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1973 Pittsburgh Steelers season

The 1973 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the team's 41st season in the National Football League. The team finished second in the AFC Central division, but qualified for the postseason for the second consecutive season. The Steelers got off to a terrific start winning eight of their first nine games. However, a costly three game losing streak would put their playoff hopes in jeopardy. The Steelers would recover to win their last two games, but had to settle for a Wild Card berth with a 10–4 record. The Steelers would lose in the playoffs to the Oakland Raiders 33–14 in Oakland.

1973 Pittsburgh Steelers season
OwnerArt Rooney
Head coachChuck Noll
Home fieldThree Rivers Stadium
Results
Record10–4
Division place2nd AFC Central
Playoff finishLost Divisional Playoffs
(at Raiders) 14–33
Pro Bowlers
8
AP All-Pros
3
  • Joe Greene (1st team)
  • Roy Gerela (2nd team)
  • Jack Ham (2nd team)
Team MVPRon Shanklin

The 1973 Steelers' pass defense is arguably the greatest in the history of the NFL. Their defensive passer rating—the quarterback passer rating of all opposing quarterbacks throughout the season—was 33.1, an NFL record for the Super Bowl era.

According to Cold Hard Football Facts:[1]

Pittsburgh's pass-defense numbers that year were stunning. Opposing passers compiled the following stat-line:

  • 164 of 359 (45.7%) for 1,923 yards, 5.36 [yards-per-attempt], 11 [touchdowns] and 37 [interceptions]

The figure that leaps screaming off the sheet is the amazing 37 picks in 14 games. The 2009 Jets, by comparison, allowed a puny 8 TDs in 16 games, but hauled in just 17 picks.

Pittsburgh's all-time best pass defense was an equal-opportunity unit: Mike Wagner led the team with 8 INT, but 10 other guys recorded at least one pick. Amazing. Eleven defenders boasted at least one INT for Pittsburgh that season. The entire starting secondary recorded 24 picks alone, and Hall of Fame cornerback Mel Blount was last on the list: Wagner (8), safety Glen Edwards (6), cornerback John Rowser (6) and Blount (4).

The campaign was chronicled in Roy Blount Jr.'s 1974 book About Three Bricks Shy of a Load. The source of its title was Craig Hanneman whose endearing description of himself and his teammates after the regular season away victory over the Oakland Raiders was "We’re all about three bricks shy of a load."[2]

Offseason

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NFL Draft

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Team Rd Pick Name Pos College
PIT 1 24 J.T. Thomas DB Florida St.
PIT 2 50 Ken Phares DB Mississippi St.
PIT 3 76 Roger Bernhardt G Kansas
PIT 4 102 Gail Clark LB Michigan St.
PIT 5 106 Dave Reavis T Arkansas
PIT 5 128 Larry Clark LB Northern Illinois
PIT 6 140 Ron Bell RB Illinois St.
PIT 6 154 Glenn Scolnik WR Indiana
PIT 7 180 Nate Dorsey WR Miss Valley St.
PIT 8 192 Loren Toews LB California
PIT 8 206 Bill Janssen T Nebraska
PIT 9 232 Bracey Bonham G North Carolina Central
PIT 10 258 Don Wunderly DT Arkansas
PIT 11 284 Bob White DB Arizona
PIT 12 310 Willie Lee RB Indiana St.
PIT 13 336 Rick Fergerson WR Kansas St.
PIT 14 362 Roger Cowan DE Stanford
PIT 15 388 Charles Cross DB Iowa
PIT 16 414 Glen Nardi DT Navy
PIT 17 440 Mike Shannon DT Oregon St.

Personnel

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Staff

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1973 Pittsburgh Steelers staff

Front office

  • President – Arthur J. Rooney
  • Vice president – John R. McGinley
  • Vice president – Daniel M. Rooney
  • Vice president – Arthur J. Rooney, Jr.
  • Public relations director – Ed Kiely
  • Traveling secretary – James A. Boston
  • Controller – Robert P. Quinn
  • Publicity director – Joe Gordon
  • Ticket manager – Joseph H. Carr
  • Director of player personnel – Dick Haley
  • Assistant director of player personnel – Bill Nunn
  • Director of professional scouting – V. Timothy Rooney

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches


Strength and conditioning

  • Strength – Louis Riecke
  • Flexibility – Paul Uram
  • Team physician, orthopedic – Dr. John Best
  • Team Physician, M.D. – Dr. David S. Huber
  • Team dentist – Dr. Robert Gray
  • Trainer – Ralph Berlin
  • Assistant trainer – Robert Milie
  • Equipment manager – Anthony Parisi
  • Field manager – Jack Hart

[3]


Roster

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1973 Pittsburgh Steelers roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Practice squad


[3] [4] [5] [6] Reserve

Rookies in italics
46 active, 1 reserve, 1 practice squad

Regular season

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Game summaries

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Week 1

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See also: 1973 Detroit Lions season
Detroit Lions (0–0) at Pittsburgh Steelers (0–0)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Lions 0 0 10010
Steelers 0 3 71424

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, PA

Game information

Week 2

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See also: 1973 Cleveland Browns season and Browns–Steelers rivalry
Cleveland Browns (1–0) at Pittsburgh Steelers (1–0)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Browns 3 0 036
Steelers 10 6 10733

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game information

Week 3

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See also: 1973 Houston Oilers season
Pittsburgh Steelers (2–0) at Houston Oilers (0–2)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Steelers 3 3 131736
Oilers 0 7 007

at Astrodome, Houston, Texas

Game information

Week 4

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See also: 1973 San Diego Chargers season
San Diego Chargers (1–2) at Pittsburgh Steelers (3–0)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Chargers 0 0 02121
Steelers 17 21 0038

at Three Rivers Stadium • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game information

Johnny Unitas playing for San Diego is knocked out of the game after completing only 3 of 15 passes for 24 yards and three interceptions.

Week 5

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See also: 1973 Cincinnati Bengals season and Bengals–Steelers rivalry
Pittsburgh Steelers (4–0) at Cincinnati Bengals (2–2)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Steelers 0 0 077
Bengals 6 3 7319

at Riverfront Stadium • Cincinnati, Ohio

Game information

Week 6

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See also: 1973 New York Jets season
New York Jets (2–3) at Pittsburgh Steelers (4–1)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Jets 7 7 0014
Steelers 0 9 31426

at Three Rivers Stadium • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Date: October 21
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
  • Game weather: 50 °F (10 °C) • Wind 9 mph (14 km/h)
  • Game attendance: 48,682
  • Referee: John McDonough
  • Pro-Football-Reference.com
Game information

Week 7 vs Bengals

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Cincinnati Bengals (4–2) at Pittsburgh Steelers (5–1)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Bengals 0 6 0713
Steelers 3 7 10020

at Three Rivers Stadium • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game information

Week 8 vs Washington Redskins

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See also: 1973 Washington Redskins season
Washington Redskins (5–2) at Pittsburgh Steelers (6–1)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Redskins 3 3 3716
Steelers 7 7 0721

at Three Rivers Stadium • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Date: Monday, November 5
  • Game time: 9:00 p.m. EDT
  • Game weather: 40 °F (4 °C) • Wind 13 miles per hour (21 km/h; 11 kn)
  • Game attendance: 49,220
  • Referee: Tommy Bell
  • TV announcers (ABC): Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, and Don Meredith
  • Pro-Football-Reference.com
Game information

Joe Gilliam makes Monday Night Football debut

Week 9 at Raiders

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See also: 1973 Oakland Raiders season and Raiders–Steelers rivalry
Pittsburgh Steelers (7–1) at Oakland Raiders (5–2–1)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Steelers 0 7 7317
Raiders 0 3 069

at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum • Oakland, California

Game information

Week 10 vs Broncos

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Week Ten: Denver Broncos (4–3–2) at Pittsburgh Steelers (8–1)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Broncos 3 3 71023
Steelers 3 3 0713

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Date: November 18, 1973
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: 35 °F (2 °C)
  • Game attendance: 48,580
  • Referee: Fred Silva
  • Box Score
Team Category Player Statistics
Broncos Passing Charley Johnson 13/20, 86 Yds, TD
Rushing Floyd Little 27 Rush, 88 Yds, TD
Receiving Riley Odoms 6 Rec, 47 Yds, TD
Steelers Passing Terry Hanratty 10/19, 217 Yds, TD
Rushing Franco Harris 11 Rush, 53 Yds
Receiving John McMakin 3 Rec, 64 Yds

Week 11

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1 234Total
Steelers 7 333 16
• Browns 7 707 21
Game summary
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Scoring drives:

  • Pittsburgh – Shanklin 9 pass from Gilliam (Gerela kick) – Steelers 7–0
  • Cleveland – Phipps 1 run (Cockroft kick) – Tie 7–7
  • Cleveland – Pruitt 15 pass from Phipps (Cockroft kick) – Browns 14-7
  • Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 24 – Browns 14-10
  • Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 14 – Browns 14-13
  • Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 20 – Steelers 16–14
  • Cleveland – Pruitt 19 run (Cockroft kick) – Browns 21–16

Week 12 (Monday December 3, 1973): at Miami Dolphins

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1 234Total
Steelers 0 3716 26
• Dolphins 20 1000 30
  • Date: Monday, December 3
  • Location: Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida
  • Game start: 9:00 p.m.
  • Game attendance: 68,901
  • Game weather: 75 F, wind 14 mph (23 km/h)
  • Referee: Ben Dreith
  • TV announcers (ABC): Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, and Don Meredith
Game summary
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Scoring drives:

Week 13

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1 234Total
Oilers 7 000 7
• Steelers 3 14106 33
Game summary
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Scoring drives:

Week 14

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1 234Total
• Steelers 7 71310 37
49ers 0 707 14
Game summary
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John Brodie's number 12 was retired prior to game.

Scoring drives:

  • Pittsburgh – Rowser 71 interception return (Gerela kick) – Steelers 7–0
  • San Francisco – Hall recovered blocked punt in end zone (Gossett kick) – Tie 7–7
  • Pittsburgh – P. Pearson 1 run (Gerela kick) – Steelers 14–7
  • Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 27 – Steelers 17–7
  • Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 27 – Steelers 20–7
  • Pittsburgh – Lewis 50 pass from Bradshaw (Gerela kick) – Steelers 27–7
  • Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 35 – Steelers 30–7
  • Pittsburgh – Steve Davis 1 run (Gerela kick) – Steelers 37–7
  • San Francisco – Atkins 3 run (Gossett kick) – Steelers 37–14

Standings

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AFC Central
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Cincinnati Bengals 10 4 0 .714 4–2 8–3 286 231 W6
Pittsburgh Steelers 10 4 0 .714 4–2 7–4 347 210 W2
Cleveland Browns 7 5 2 .571 4–2 6–3–2 234 255 L2
Houston Oilers 1 13 0 .071 0–6 1–10 199 447 L6

Postseason

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AFC Divisional: @ Oakland Raiders

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1 234Total
Steelers 0 707 14
• Raiders 7 31310 33
  • Date: Saturday, December 22
  • Location: Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California
  • Game start: 4 p.m. EST
  • Game attendance: 52,646
  • Game weather: 50 F, wind 11 mph (18 km/h)
  • Referee: Pat Haggerty
  • TV announcers (NBC): Jim Simpson and Kyle Rote
  • References: [1]

Scoring Drives

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  • Oakland – Hubbard 1 run (Blanda kick) – Raiders 7–0
  • Oakland – FG Blanda 25 – Raiders 10–0
  • Pittsburgh – B. Pearson 4 pass from Bradshaw (Gerela kick) – Raiders 10–7
  • Oakland – FG Blanda 31 – Raiders 13–7
  • Oakland – FG Blanda 22 – Raiders 16–7
  • Oakland – Brown 54 interception return (Blanda kick) – Raiders 23–7
  • Oakland – FG Blanda 10 – Raiders 26–7
  • Pittsburgh – Lewis 26 pass from Bradshaw (Gerela kick) – Raiders 26–14
  • Oakland – Hubbard 1 run (Blanda kick) – Raiders 33–14

References

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  1. ^ Cold Hard Football Facts: Shutdown! The greatest pass defenses in history
  2. ^ Starkey, Joe. "The wildest Steelers season there ever was," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Saturday, December 30, 2017. Retrieved December 8, 2020
  3. ^ a b 1973 Pittsburgh Steelers Media Guide.
  4. ^ 1974 Pittsburgh Steelers Media Guide.
  5. ^ About Three Bricks Shy... and the Load Filled Up.
  6. ^ "1973 Pittsburgh Steelers". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
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