from a lot of people to make the playoffs. This will be the measure of our football team; whether we can come back and get the job done.

Reflecting on the reasons for the loss, the coach suggested, “If it’s an attitude problem, maybe you think you’re too good,” before adding, “I don’t know if attitude is really a factor. Some players believe what they read, some don’t.

The eight turnovers killed us. Our defense didn’t do that badly. San Diego only had one drive for a touchdown. We sort of gave them the rest.”

On the team that had inflicted the Steelers third defeat of the season, Coach Noll acknowledged, “Without question, they are the best team we’ve seen this year. That’ was also the best crowd we’ve played. It was wild out there.”

Of all the hymns sung about the Steelers this year, one of the more flowery was by a Boston columnist who wrote:

“The Steelers are what they are, a tractor trailer of a football team, coming through a downtown rotary at rush hour. They know what they can do. If there is someone or something that can stop them, fine. They haven’t met that someone or something very often in a lot of long-distance travelling.”

On a sunny afternoon in San Diego Sunday, the Steelers finally met that someone or something.

Sobered by the memory of the collision with the front four, the Steelers returned to practice yesterday for the start of what Art Rooney called a “new season.”

The rule of thumb all year was that the Steelers always felt their best day was always better than anybody else’s best day.

They still do, but now they have to think the unthinkable. It remains to be seen whether their best day can beat the Chargers’ best day.

What is obvious is that the Chargers can blow the Steelers out when the defending champions are not playing well.

“Let people write about the Chargers for a while,” said Joe Greene. “Let’s see how they feel to lead the pack. It’s not too bad until you get your butt beat.”

Despite their front four, it is unlikely that the Chargers are as well rounded a team as the Steelers are. But the Steelers have to be wary of a team with that kind of front four. They remember how they went to the Super Bowl in 1974. They did not have the weapons they do now. But they had a front four that could control a football game and drain the life out of it.

“They played the way we used to play,” Greene admitted. As a man who respects his craft, he had to admire that line from the sidelines even though he was frustrated.

With three consecutive division games coming up against Cleveland, Cincinnati and then Houston, the Steelers goal now is to earn another shot at the Chargers.

Houston’s Bum Phillips said earlier this year that the only way to get to Pasadena (Super Bowl XIV) was to go through Pittsburgh. Now it appears the only way the Steelers can get there is through San Diego. Unless the Chargers stumble in their final four games against Kansas, Atlanta, New Orleans and Denver, the Chargers will be at home for the playoffs.

“We frankly weren’t up for that game,” conceded Jack Lambert. “The game was harder to stomach. We knew going in they were a good football team. That’s what’s disheartening.

The Cleveland Browns have reconstructed their defensive line for their game against the Steelers.
Left end Lyle Alzado has been switched to right tackle and Mike St. Clair has been reinstalled as the regular left end – giving the team a front four of St. Clair, Alzado, Mickey Sims at left tackle and Jack Gregory at right end.

Coach Sam Rutigliano said the Browns would use a 3-4 defense in certain situations. Sims will be at nose guard, flanked by Alzado and Gregory with Robert L. Jackson moving in as the fourth linebacker to team with Dick Ambrose, Charlie Hall and Clay Matthews.

“I can’t play cat and mouse,” Rutigliano said. “I don’t give a damn whether Chuck Noll knows today or tomorrow (about the Browns 3-4 defense.)

The three-man line presents problems in rushing the passer, but it could give us extra pass coverage. Pittsburgh is so sophisticated in its offense with guard and tackle traps that having even one man who doesn’t know everything we’re doing can really kill us.”

Houston beat Dallas 30-24 in the Thanksgiving game which made the situation at the top of the AFC Central even more concerning for Steeler fans who would be examining the NFL’s playoff procedure. Houston moved to top of the division with a 10-3 record while Pittsburgh were on 9-3 and Cleveland one game further behind.

The Steelers aim to get into the playoffs with home field advantage would require them to win the division and have the best record in the AFC. Under the league’s system, the two wild card teams (the teams other than the division champions with the best records) play each other in the first round.

The winner of the wildcard game then plays the division champion with the best record while the other two division champions meet.

A league rule doesn’t allow teams from the same division playing in anything less than the conference championship game to decide which team goes to the Super Bowl.

The Steelers needed to win their remaining games including their Monday Night game in Houston on December 10 to ensure they won the division title.

The week 6 win in Cleveland saw the Steelers give up 35 points to the Browns when their quarterback Brian Sipe picked on Dirt Winston throughout the game. Steelers injuries forced Coach Noll to insert Winston at a strange outside linebacker position.

Mel Blount, who was the cornerback behind Winston, had his worst game of the season, giving up a pair of touchdowns to Dave Logan. The Steelers secondary sprung leaks, and Logan, Ozzie Newsome and Reggie Rucker were wide open and collected five touchdown passes from Sipe.

“It wasn’t just Winston’s fault, or Blunt’s fault,” acknowledged defensive backfield coach Dick Walker. “There was a general breakdown. It was our worst day, no doubt about it.”

Winston was out to put the past behind him when the Browns visit Pittsburgh. “I’m looking to redeem myself if I start,” Winston said. “I’ll be fired up. We’ll be at home and this time the defensive unit will be introduced at the start of the game. It’s our turn.

Sipe picked on me in our first game, I know that. I knew it would happen before the game began. I was getting on the job training. Now I’m more accustomed to the position. We’ll see if they can throw on me now.

What happened the last time will make us want it that much more. We can play the pass better now and I’ve never had any problems against the run.

When the Oilers won their Thanksgiving game after the Steelers lost in San Diego, Houston moved ahead of the Steelers who slipped into second place in the division for the first time since 1977. That was also the year the Steelers last lost consecutive games in the past six seasons.

NBC announcer and former Rams player Merlin Olsen suggested the Steelers knew how to bounce back from that defeat. “The whole team is unique,” he said. “They don’t point the finger at each other. If they’ve done something wrong, they say, ‘Hey I made a mistake.’ That’s the kind of thing you can come back from. If you don’t admit you’ve made mistakes, as some football players won’t, it’s impossible to correct those errors.”

The Steelers season is now down to a three team, round robin tournament with Cleveland and Houston. After the Steelers play the Browns next, the Browns and Oilers will meet before the Steelers play the Oilers in the season finale.

The Browns are heavy underdogs, but a close game is predicted as all their games appear to be decided in the last two minutes. They have won two overtime games, another with 52 seconds left and a fourth with 1:51 remaining. In addition, a one-point win over Cincinnati and a 6-point triumph over the Eagles supports the view the Browns enjoy doing it the hard way.

Cleveland coach Sam Rutigliano expects his Browns defense to bend, but not break. They’ve accomplished at least half of their head coach’s goal in every game.

The Browns defense has done a lot of bending in the first twelve games of the season. In the AFC, the Browns defense is ranked 12th out of 14. They are tenth against the pass and last defending against the run. With running the football elementary in the NFL, it is safe to say opponents of the Browns have a somewhat less then difficult time running the football.

Cleveland have given up 35 total touchdowns, 20 on the ground and 12 in the air. The opposition is averaging 355.7 yards per game with 163 on the ground and 193 in the air. As you can see, that’s a lot of bending.

Opponents of the Browns have used a very simple battle plan this season. Stay away from Lyle Alzado no matter where he is on the field. Granted Alzado will play right tackle against Pittsburgh, but a dissection of the Browns first twelve games (when he split his time between right and left end) shows a definite trend to stay away from the former Broncos’ All-Pro.

Cleveland can score points, lots of them, against any team in the NFL… even the Pittsburgh Steelers. But any team in the NFL… especially the Steelers… can score points, lots of them, against the Browns.

The Browns, fighting for a playoff spot, bump heads with the Steelers in Pittsburgh and there are four reasons why it is insanity to suggest the Browns can pull off an upset.

Secondly, the Browns might have the number one offense in the AFC, averaging a whopping 372.3 yards per game, but their defense is a woeful twelfth. Only the swiss cheese defense of the New York Jets and Seattle Seahawks rank lower.

Thirdly, the Steelers still have one of the best defenses in football, ranking second overall in the AFC.
Lastly, the Steelers offense isn’t too bad either. They rank third overall in total offense in the AFC, only four yards per game less than the Browns.

The Browns scored 35 points against the Steelers earlier in the season and still lost. That shows you that even a great offense is meaningless unless matched by at least an acceptable defense. The Browns defense has been bad at best and downright awful at times.

Even an emotional effort won’t be enough to carry the Browns to an upset of the Steelers.

When the Browns led 10-0 before the Steelers had even played a down, the watching fans back in Cleveland would have been thinking they would break their jinx of never having won in Three Rivers Stadium.

Ossie Newsome caught a 21-yard pass putting the Browns ahead and, after the Steelers fumbled the ensuing kickoff return, the Browns stretched their lead with a field goal. Don Cockcroft’s field goal set a duel with Steelers rookie kicker Matt Bahr. The pair exchanged two field goals each before Sipe interrupted their exchanges with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Dave Logan that gave the Browns a 20-6 lead.

Terry Bradshaw joined in the contest and led the Steelers on a 8-play, 76-yard drive that Franco Harris completed with a short 2-yard touchdown catch to reduce Pittsburgh’s deficit to a touchdown as the teams went to the locker rooms.

The Browns increased their advantage in the third quarter when Sipe found Calvin Hill for a touchdown. With no ground game to support Sipe, Cleveland managed to enter the final period of regular time ahead 27-13.

The Steelers fightback began as Bradshaw found Randy Grossman with a 47-yard pass on a third and two. The 89-yard drive finished with a 1-yard touchdown run from Harris although the Browns were not about to roll over without a struggle. Cockcroft hit another field goal which meant the Browns were ten points ahead and within ten minutes of breaking their Three Rivers jinx.

Given good field position after Theo Bell returned the kick to the Steelers 37, Bradshaw took the air. Four completions moved the chains to give Harris the opportunity to run right off guard for a 3-yard touchdown that meant the Steelers were within three points.

After Pittsburgh forced Cleveland to punt on their next series, poor Browns tackling allowed Bell to return the kick 27 yards to the fifty. The Steelers moved the chains to gain a first and goal at the 8-yard, but the Browns defense held and with nine seconds remaining, Bahr kicked a 21-yard field goal to send the game into overtime.

Overtime revealed two teams that were struggling to find the win as they traded interceptions, but a logistical mistake by the Browns finally brought their downfall. After the Steelers were penalised for illegal motion after a one-yard gain, that would have brought a third down and nine, Cleveland accepted the penalty to replay the down.

Bradshaw took advantage of this “extra” down scrambling for 28 yards to move the chains before the drive finally stalled as the Browns defense held firm, but the Steelers were now within field goal reach.

With just nine seconds left, enter the gladiator into the cauldron of Three Rivers Stadium and with 49,000 fans falling silent in apprehension, Matt Bahr kicked a 37-yard field goal to give the Steelers the 33-30 victory.

The Pittsburgh Steelers 33 vs the Cleveland Browns 30
Three Rivers Stadium November 25, 1979; 48,773

Receiving: Harris 9-81-1TD, Stallworth 6-75, Cunningham 4-68, Grossman 1-47, Swann 3-48-1TD, Bleier 3-46-1TD, Harris 4-37

Of his overtime kick, Matt Bahr said, “You try not to think about what it means. You just try to do your best. It’s a great win for everybody.”

“I’m too tired to move,” admitted Franco Harris. “I’m drained mentally as well as physically.”

“I’m so exhausted, I can barely move,” offered L.C. Greenwood before adding, “I can barely stand up. It was one of the most physical games I’ve played in the eleven years I’ve played football. The reason why it’s more physical is that I played five quarters. Five complete quarters."

“We won because a lot of our people really busted their behinds," said Coach Noll. "Franco was exceptional. Courson and Petersen did an exceptional job and really came through for us.

Hanging over the scoreboard at Three Rivers Stadium during Steelers games this season has been a small yellow banner proclaiming, “We Haven’t Peaked Yet – Noll ’79.”

It is an obvious reference to the statement Chuck Noll made moments after the end of the Super Bowl last January, when he said the team had not peaked yet.

That leads to the obvious question: Did the Steelers peak too soon this year? Did they peak in that one month stretch when they belted four opponents by the combined score of 124-20?

That is the kind of football they played in the playoffs last year, when they rang up 102 points in three games, and held the opponents to 46. But they do not give away any trophies for playing that way in November. The payoff is in January.

It is not surprising that Coach Chuck Noll says the team did not peak at that time.

“We had a stretch when we played very exceptional football, but I see no reason why we shouldn’t and can’t do it again,” he says.

There may be reasons why they cannot, but they still have to do it. They have not the last two weeks. They were exciting against Cleveland, but not exceptional. The less said about the San Diego game the better.
Noll’s reaction on the sidelines to all the mistakes the Steelers made seems to indicate he might be worried that they peaked too soon.

Even Noll had to admit his performance ranked in the “Top Ten” as far as being visibly agitated on the sidelines. He was still so annoyed after the game that he was taking pot shots as Pete Rozelle for an innocuous statement that the commissioner would like to see the Super Bowl trophy passed around to a few cities.

The reasons for Noll’s agitation Sunday are somewhat obvious. The Steelers didn’t bounce back from the San Diego loss with anything near a mistake-free performance. He has to wonder when and if they will stop making mistakes.

There are very few seasons in a coach’s career when he is blessed with a team like the one Noll has this year. He wants it to play to its potential. Coaches always hate to lose the championship. To lose it when you apparently have the best team is even more galling.

That already happened to Noll once before – in 1976. There were many extenuating circumstances, but the bottom line is that they apparently had the best team and let one title get away that they could have won.

Noll does not want it to happen again. He does not want this year remembered as the year when the Steelers played their best football in November instead of January.

That is why his sideline performance was not surprising. In the past, it has been suggested that he might be too cerebral as a coach. He has often said that motivating is not his job. He was not being cerebral Sunday. He was berating the players in a way that would have made Vince Lombardi smile.

With only three games left, the Steelers do not have much time left. Assuming they do not fumble nine times, they should avenge the Cincinnati loss Sunday. But then they must face Houston in the Astrodome on Monday Night Football.

Imagine that scene. The fans will be waving their pom-poms and raising the roof. The division title will be on the line if Houston beats Cleveland this week. The loser will be a wild card team and wild card teams do not win Super Bowls. It will be quite a test.

The Steelers certainly think so and their fans share their feelings. But, elsewhere in the land, there are rumblings suggesting Bradshaw is no longer the best.

Coach Tom Landry of the Dallas Cowboys for instance says his Roger Staubach does rank number 1 this week in the statistical ratings of the NFC.

According to this week’s AFC statistics, Joe Ferguson of the Buffalo Bills, who came out of the same Shreveport high school as Bradshaw, retained his number one position.

Listed behind him in the top five, based on a complicated mathematical formula used to determine who is doing best, are Kenny Stabler, Dan Fouts, Jim Zorn and Craig Morton. Bradshaw is nowhere to be found.

“We don’t measure quarterbacks by statistics,” says Coach Noll. “The NFL has one way of measuring a quarterback and I have another. I’m more interested in how you run a football team, how you keep the team under control and move the ball, and how what you’re doing rubs off on the rest of the guys.”

There were times last Sunday at Three Rivers Stadium when it appeared that Bradshaw and Brian Sipe of the Cleveland Browns were in a spectacular showdown to declare the best quarterback in the land. Both were super.

Bradshaw completed 30 of 44 passes for 364 yards and one touchdown, while Sipe completed 23 of 38 passes for 333 yards and three touchdowns. Both had only one pass intercepted. Sipe was sacked seven times, most of them in the late going, while Bradshaw as sacked only once.

In the end however, Bradshaw was stronger – not just in passing or running or getting the job done – but in leading his team to a heart stopping 33-30 overtime victory over the valiant Browns.

Afterwards, several of the Steelers, such as Franco Harris, John Stallworth, Rocky Bleier and Steve Courson, spoke of Bradshaw’s leadership ability and how he held the team together through difficult times. So did Noll who also mentioned that Terry “did an outstanding job of getting the ball to the right person.”

Most of the calls in the contest were Bradshaw’s, as usual. Bradshaw has the final say on the Steelers’ plays, though Noll does send in plays from time to time.

At Dallas, Landry still makes most of the calls for the Cowboys; at Buffalo Chuck Knox has just begun to let Ferguson call the plays. “One way to build leadership,” said Coach Knox, “was to put Joe in a position of authority and command in the huddle.”

Even so, during one of the many lulls in Monday night’s contest between the Seahawks and Jets, ABC commentator Fran Tarkenton tabbed Sipe as the best quarterback in pro football. Tarkenton has seldom given Bradshaw his due.

Otto Graham said that Sipe would someday be regarded as the Browns best quarterback.

Fouts feels he’s the finest quarterback and Ron Jaworski of the Eagles believes he’s the best. And they should. Noll wouldn’t knock their self-confidence. A quarterback has to believe he’s the best.

Bradshaw, silently, probably feels that way. Publicly, he says, “I’m not interested in that garbage. I don’t ever want to be the best. I want to keep working at it.”

Poor performances at Cincinnati and San Diego have tarnished Bradshaw’s reputation, but he and the Steelers have an opportunity this Sunday to redeem themselves for one of those sorry showings. The Bengals beat the Steelers 34-10 in their earlier meeting in Cincinnati. It’s still a sore spot with the Steelers.

Although the 3-10 Bengals don’t appear to be much of a match for the Steelers, Coach Noll knows better. “They’re not a good football team as far as wins and losses, but as far as beating your fanny,” he acknowledged, “they can still do that.”

1979 Game 14: The (10-3) Pittsburgh Steelers vs the (3-10) Cincinnati Bengals

The Steelers intent on avenging their defeat in Cincinnati began when Theo Bell returned a punt 16 yards to the Bengals 42. Using Franco Harris to move the ball, the Steelers momentum stalled when Terry Bradshaw took to the air. His passes to Lynn Swann and John Stallworth fell incomplete which saw Matt Bahr kick a 43-yard field goal.

After the Steelers watched Bengals’ Chris Bahr’s field goal attempt miss wide right, they took possession on their 20. Rocky Bleier and Harris moved the chains 22 yards before Bradshaw threw a screen pass to Swann. With blocks from Bennie Cunningham and Larry Brown, Swann raced 58 yards untouched for the score.

AP image of Terry Bradshaw leaving the field

The Steelers extended their lead at the start of the second quarter after Bradshaw found Swann again with a pass of 45 yards before Harris plunged over from 1-yard.

The Bengals managed a 46-yard field goal before the Steelers came back with a 7-play drive of 62 yards that finished with Rocky Bleier sweeping right end for a 1-yard touchdown.

Cincinnati replied with a 6-play drive of 68 yards and a 29-yard touchdown catch by Isaac Curtis to reduce the Bengals deficit to 14 points as the teams went to the locker rooms.

The Bengals reduced their arrears further as the game entered the third quarter when Ken Anderson again found Curtis with a touchdown pass of 32 yards.

Bleier began the Steelers next charge of 83 yards with a run of 13 yards followed by two passes of seven yards to Cunningham before short gainers from Harris and Bleier. Swann’s touchdown catch of 42 yards capped the drive and the Steelers were again two scores in front.

In the final period, Bradshaw (picture left) stumbled and Cincinnati’s Eddie Edwards fell on him injuring the quarterback’s wrist before Bahr kicked a field goal to seal the 37-17 victory.

The Pittsburgh Steelers 37 vs the Cincinnati Bengals 17
Three Rivers Stadium December 2, 1979; 46,521

Franco Harris raised his season total to 1,027 yards rushing for his seventh 1000+ yards season, tying him with Jim Brown. He also moved past Joe Perry into fourth place on the all-time NFL rushing list with 8,404 yards.

“It was a cold and calculating performance,” acknowledged Coach Noll. “We played well. Terry read the defense and used his audibles (to change plays) well and it led to some big plays.”

“I didn’t think Pittsburgh was that intense, but they did thing well,” said Bengals Coach Homer Rice. “They made the plays when they had to.”

Asked why the Bengals didn’t get to him, Terry Bradshaw replied, “Because my offensive line played so great. They gave me all the protection I needed.”

Concerned for Bradshaw’s wrist injury with the Steelers next game against rivals Houston Oilers, Bradshaw announced, “No way I’ll miss that game.”

AFC Central
Cleveland 14 Houston 7

Pittsburgh 11-3
Houston 10-4
Cleveland 9-5
Cincinnati 3-11

The Oilers knew that when the Steelers came to Houston for the week 15 Monday Night game, a win by 20 points and a win against Philadelphia in the season finale would see them usurp Pittsburgh as the division champions.

Houston coach Bum Phillips has been chasing the Steelers throughout his five-year NFL coaching career. The Oilers had split the regular season games for the last two years but had never finished above them.

Both teams were known to play tough, physical football, but there was little animosity in the rivalry. “There isn’t a team I’d rather play than Pittsburgh,” acknowledged Phillips, “and I say that sincerely because of my admiration of the man who owns the team, Art Rooney. If I’m going to play a football game, I want to play someone I like. I take no pleasure in beating someone I don’t like.”

With a loss by Cleveland to Oakland, both teams secured a place in the playoffs before they played each other.

With the division title at stake, both teams began the game playing risk free football in an attempt not to make a mistake. The first quarter was scoreless, and it wasn’t until deep into the second period that Houston struck first.

Houston’s kicker Toni Fritsch added to the scoring dearth when he his low field goal attempt hooked to the left. The game needed a turnover to break the deadlock and that came from a Terry Bradshaw interception. Houston returned the ball to Pittsburgh’s 24. It took just one down for DonPastorini to find Ken Burrough in the end zone for the touchdown.

The Steelers began the second half with a good kick return that gave them a first down on their 49. Rocky Bleier burst through the line for a gain of 17 yards and Bradshaw found Swann on the next play with a 13-yard pass. When the Steelers drive stalled, Matt Bahr kicked a 37-yard field goal.
Houston restored their seven-point advantage on their next series with a Toni Fritsch field goal from 24 yards.

On Pittsburgh’s ensuing drive, a holding penalty on Larry Brown wiped out a 26-yard touchdown pass to Lynn Swann and the Steelers settled for a 41-yard field goal attempt that went wide right.

In the final period, the Oilers began a drive on their 23 which stalled on the Steelers 18, Fritsch kicked a field goal to extend Houston’s lead to 13-3.
The Steelers began the next drive on their 20 and three first downs later, including a Bradshaw run of 20 yards, had goal to go from the Houston 9. Swann took the end around for a touchdown to put the Steelers within three points.

The Oilers again restored their margin on the next possession which finished with Earl Campbell’s 4-yard touchdown run.

The Steelers replied with a quick score with Bradshaw’s passes to Bennie Cunningham (26 yards) and Franco Harris (11 yards) followed by his 34-yard touchdown pass to John Stallworth.

With just 1.18 remaining, Bahr attempted an onside kick which appeared to have been recovered by the Steelers, but the side judge ruled it an illegal touching having not travelled the required ten yards.

The Oilers recovered the next kickoff and ran out the final seconds to edge the Steelers 20-17 and keep their division title aspirations alive.

The Pittsburgh Steelers 17 at the Houston Oilers 20
Astrodome December 10, 1979; 55,293

Receiving: Cunningham 2-67, Grossman 1-18, Harris 3-32, Swann 4-50, Stallworth 3-64-1TD, Bleier 1-6

“There were taking a lot of unnecessary shots out there,” claimed Houston’s Tim Wilson of the Steelers defense. “Some of the things they did were unprofessional. This is supposed to be a professional league. I know they were trying to intimidate us, but some of the shots were uncalled for.”

“I don’t care what they believe,” said a disappointed Terry Bradshaw. “We could play them tomorrow and this game would have no bearing on it. They still have to play a few more games to prove they’re the best, if that’s what they believe.”

Oilers running back Earl Campbell gained 109 yards to become the first player in the season to achieve that against the Steelers. He had not complaints regarding the alleged cheap shots. “Nah, that’s just the way they play – tough,” he said. “I have the greatest respect for the Pittsburgh Steelers.”

Houston’s coach Bum Phillips was resigned to the outcome of the regular season, “The road to the Super Bowl always seems to go through Pittsburgh."

When John Stallworth was an oft-injured, 6-2, 172-pound receiver in his first two years at Alabama A&M, a few of his teammates questioned whether football was really his game.

“They thought I should try something less physical, like basketball or track,” Stallworth says with a smile.
But he persevered. He went on to make it in both the college and pro ranks. He has become so successful that yesterday his teammates gave him the ultimate accolade.

On the threshold of having the best season for a wide receiver in Steeler history, Stallworth was voted the Steelers 1979 Most Valuable Player award.

He follows in the footsteps of Terry Bradshaw, who won it the last two seasons. Other winners were Roy Jefferson (1969), Joe Greene (1970), Andy Russell (1971), Franco Harris (1972), Ron Shanklin (1973), Glen Edwards (1974), Mel Blount (1975) and Jack Lambert (1976).

“A lot of cliches come to mind,” Stallworth added. “It’s a team game and I couldn’t have done it without them. I like to stay away from cliches, but this time they are appropriate. The greatest thing in a team sport is the recognition of your peers, the guys that know your faults and weaknesses and your strong points. When they think you’re good enough, it makes the work and the sacrifices even more gratifying.”

It was never easy for Stallworth, who has caught 63 passes and needs just five more to break Roy Jefferson’s record of 67. The third Steelers to gain 1,000 yards receiving, he needs 216 yards in the last two games to break Buddy Dial’s record of 1,295 set in 1963 – although Dial did it in a 14-game season. Stallworth has also set a team record by catching passes in 41 consecutive games.

Stallworth, who now weighs 183 pounds, overcame ankle and shoulder injuries in his first two college years to become the Steelers’ fourth-round drafts pick in 1974. His career was on a treadmill for the next four years because of nagging leg injuries. He did not become a full-time starter until last year.

The irony is that Stallworth thinks his leg problems were the result of working too hard in the off-season. “I was so enthused and keyed up to be in super shaped that I was in mid-season form at the beginning of the year, but I was running myself down by the end of the year,” he said. “Now, I try to build up gradually in the off-season.

Stallworth does not regret that it took so long for him to live up to his potential. “I used to be down and there were some very low points, but I never gave up. It all boils down to the will of the Lord. He saw that I needed to be strengthened and to grow in certain ways. Some people jump into prosperity, but I’m happy it turned out this way.”

Stallworth moved into the limelight this year when Lynn Swann was late coming to camp, then was injured twice. He made the most of the opportunity, becoming the number one receiver. He has been so impressive that Bradshaw made a special effort to get Swann back into the offense.

Stallworth says he never wanted to be somewhere where he probably could have stepped into the number one slot right away.

“I wanted to make it happen in Pittsburgh,” he says. “If I’d left, it would have been a cop out. That would have been saying my ability wasn’t good enough to make it in Pittsburgh, that I had to go to a team that didn’t have as much talent.

Now that he is certain to make the Pro Bowl for the first time, Stallworth is not relaxing.

“When you have certain goals and you reach them, you set new ones,” he said. “You want to be consistent over the long run. This is the first year that things happened. You want your personal goals to parallel the team goals if you’re going to have a ‘illustrious’ career.

Steve Furness by Anthony-Kaminski in Pittsburgh Press

The Monday Night Football contest pitting the Steelers against the Oilers in Houston is a defensive lineman’s dream says Steve Furness.

“We’re going for the division title. We’re going against the league’s number one runner and a very good quarterback,” offered Furness, a stout defensive tackle in the Steel Curtain lineup. “And it’s on national television. What more could you ask for?”

So Steve and the Steelers (11-3) are primed for their first-place battle with the Oilers (10-4) in the Central Division and contending with Earl Campbell and Dan Pastorini and the Oilers’ other outstanding players.

“I’m ready to play,” said Furness following practice. “I’ve been looking forward to this game for 13 weeks. You know we have to stop Campbell. When you’re a good football team, you’re measured by your performance against a good team. People have been talking about our defense and how we haven’t done this or that lately. Monday night will say a lot for our team.”

When the Steelers played the Oilers 13 weeks ago, they blasted them off the field at Three Rivers Stadium, 38-7. It was the worst beating absorbed by the Oilers since Bum Phillips became their coach.

Furness hurt his knee in the Oilers game and missed nearly a third of the season as a result.

“We blew them out, it was embarrassing,” recalled Furness, who’s in fine shape now. “We know and they know they are a better football team than that. So I’ve been looking forward to playing them again. You knew that first place might be on the line by the time you went to Houston.

From the start of the season, we’ve been pretty confident about our chances, but you always know that they and Cleveland have a chance to beat you on their home fields.”
Furness feels he’s playing at his best right now – he has had four sacks in his last three games and is tied with L.C. Greenwood for the team lead with seven – and has regained top form after sitting out, except for spot duty against Cleveland and Denver, during that early season stretch.

He regained his starting status among the front four linemen, replacing Gary Dunn. He was physically sound about two games before he was reinstated, but Furness said he never feared for his job.

“No, I didn’t think about it that much,” he said. “We have a lot of competition here, but I felt I was making a contribution when I was in there. I felt I’d get a fair chance. The same thing happened last year. I missed five or six games at the start last season and didn’t get to start until the eleventh game. But I was in there for the stretch run, the playoffs and the Super Bowl.”

Furness, who has just turned 29, believes the Steelers can go all the way again. “We have to beat the Oilers and then I hope our leadership and enthusiasm take over. We know we have the talent,” he said. “I think we’ll meeting the Oilers again in the playoffs too, so it’s important to set the proper tone.”

After Terry Bradshaw put only 13 points on the board against the Houston Oilers in the Astrodome last December, the Steelers quarterback decided he needed a different approach to the game.

As Bradshaw explained after that game, “I told Chuck Noll that I don’t play well when I want to win so badly. I play defensively instead of offensively. I have to stop putting so much pressure on myself. I have to relax and let my ability work for me.”

Bradshaw relaxed, and the opponents would up being uptight. He promptly put together a string of five straight dazzling games.

He put 35 points on the board against Denver in a snow storm, 21 against Denver in a half and 33, 34 and 35 in the three post-season games. And the Steelers were world champions.

Bradshaw may be facing the same kind of crossroads coming off this year’s game in the Astrodome.

Only the results were different. The Steelers lost 20-17 instead of winning 13-3, the way they did last year when Donnie Shell drove Earl Campbell out of the game in the first quarter with broken ribs.

But Bradshaw and the offense had the same kind of off night they had a year ago. Not that his teammates put the responsibility for the loss on Bradshaw’s shoulders. “He’s got a lot of pride and he’s a great competitor and he wants to take all the blame, but we won’t let him,” Lynn Swann points out.

That does not change the fact that offense starts with the quarterback and the burden is on Bradshaw to get it rolling. “I’m disappointed that I played poorly in the four games we lost,” Bradshaw said. After the Houston game, Bradshaw talked about wanting to win it so badly, just the way he did a year ago.

Things are different though. At least, he says they are. After practice yesterday, he says he has not fallen into the trap of getting too tight.

“I’m not uptight,” he said and then added with a smile, “I just may have played like I was. I was a little too cautious and afraid to make a mistake in the first half, but I loosened up in the second half. We had them going then.”

It’s probably not a coincidence that the Steelers were blanked in the first half and scored 17 points in the second. Playing cautious is not Bradshaw’s game. He is at his best when he is making things happen.
He would like nothing better than to make it happen this week. Not only do the Steelers need a victory to clinch the division crown, but this is something of an old home week for him.

Bradshaw’s brother, Craig, a quarterback at Utah State and Joe Ferguson will be in town.

Ferguson, the Buffalo quarterback was a freshman at Woodlawn High School in Shreveport, Louisiana, when Bradshaw was a senior. In a million to one shot, the two quarterbacks from the same school made it as starters in the pro ranks.

“He’s the best mechanically I’ve ever seen,” Bradshaw says of Ferguson.
Bradshaw is the best, period. The Steelers can just hope he starts playing that way again in the playoffs.

The images persist of Ted Petersen and Steve Courson at the Steelers’ training camp this summer.

Neither got off to a good start. Both were early candidates to be cut from the squad, and here they are now, scheduled to start for the Steelers in the regular-season finale against the Buffalo Bills at Three Rivers Stadium.

Petersen showed up at camp with a splint and protective shield on his nose, which he had broken in a swimming pool accident a few days before, and brought o mind Lee Marvin’s Oscar winning character, Kid Shalleen, in “Cat Ballou.”

The muscle bound Courson looked like a blimp that had sprung a leak and been patched. His right thigh was wrapped where he pulled a hamstring on the first day of camp – an injury that didn’t quite get the attention of Greg Hawthorne’s hamstring pull on his first 40-yard sprint. “Number one draft picks get a little more notice,” Courson can say with a smile now.

Courson and Petersen will be under pressure on the offensive line today, making sure Bradshaw stays clean and that there are holes for Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier to bolt through.

A victory would clinch the Central division title and give the Steelers a two-week respite before their first playoff game. Petersen and Courson are excited by the prospects.

Courson and Petersen share more than a room on the road. They also have a similar status. Both are third-year offensive linemen who were pressed into playing a great deal this season because of injuries to Gerry Mullins and Jon Kolb, and are among those young studs on the squad who represent the future of the franchise.

They are well-muscled young men whose bulging biceps – always bared to intimidate the enemy – blend well with the muscle beach party comprising the Steelers front line. Mullins and Kolb could be back as starters by the time of the playoffs, but Petersen and Courson must stay ready.

Courson (picture right) has started in seven games and Petersen in five. Both started under fire in the first game of the season, the Monday Night overtime victory at New England, and were in the lineup Monday night in the difficult 20-17 loss to the Houston Oilers.

“Playing in a Monday Night game puts a lineman under extra pressure,” confided Courson. “If you let your man get by you to the quarterback, for sure they’ll show it several times on instant replay. And everybody’s watching. Howard Cosell is a controversial sportscaster and he can make you famous or infamous in a hurry.”

They knew their high school buddies back home would get a kick out of seeing them competing against the Oilers in a nationally televised game.

Courson said his old cronies would be gathered at the Heritage Room in Gettysburg, while Petersen said his pals could be found in front of the TV set in a bowling alley called the Red Cedar Lanes back home in Momence, Illinois, about 63 miles south of Chicago.

Both laughed while picturing those respective scenes. They knew their buddies would be tougher critics than Cosell.

The third year is usually a make-or-break year for players who haven’t seen much action in their first two seasons. They have to put up or pack up.

When starter Ray Pinney reported to camp with a stomach ailment and was ultimately side-lined for the season, it assured Courson and Petersen a spot on the team. Both said they felt bad for Pinney, a good friend who worked hard, but conceded that it made them feel more secure.

“It’s a numbers game,” said Courson. “You never know what’s going to happen.”

The high point for both was the dramatic comeback victory in overtime against the Cleveland Browns three weeks ago. Both were among those who received game balls for their contributions. “I put the ball on my mantel and I just look at it,” Courson said with a smile.

“Here I was sitting on top of the world, having a good time, and I hurt my back working out with weights. I was so down. I couldn’t put socks on, it hurt so bad. And it cost me a start against Cincinnati in the next game.”

The good ‘ol boys, Mullins and Kolb, could tell Petersen and Courson to be prepared for more of the same with the Steelers. No one ever promised them it would be easy.

Before the Steelers game against the Bills, the organisation announced that Jack Ham, who injured his ankle early in the previous week’s game in Houston, would possibly need surgery on the ankle.

The Steelers are in effect using Dennis Winston starting and Loren Toews on passing downs to replace Ham, who was lost for the post-season.

The Bills showed they were ready to play when Joe Ferguson found Jerry Butler with a 27-yard pass on the game’s opening play from scrimmage. After advancing to the Steelers 14, where they had a fourth and one, Buffalo’s coach Chuck Knox decided to settle for a field goal.

The Bills were penalised for delay of game as their kicker made the first attempt. When they retook the attempt from 36 yards, Joe Greene blocked it.

The game then descended into mini brawls with football occasionally breaking out. Coach Knox told his players all week they were not to be intimidated by the Steelers and they appeared to have taken the message seriously by trying to get in the first blow.

In between the bitter on field clashes, the Bills missed another field goal and the Steelers had one blocked from 52 yards. On the last play of the first quarter, Terry Bradshaw threw a high pass to a leaping Lynn Swann, who hauled it in for a 20-yard touchdown catch.

As the skirmishes among the players continued in the second quarter, Bradshaw scrambled ten yards on a third down. He was tackled at the 2-yard line. As he rolled on the turf, Jim Haslett’s foot came down on Bradshaw’s helmet which came off. Bradshaw suffered a cut to his forehead while Haslett endured the punishment of being ejected.

Bradshaw sat out one play before coming back to hand off to Franco Harris who burst through the Bills for a 1-yard touchdown to increase Pittsburgh’s lead to 14-0.

The return of Sidney Thornton to the Steelers offense was rewarded when he crashed over center for an 8-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

Harris added the final score with an 11-yard sprint in the final period producing the 35th 100-yard game of his career.

The Pittsburgh Steelers 28 vs the Buffalo Bills 0
Three Rivers Stadium December 16, 1979; 48,002

Rushing: Harris 21-100-2TD, Thornton 10-51-1TD, Kruczek 1-22, Bradshaw 2-10, Moser 3-11, Hawthorne 4-9, Bleier 2-3,

Receiving: Thornton 2-55, Swann 3-61-1TD, Stallworth 4-39, Cunningham 3-36, Harris 2-18

The game saw Coach Noll register his 100th victory to become the 14th coach in NFL history to reach that mark. “It is not 100 victories for me,” the coach suggested. ”It’s 100 victories for the organisation. I didn’t hit a lick the whole time.”

Franco Harris finished the season with 1,186 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground.

The Steelers set club records with total yards on the season (6,258), yards passing (3,655), total points (416) and touchdowns (52).

Terry Bradshaw established new records in passing with 472 attempts, 259 completions (55%) and 3,724 yards.

“We were cold and calculating,” suggested Joe Greene. “It was a game we had to have. But there wasn’t a whole lot of emotion. It was a matter-of-fact type game.”

“We came here and found out what a championship ball club really is,” said Buffalo’s quarterback Joe Ferguson.

Talking about the incident when he suffered the cut to his forehead, Terry Bradshaw joked, “My wig company is going to have to send me a three-quarter inch piece of hair to cover it up.”

Tickets went on sale at $30 for season ticket holders on the basis they would only be mailed out if the Steelers make the Super Bowl.

With the loss of Jack Ham for the season, the Steelers wanted to sign Jack Deloplaine to replace him, but NFL rules prevented them.

The rule states that a team is not allowed to sign a player it has cut and who has not been picked up by another team unless the player first clears waivers.

The waiver system ended before the regular season finale and there are no more waivers until after the Super Bowl, so there are no waivers for Deloplaine to clear.

The consequence for the Steelers sees them go into the playoffs with 44 players instead of 45 because Ham or Mike Wagner is able to play. The Steelers did have the option to sign a player who had been waived by another team. They decided this was not a viable option as Deloplaine was the only available player who was already conversant with the Steelers system and would be able to contribute to the team.

The handicap wasn’t seen as having an affect on their playoff chances as last year Bennie Cunningham, who was on the roster, did not play because of injury.

The original intent of the rule was to prevent teams from hiding or stashing players, which was an old tradition in the NFL.

Although the Steelers didn’t match the 14-2 season of the previous year, Coach Noll suggested the season went “pretty well.”

The biggest obstacle going into postseason was the absence of All-Pros Ham and Wagner. “You would like to be able to replace them with other All-Pro players,” the coach said.

“Sometimes it takes a while for people to discover All-Pro players,” Noll said before acknowledging that outside linebackers Dennis Winston and Robin Cole had exceptional games against Buffalo. “So did Loren Toews on the pass coverage stuff,” he added.

The Steelers had suffered controversial officiating calls in their last two games and the call for instant replay to be introduced to the professional game was again raised.

Matt Bahr’s beautifully executed onside kick in the 20-17 loss to Houston was ruled as an illegal touching when television replays showed it was a blown call.

In the game against the Bills, Terry Bradshaw was bloodied by Buffalo’s Jim Haslett, who landed with his right foot on Bradshaw’s back near his neck. Although ejected from the game, Coach Noll felt Haslett’s action was intent on roughing up his quarterback.

For years they had been regarded as spear carriers, flitting about in the shadow of their peers, but national attention has finally come to the architects of the Golden Age of Sports which hit Pittsburgh in the 70s.

“Sports Illustrated” will have the faces of Terry Bradshaw and Willie Stargell on the cover, hailed jointly as Sportsman of the Year.

Now there is nothing unusual about Bradshaw – the first pro football player so honoured – and Stargell appearing on the cover of S.I. Both have been there before. But they join select company in being featured on the cover of the traditional year-end holiday edition.

In the 26-year history of the prestigious highly coveted award, their predecessors include such giants as Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Roger Bannister, Muhammed Ali, all proper celebrities in the world of fun and games.

Stargell and Bradshaw each will receive a symbolic award, a replica of a Grecian amphora, a narrow necked, two handled ceramic jug which was used by the Greeks around 500 B.C.

There is even symbolism in this, for an amphora could have been used as a container for wine and Stargell is a connoisseur of the grape. The jug’s decorative theme portrays a javelin thrower which was the reason for Bradshaw’s first appearance, as a face in the crowd, in the pages of S.I. when he was 17.

In his cover story, “Two Champs in the City of Champions,” author Ron Fimrite concedes that neither one seems like Pittsburgh’s sort of guy.

“One, Terry Bradshaw, is a Southerner, a Bible Belt country boy who come on so naïve at first that he was written off a round town as a dummy,” explains Fimrite. “The other, Willie Stargell, is a Californian, a black man from the housing projects whose gentle manner and it’s-only-a-game philosophy scarcely hold to the standards of a mill town that rates toughness as the prime virtue.

Yet, Fimrite adds, alluding to the City of Champions, each is an example of the “yearning spirit of this brawling, sentimental and tough but friendly place” and each has become revered in the city where he plays.

“Bradshaw, for all of his other, now properly-renowned skills,” Fimrite continues, “is as rugged as anyone who has played in the NFL, a gritty competitor who will boost his bruised body off the turf and bounce back into the melee. Stargell is a large and powerful man whose apparent nonchalance conceals a fierce inner drive that surfaces dramatically in crises.”

Pittsburgh loves these guys, concludes Fimrite. It was the second dual award given by Sports Illustrated. A former UCLA basketball coach, John Wooden, and tennis star Billie Jean King were similarly honoured seven years ago.

In Fimrite’s portrayal of Stargell, the writer senses that Willie’s love for his teammates, black and white, oozes out as freshly as hot coffee bubbling in a percolating pot. The words Willie uses in speaking of the men who share his dugout bench are words that cite the worth of a man.

“The finest hitting coach in baseball, Bob Skinner; all our pitchers respect Harvey Haddix; Jim Rooker, he’ll walk into the clubhouse with wild meat dishes. That’s probably why we win, we eat so good,” said Willie, who often whips up a delectable clubhouse dish himself. “Bert Blyleven. I’ll go out to talk to him during a game and he’ll say, ‘Get off my damn mound,’ HIS damn mound.”

Sports Illustrated has been criticised for many of its Sportsman of the Year nominees in the past. It goes with the territory. But in dividing the 1979 award between Stargell and Bradshaw, the magazine, in a sense, has stifled dissent.

Certainly, no one can question their right to Sportsman of the Year, as they have earned that on the field. Certainty, no one can doubt the example that either man brings to professional sports; no one can devalue their worth to their town and their team.

S.I. has made an excellent choice, but more than that, it’s Sportsman of the Year Award is a paean to man’s humility and to real men’s feelings for the fellow man.

After their win in the season finale, the players enjoyed three days off before returning to practice. With a bye week before their next game, the Steelers could afford to relax before preparing for the divisional game once their opponents were known.

The Steelers and the Chargers both finished the season on 12-4 and although the Pittsburgh would have home field advantage for their next game, if the Chargers won theirs, it would be San Diego who would host the AFC Championship game. The Steelers 35-7 loss in San Diego during the regular season gave the Chargers the tiebreaker.

The Houston win over Denver confirmed the Steelers next opponents would be the Miami Dolphins.

When the Steelers resumed practice to prepare for the Dolphins, Sidney Thornton should enjoy a bigger role in Pittsburgh’s running game. In the season finale, Thornton had contributed 51 yards on 10 carries and caught two passes for 55 yards.

“Sidney has been one of the nice surprises of the year,” acknowledged Coach Noll. “We’re happy it was this year,” Noll said of the third-year veteran. “He’s having a good year and he’s making a big contribution; running, blocking and catching passes. He used to have trouble holding onto passes, but he has become an outstanding receiver. Once he puts his big hands on them now, he holds them.”

After Rocky Bleier was hurt during training camp, Thornton started the first ten games of the season. He sprained an ankle against the Redskins which caused him to be sidelined for the next five games.

“I was a high school star and college star and sitting on the bench was new to me,” said Thornton. “I feel great now. My legs should be the freshest on the team. There’s enough spring in my legs to jump over the stadium. Now I’d like to more or less take advantage of it.”

When the Steelers won their third Super Bowl, they were hailed around the nation as the “Team of the Decade.”

The Dolphins do not accept that. They think they were. They know they only won two Super Bowls, but they feel they were deprived of a shot of more titles by a special set of circumstances – the raiding by the World Football League of Larry Csonka, Paul Warfield, and Jim Kuck in 1975.

The Dolphins never really recovered. The WFL remains a sore point with them. Bob Kuechenberg, the veteran Miami lineman is one of the team’s more vocal spokesman and is eager to make the team’s case.

“I’d appreciate it if you’d point this out,” he said from his Miami home. “But the WFL did what the NFL wasn’t able to do – stop the Dolphins”

He then posed a question. “What would the Steelers have done if they’d lost Franco Harris, Lynn Swann and Rocky Bleier? I don’t think they would have done too much without those three players. We lost Csonka, Warfield and Kuck and we didn’t get anything for them.”

They finally got Csonka back this year, four seasons later and all he did was power them into the playoffs. They like to think of what might have been in those four seasons he lost forever.

Kuechenberg will not even concede the Steelers were the league’s best team when they won their first Super Bowl in 1974. That was before the present system of giving the home-field edge to the teams with the best record began. Miami (11-3) went to Oakland (12-2) in the first round while the Steelers (10-3-1) played the wildcard team Buffalo.

“We went to Oakland and waged a war. We beat each other up so bloody that Oakland had nothing to give Pittsburgh. That particular year, Pittsburgh wasn’t the best team. They were the third best.”

Oakland edged Miami 28-26 that year before the Steelers hammered the Raiders 24-13, in what many Steelers consider their greatest game.

Kuechenberg, however, does add that he does not want to knock the Steelers. “I have a great deal of respect for Pittsburgh. I don’t have much respect for Dallas because they’ve had very little competition in the NFC. They can play mediocre ball and still make the Super Bowl. It’s really not fair.”

“But my hat’s off to Pittsburgh. They’ve been the only great team of the last five years. They were the best team in 1975 and 1978 and there’s a strong case that they are the best team this year. We’re going to need some help to beat them Sunday. Things will have to go our way. The Steelers have it all going.”

The Dolphins of 1979 sound like the Dolphins of ’72, or at least the Green Bay Packers, pick your favourite year in the ‘60s, to hear Tom Modrak describe them.

“I know they all sound outstanding,” he says with a smile, “but they really do have a lot of impressive people.”

Modrak is a scout for the Steelers. Primarily, he scouts advance opponents, holding his binoculars in one hand and a tape recorder in the other while talking into the latter throughout a game.

Two weeks ago, Modrak scouted Miami against the Jets in Miami. For the record, the Jets won that season finale 27-24. It’s a good thing that Modrak saw the Dolphins in defeat. Otherwise, the Steelers might not show up for their playoffs test in Three Rivers Stadium.

Like most scouts, Modrak speaks in superlatives. If he had been a scout for Sitting Bull, there would never have been a Battle of Little Big Horn. Had Modrak described General Custer’s cavalry, the Indians would have taken flight.

“You can’t make too many mistakes against Miami,” said Modrak. “They’re a very solid team. If you make mistakes, they’ll capitalise on them.”

What he didn’t say is that the Dolphins don’t force team to make many mistakes. They haven’t demonstrated the sort of pass rush or opportunistic defense to cause fumbles and interceptions.
“Their defense has great pursuit,” acknowledged the Steeler scout. “They read and react so well. They’re one of the top teams against the run. Tim Foley, their strong safety, sort of sets the tempo for them. Watch him.”

Modrak didn’t say anything about Neil Colzie, the Dolphins’ free safety, who’s been hurt, but he’s ready to return to action. Colzie is a familiar foe, having formerly operated for the Oakland Raiders.

Offensively, they do a lot of situation substitutions,” said Modrak. “They’ll go with Delvin Williams and Larry Csonka in the backfield, and on a second and long, they bring in Bob Torrey, and on third and long, they bring in Tony Nathan. They can give you problems.

They use Nathan on their special teams, and he’s great. The way they use him, he’s very effective.

Larry Csonka keeps you honest. You know he’s coming. He runs over people. Delvin Williams has been banged up all year, but he’s back. He’s well again.

John Stallworth was selected for the first time and joined Joe Greene, Mike Wagner and Jack Ham as the Steelers named All-Pro.

On a very cold, grey winter’s afternoon, the Steelers warmed their fans with a performance worthy of the reigning Super Bowl champions. It was a demonstration

In the opening fifteen minutes, the Steelers played what amounted to a perfect quarter of football. That was Vito Stellino’s conclusion and there won’t be many football fans who watched the game who would disagree.

From the opening kickoff return that Larry Anderson ran back 26 yards to start their ensuing drive from their 38, the Steelers controlled the game. After 12 plays, Sidney Thornton, who started in front of Rocky Bleier, began the scoring with a 1-yard trap play through right side with Sam Davis delivering the crunch block.

After the Dolphins went three and out, the Steelers again started from their own 38. Nine plays later, Terry Bradshaw found John Stallworth with an 11-yard pass that Stallworth turned into a 17-yard touchdown reception after he brushed aside one tackler before stiff-arming two others on his way over the goal line. Vern Der Herder blocked the point after attempt.

Overcoming the absence of Jack Ham and Mike Wagner, the Steelers defense played their part in the demolition of their opponents, once again forcing a three and out. The Steelers began their series in good field position from their 44 and took just six plays to add to their score. Under pressure, Bradshaw ducked under the Dolphins right end before finding Lynn Swann alone in the end zone with a 20-yard scoring pass.

After a first quarter monopolised by the Steelers, the home fans had time to catch their breath in the second which saw a defensive battle with no scoring.

Miami struck in the third quarter following a controversial call from the officials. After the Dolphins punted, the side judge ruled Dwayne Woodruff had touched the ball making it live with Miami recovering on the Steelers 11. Television replays established Woodruff had not touched the ball. Bob Griese’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Duriel Harris reduced the Dolphins deficit to 20-7.

The Steelers took no time to reply. On their next drive that began on their 22, Bradshaw’s passes to Jim Smith (14 and 14 yards), Stallworth (18 and 9 yards) moved the chains before Bleier, in for Thornton who had sprained an ankle, punched it in from a yard to restore the Steelers lead of twenty points.

In the final period, the Steelers capitalised on a short field of 43 yards. Their 9-play drive was finished by 3-yard touchdown run from Franco Harris to extend Pittsburgh’s lead to 27 points.

A change at quarterback when Don Strock replaced Griese lifted the Dolphins enabling them to complete the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run from Larry Csonka.

“We want Houston!” echoed around Three Rivers Stadium as the fans celebrated their team’s magnificent victory and looked forward to the Steelers seventh appearance in an AFC Championship game in nine years.

The Pittsburgh Steelers 34 vs the Miami Dolphins 14
Three Rivers Stadium December 30, 1979; 50,214

Passing: Bradshaw 21-31-2TD-0INT-230
Griese 14-26-1TD-1INT-118, Strock 8-14-1INT-125

Rushing: Harris 21-83-1TD, Thornton 12-52-1TD, Hawthorne 2-15, Bleier 4-13-1TD, Anderson 1-(-4)

Receiving: Stallworth 6-86-1TD, Swann 3-37-1TD, Thornton 3-34, Smith 4-41, Harris 5-32
The Steelers offensive success was accented by a third down efficiency of 11 out of 14.

AP photo of Terry Bradshaw in the locker room after the game

Terry Bradshaw was a happy quarterback having set a personal best in playoff games with 21 completions from 31 attempts. He is still tied with Cowboys’ Roger Staubach with 26 playoff touchdowns.

“We were outstanding in all areas,” said Coach Noll before adding that the partisan crowd contributed to the victory.

When Joe Greene was asked what set the Steelers apart from the other NFL teams he replied, “Singleness of purpose… that just about covers it.” In reply to being asked where that extra something comes from, Greene was emphatic, “Chuck Noll, it all starts with him. We have a lot of confidence in that man.”

Miami’s coach Don Shula was generous in his praise for the Steelers. “I thought we could come up here and play a good football game, but we didn’t. The Steelers didn’t make many mistakes to speak of. It’s difficult to beat them. Every game they’ve lost this season, they’ve made a lot of mistakes and beaten themselves.

Sure, they remind me of our great Miami teams. They don’t have any weaknesses. They have a great offense, great defense and an outstanding kicking game.”

Larry Csonka was equally impressed. “They played like World Champions today,” he said. “They’ve gotevery right to claim that ring.

For almost a decade, they have called him “Tight Man” or simply, “Tight.” A few of the older Steelers set the tone for the rest. Pull them back down when they get too full of themselves, the way they were before they went to Cincinnati in October and were embarrassed. Pump them up when they need it, the way they did coming back from a thrashing in San Diego six weeks ago.

They are the keepers of the flame. The ones who lead by example and attitude and character, and all of those other coachly virtues. The ones who say in a lot of ways, we have been there, and we are going back.

Tight man. That is what the Steelers call Sam Davis, 34 years of tough, smart, seasoned guard. Tight. L.C. Greenwood who has a penchant for those things, hung the nickname on Davis years ago with the simple explanation, “Tight?... he keeps us together.”

Tight. Do the right thing at the right time. Not too high on the good days, not too low on the bad ones. Tight. The way the Steelers were yesterday when they snatched a reasonably competent Miami team by the neck, cuffed it about at will and then flung it into a corner of Three Rivers Stadium to await the arrival of Houston and Sunday’s AFC Championship game.

“Every game now IS the Super Bowl,” Davis was saying after Miami had been dispatched, 34-14, to a large degree on the strength of an offensive line thought to be badly depleted by injuries. “We have to remember that we can’t live on today. You enjoy it a little better, but next week it all starts again.”

A tone. Not too high. Not yet. Miami had been easy. The Dolphins had been looking for the classic Steeler trap blocking running game. They got helmets in the sternums, were blown off the line of scrimmage early and succumbed more than anything to a Steeler running game that built a 13-0 lead in the first eleven minutes and made Miami so vulnerable to the pass.

“When it counts,” Davis says, “we put it there. You get a taste of money; it makes it more valuable to you. It’s kill or be killed now. You can’t say ‘We’re the champions, we’re here.’ In the playoffs, you prove yourself… and you do it by taking it to them.”
Playing beside and steadying young left tackle Ted Petersen, Sam Davis took it to the Dolphins the way only a 34-year-old, slick, quick, seasoned NFL offensive lineman can take it to the guy on the other side of the football.
Power? On the second Steeler touchdown drive, two of the three pivotal plays were run by Sidney Thornton. Both were over left guard Sam Davis.

Quickness? On the third Steeler touchdown drive, Franco Harris swept left for five yards to keep it alive behind Davis lead block on linebacker Larry Gordon.

Finesse? Dolphin defensive end A.J. Duhe slipped inside a Petersen block and was reaching for Bradshaw. Davis picked him off. Bradshaw launched a pass to Lynn Swann.

Pass-protection? Bradshaw was sacked just once and had so much time to throw early on that at one point, he was 16 for 24 for two touchdowns, and the Dolphins were already dead.

“We fooled them a little,” Davis said, giggling at the thought. “It’s sort of an ego thing. A lot of people think that we can only trap block. People around the league say, ‘Well, they’re either going to pass or trap you.’ We did more straight blocking today.”

Trap blocking is largely deceit. Lure a defensive lineman or linebacker into the backfield, blow him away from the side. Straight blocking is muscle. Fire out, put your hat in his numbers, trample him. The lines which explode get the recognition; the finesse lines get yawns.

“Maybe our line is starting to get some of the recognition,” allows Davis, to whom attention is finally coming after a mere thirteen seasons. “I’ve gotten ticked off about it. We led the NFL in rushing, passing… almost broke the all-time offensive record… and even a player like Jon Kolb gets overlooked.

The Steelers do not overlook Davis. Before Super Bowl XIII, Joe Greene kept saying, “Watch Tight, watch Tight Man, he’s going to be important.” Davis was neutralising Dallas defensive tackle Randy White, considered by many the league’s premier defensive lineman. Later, one magazine referred to Davis and Kolb as the “league’s premier trapping combination.”

“Stability… that’s Tight.” Greene smiled yesterday. “He keeps people together. It’s the way he carries himself, the way he plays the game.”

And the way Davis was playing it in the fourth quarter against Miami, when he steered defensive end Doug Betters wide of Bradshaw on a pass, then slipped back inside to pick off a blitzing linebacker. Bradshaw’s pass led to the final Steeler touchdown.

Sidney Thornton is nursing a wounded ankle and Rocky Bleier is nursing a wounded ego.

Both running backs are expected however to be ready when the Steelers play host to the Houston Oilers in the American Football Conference championship.

Both were effective running with, and blocking for Franco Harris, each scoring from 1 yard out in the 34-14 drubbing of the Miami Dolphins in the playoff semi-final at Three Rivers Stadium.

It did not seem to make any difference whether it was Thornton or Bleier in the backfield with Harris and Terry Bradshaw, but it does, at least to them. They mark their true sentiments, for the most part, which is one of the Steelers’ strengths.

There is talent and depth at most positions, which is what sets the Steelers apart from the pack in the NFL and Chuck Noll never refers to his players as starters or substitutes. “We have to have contributions by all of our 44 of our players,” notes Noll.

Thornton and John Stallworth came limping off the field against Miami. Stallworth, who has some water on his right knee and doesn’t have full extension of his leg, returned to action and is all right. Thornton thinks he’s okay too. “Most definitely, I’ll be able to play,” said Thornton.

“I wouldn’t have come out of Sunday’s game when I did,” said Thornton, who hurt himself earlier than when he exited the game, “unless we had someone like Rocky Bleier ready to go in there. When you have a pro like Rocky, you don’t even think about it twice.”

Thornton said he was told Sunday morning, after the pregame meal, that he would be in the starting lineup. Dick Hoak, the offensive backfield coach, told him so. Until then, it was a big question mark.

There was a report in The Press last Wednesday that Thornton might start, in Hoak’s opinion, while Noll was non-committal on the subject. Jack Fleming, the Steelers’ play-by-play announcer, twisted that news item somewhat and said on his radio show that day that Bleier had given way to Thornton as starter.

Rocky was listening to his car radio when Fleming offered his unsupported comment. Rocky was upset. It was like having your best friend tell you that your girl or wife doesn’t love you any more.

Bleier squawked to Hoak about hearing of his demotion over the radio. Hoak pleaded innocent, which he was, and said the decision would be up to Noll and that it hadn’t yet been made.

“Like anything else, things change,” said Bleier. “In the past, Noll has not changed things that have been working for him.”

Thornton started the first ten games of the season, then sat out the next five with a badly sprained ankle. He replaced Bleier and did exceptionally well in the season finale.

Thornton and Bleier have great respect for each other’s ability, but it is natural that they would both like to be number one at the position.

“I learned a lot from Rocky,” said Thornton, “so I know he can put it to work. If I didn’t have Rocky behind me, I wouldn’t want to stay out. And he feels the same way. He knows I’ll do the job.”

Despite limited duty, Bleier is on the beam when he observes, “I’ve had one of my best years.”

He has played so well, in fact, that he is considering returning next season. He had thought about retiring and he wishes he could approach Noll on the subject.

“I feel I should talk to him and ask him where I stand,” said Bleier. “But I know he wouldn’t help me. He’d say I’d have to take my chances.”

Ever since he signed with the Steelers in 1968 Bleier has been fighting off challenges, so this is nothing new to him. “It’s always been that way,” said Bleier. He wouldn’t know any other way.

The Steelers will find themselves cast in the role of "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas"* in the AFC Championship game.

The defending champions have become the bullies on the block in pro football. They have won so often that they are as popular around the country as your friendly neighbourhood Shylock. Rooting against the Steelers has become as American as apple pie.

As if that was not enough, they find themselves trying to spoil the most heart-warming story since “The Sound of Music” in their next game against the Houston Oilers.

The Oilers came to town last night with a modern-day Will Rogers spouting homespun lines and leading a team that captured the hearts and minds of America’s football fans last week.

It was thought the Oilers had a one-man team until they went out to San Diego and shocked the Chargers without Earl Campbell, Dan Pastorini and Ken Burrough. The sportswriters were falling over themselves trying to find enough cliches like courage and guts and hearts and character to describe their unexpected victory.

As the Oilers coach Bum Phillips drawled, “You hear a lot about games being character builders. This was a character finder.”

It is now being said the Oilers are still a one-man team, but that one man is Phillips. He likes to joke that the only four things in life that he knows about are pickup trucks, gumbo, cold beer and barbecued ribs.

But Bum knows just a bit about football. He has coached five playoff games and he has been the underdog on the road in four of them. Yet, he still has a 4-1 playoff record with the only loss coming here in last year’s title game. Bum may squeeze more out of his talent than any coach in the league.

The ultimate factor in the game could be the weather. Playing the Steelers in January in Pittsburgh is like playing the Russians at Stalingrad.

“I don’t like to live in it,” says Donnie Shell, who lives in South Carolina, “but I like to play in it.” Steve Courson adds, “I love to play in the snow because the offensive linemen can get better footing against the defensive linemen.”

Bum has proved he can win without his stars, but he has not proved he can win in bad weather. The Oilers lost in Cleveland just last month. “You can’t practice being miserable,” Bum like to say. When the Oilers left the field the day before last year’s game, Bum cracked, “Let’s get out of this weather that I keep saying won’t make any difference.”

The Oilers seemed beaten the next day when Bum walked out with a plastic covering over his Cowboy hat. The weather was too tough for both his hat and his team. The snow arrived last night just in time to make the Oilers miserable.

Joe Greene objects to the notion the weather was a factor last January when the Steelers won 34-5. “That was a beautiful performance by the Steelers and all that anybody wrote about was the weather. If we’d had to play in scuba gear, we would have won that day,” Greene said.

Regardless of whether the weather was or not a factor, the problem for the Oilers is that the Steelers are almost as tough as their weather.

* Note: The poem “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is about the Christmas loving people of Whoville and a 'Grinch' who hated Christmas for no known reason.

When the Pittsburgh Steelers meet the Houston Oilers, the black and blue runs deeper than thejerseys.

“I’ve had thirty-one broken ribs during my career. About thirty of them came against Pittsburgh,” says Oiler quarterback Dan Pastorini.

He left his last game here on a stretcher. He returns with an ailing groin muscle that might sideline him when the Steelers and Oilers meet again for the AFC Conference title.

“It’s good clean football, but we’re kind of rough on each other,” says Terry Bradshaw.

On a 1977 trip to Houston, Bradshaw sustained a cracked wrist, backup Mike Kruczek had his shoulder separated and defensive back Tony Dungy finished as the Steelers quarterback.

Make no bones about it, these rivals from the AFC Central division make life tough on one another. But they also share mutual respect, and they’ve even exchanged favours and a few gifts.

“We play hard football and dare the other team to do the same. The Oilers always accept the dare,” says Joe Greene.

“I have thew greatest respect for the Pittsburgh Steelers," says Oiler fullback Earl Campbell, who aims to play despite a groin pull that side-lined him last week.

The Oilers and the Steelers meet twice in the regular season. For the second season in a row, they meet again for the AFC title.

When Lynn Swann was leaving the field in Houston after a Pittsburgh loss four weeks ago, a fan yelled, “We’ll see you in the Super Bowl!”

“That’s not possible because we’re both in the same conference,” Swann noted. “But that’s too bad. It would be a great Super Bowl.”

The Oilers who again placed second to Pittsburgh in the division, battled their way here as a wild-card by beating Denver and upsetting San Diego – despite the absence of Campbell and Pastorini.

Had Houston lost in San Diego, the Steelers would have had to travel to the West Coast to meet the Chargers. So, the Houston victory was welcomed here.

“Not because we’ll be playing Houston, but because we’ll be at home,” says Bradshaw.

Pittsburgh has won fifteen straight at home. But the last loss was to the Oilers, the only AFC Central team to win here. The teams have split the series the last three regular seasons.

The rivalry had a special twist the last weekend of the 1977 season when Houston beat Cincinnati to assure Pittsburgh the division title – a favour for which the Steelers sent each Oiler an attaché case.

The visit of the Oilers to play the Steelers fulfilled a prophecy Oilers Coach Phillips made early in the season. “You’ve got to go through Pittsburgh to get to Pasadena. No way you can get there without going through Pittsburgh.

AP photo of snow clearing at Three Rivers Stadium in preparation for Oilers game

When the Steelers put their minds to it – and it seems they always do at this time of year – they appear to be playing in a higher league than the rest of the world.

By acclimation the NFL team of the 1970s, the Steelers are heavily favoured to beat Houston in the AFC Championship game at Three Rivers Stadium, then destroy their NFC opponents in Pasadena to capture their fourth Super Bowl in six years and get a leg up toward becoming the team of the ‘80s.

Ten Steelers were selected to the Pro Bowl, but perhaps even more impressive is the depth of the team’s talent. It was suggested to veteran defensive end L.C. Greenwood that the best Super Bowl matchup would be Pittsburgh’s first team against its second. Greenwood smiled at the thought and replied, “You might be right.”

Consider the Steelers’ rout of the Dolphins. Two young offensive linemen, Ted Petersen and Steve Courson, played in place of the injured Jon Kolb and Gerry Mullins, yet the Pittsburgh line continued to rip open big holes and protect Terry Bradshaw like the treasure he is.

Lynn Swan pulled a hamstring, so young Jim Smith – Jim who? – came into catch four passes for 41 yards in the second half. Rocky Bleier is starting to look long in the tooth, so young Sidney Thornton and his five-yard-a-game regular-season average started in Bleier’s place and ran over and through a Dolphins’ defense that statistically had been the stingiest in the AFC.

On defense, Pro Bowl safety Mike Wagner and All-Universe linebacker Jack Ham were out with injuries, yet there was no noticeable loss when J.T. Thomas and Dennis Winston stepped in. Winston is called “dirt,” short for “dirty,” which is how he played the game as an undergraduate at Arkansas. The Dolphins were not stronger than Dirt.

First or second string, special-team members and kickers, all 44 Steelers have one thing in common: all are home grown, original draft choices of the Steelers.

“None of our players have ever worn another NFL uniform. This is the first marriage for all of them, and I believe we’re the first team in the NFL to make the playoffs with only home growns,” said Art Rooney Jr., son of the club’s founder and owner and, as the man behind one of the greatest drafting records in NFL history.

The Steelers were the team of the seventies because they were the talent scouts of the seventies. Gil Brandt and his computers in Dallas get more publicity, but he and they have not outdrafted Pittsburgh. Starting in 1967, the year the Steelers made the basic decision that the way to build a winner was through the draft, Rooney has had an incredible record of success.

Here’s a rundown of the year and round each current Steeler starter – or replacement for an injured starter – was drafted (three were signed as free agents):

1967 guard Sam Davis (free agent)
1968 Rocky Bleier (16th round)
1969 Joe Greene (first), Jon Kolb (third), L.C. Greenwood (tenth)
1970 Terry Bradshaw (first) Mel Blount (third)
1971 Jack Ham (second), Gerry Mullins (fourth), Dwight White (fourth), Larry Brown (fifth), Mike Wagner (eleventh)
1972 Franco Harris (first), Steve Furness (fifth)
1973 J.T. Thomas (first) Loren Toews (eighth)
1974 Lynn Swann (first), Jack Lambert (second), John Stallworth (fourth) Mike Webster (fifth), Donnie Shell (free agent)
1975 John Banaszak (free agent)
1976 Bennie Cunningham (first), Ray Pinney (second)
1977 Robin Cole (first), Sidney Thornton (second), Ted Petersen (fourth) Steve Courson (fifth), Dennis Winston (fifth)
1978 Ron Johnson (first), Craig Colquitt (third)
1979 Matt Bahr (sixth)

The worst drafting year the Steelers had was 1975, though four of their selections wound up playing for other teams.

Rooney thought he was losing his touch. “We thought the bubble might have burst,” he said. “We had a number of good years in a row, and when you do, you always start wondering if you are doing it with mirrors or if it’s because you have a good system and good people operating it.

In ’75, we had some second thoughts, but we decided to stick with our system.”

Rooney says the Steelers system is to look for “good, tough, smart, aware athletes who like the game.” Those criteria evolved, and are still evolving, over the years, ever since 1967. That year, Art Rooney Jr. and his brother Dan, the club president, sat down for a heart-to-heart over the direction the Steelers were headed and the direction they ought to go.

At that point, the Steelers had been in the NFL 34 years without so much as a division or conference championship to show for it.

“Our coach was Buddy Parker and he was the George Allen of his day,” Rooney said. “He believed in bringing in veteran players and trading off draft choices. He brought in Big Daddy Lipscomb, Bobby Layne, Tom Tracy, Ed Brown and others. They had been fine players but were about over the hill when we got them.”

The Rooney brothers studied how the Los Angeles Rams had succeeded in building a team through the draft, and how the Dallas Cowboys were in the process of doing the same. They said count us in too, but it took three coaching changes to get the coach who agreed with them and had the talent to make it work.

When Chuck Noll was hired in 1969, the Steelers had suffered five consecutive losing seasons with a combined record of 18-49-3. They promptly finished 1-13 in Coach Noll’s first season, but there was fire in the ashes and plans being laid.

“We all agreed on using the draft to build a team, and we agreed that we should draft the best available athletes because they had to help,” Rooney Jr. said. “We didn’t have many quality players so any superior athlete would help.

Two years later, Noll suggested adding intelligence as a standard for talent selection, “to get away from the great athletes who keeps jumping offside on crucial third-and-one- calls,” Rooney said. So Rooney and his scouts began to sift through transcripts as well a clock seniors in the 40.

“But that’s the computer approach,” he said. “The guy’s grades might be great, but was he football smart? Is he tough? Does he really enjoy football? Is he highly motivated?

As predicted, this game was a hard-hitting clash between two teams fighting to prise an opening between in mortal combat.

The Oilers struck first after the game’s opening possession saw Terry Bradshaw’s intended pass to Bennie Cunningham picked off by Vernon Perry and returned for a 75-yard touchdown.

Bradshaw made amends on the Steelers third drive of the game when on a third-and-fourteen, finding no one open, he took off down the right sideline for a 25-yard gain that produced a first and goal on the Oilers four. Houston’s defense held Pittsburgh to a 21-yard field goal.

The Oilers replied with a 21-yard field goal in the second quarter before the Steelers began take control. Bradshaw’s passes of 17 yards to Lynn Swann, 8 to Rocky Bleier and 11 to Swann for first downs moved the chains to enable Bradshaw to air a pass into the end zone for Bennie Cunningham to pull in for a 16-yard touchdown and with Bahr’s successful extra point tied the game at 10-10.

Houston turned the ball over when Mike Renfro fumbled a catch which Mel Blount recovered at the Houston 49. Bradshaw hit Franco Harris for 15 yards on a swing pass, Harris ran left guard for 12 and a first down on the Houston 20. Bradshaw finished the short drive finding John Stallworth crossing through the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown giving the Steelers a seven-point lead at halftime.

Craig Colquitt contributed punts of 47 and 66 yards to keep Houston at bay in the third quarter, but as it came to a close, Pastorini lofted a high lob deep into the corner of the end zone. Mike Renfro outjumped Ron Johnson to haul in the ball which if ruled complete, would have tied the score with the point after. The side judge waved the touchdown off, but the reaction of the players encouraged the officials to discuss the call, but it stood as called, incomplete and the Oilers had to settle for a 23-yard field goal.

The Steelers continued to control the game adding a field goal from 39 yards. As the Oilers were desperately playing catchup, Guido Merkins fumbled after being hit by Blount and Johnson. Donnie Shell recovered to give the Steelers a short field of 45 yards. Bleier contributed a spectacular 20-yard catch as the Steelers moved the ball to give themselves a first down on the five. Harris twice attempted to get the ball into the end zone but met stiff resistance before Bleier succeeded from the four behind Steve Courson and Thorn Dornbrook paving the way.

The Pittsburgh Steelers 27 vs the Houston Oilers 13
Three Rivers Stadium January 6 1980; 50,475

Passing: Bradshaw 18-30-2TD-1INT-219
Pastorini 19-28-0TD-1INT-203, Nielsen1-1-9

Receiving: Swann 4-64, Stallworth 3-52-1TD, Bleier 3-39, Harris 6-50, Cunningham 2-14-1TD, Thornton 1-(-1)

“In the beginning, and in the middle, and in the end, I thought they showed they wanted it badly,” acknowledged Coach Noll. “We had respect for the Oilers going into the game and it’s no less now.

We’ve accomplished our first two goals; first to win the division title and second the conference title,” said Coach Noll. “We have only one more to go. Hopefully, we can make it three for three.”

“We failed to do the things we could do,” admitted Houston’s coach Phillips, “and that’s not taking anything away from the Steelers. We’re proud of ourselves, but we are also proud of the Steelers.”

“We want to become the first team to win back to back Super Bowls twice,” said Lynn Swann. “We truly want to make Pittsburgh the City of Champions.”

“They had all the gaps covered,” Dan Pastorini said. “I should have started passing sooner. This WAS the Super Bowl as far as I’m concerned. Pittsburgh is going and they’re going to win.”