American Football Wiki
1979 Pittsburgh Steelers season
Head Coach Chuck Noll
Home Field Three Rivers Stadium
Results
Record 12–4
Place 1st AFC Central
Playoff Finish Won Divisional Playoffs (vs. Dolphins) 34–14
Won AFC Championship (vs. Oilers) 27–13
Won Super Bowl XIV (vs. Rams) 31–19
Pro Bowlers
Team MVP John Stallworth
Timeline
Previous Season Next Season
1978 1980

The 1979 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the franchise's 47th season in the National Football League (NFL).

The Steelers successfully defended their Super Bowl Championship from the previous year, despite not improving on their 14–2 record from last year with a 12–4 record. They went on to defeat the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl XIV to win their 4th Super Bowl championship. The Steelers started out to a 4–0 record. Adding to the previous season, the Steelers had won 12 in a row. They finished the regular season at 12–4. In six of those games the opponents were held to a touchdown or less. In the playoffs Pittsburgh defeated the Miami Dolphins 34–14 and then for the second consecutive season beat the Houston Oilers 27–13, in the AFC championship game. The Steelers ended the decade by defeating the Los Angeles Rams 31–19 in Super Bowl XIV. Despite them and the San Diego Chargers having 12–4 records, the Chargers were awarded the top seed in the AFC because of their victory over the Steelers.

With the win, and the Pittsburgh Pirates win in the 1979 World Series, Pittsburgh would be the last city to claim Super Bowl and World Series wins in the same year until New York in 1986 when the New York Mets won the World Series in 7 games over the Boston Red Sox, and the New York Giants won Super Bowl XXI 39–20 over the Denver Broncos.

On February 23, 2007, NFL Network aired America's Game: The Super Bowl Champions, the 1979 Pittsburgh Steelers, with team commentary from John Banaszak, L. C. Greenwood and John Stallworth, and narrated by Ed Harris. They are the last team to win a Super Bowl featuring players that had never played for another team; 40 original draft picks and six free agents out of college. The records for most points scored per game as well as in the regular season overall for the Steelers belonged to the 1979 squad, until they scored 436, amounting to 27.3 per game in 2014, the all-time franchise record in both categories.

Roster[]

1979 Pittsburgh Steelers football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name
RB 33 Anderson, AnthonyAnthony Anderson
WR 83 Bell, TheoTheo Bell
RB 20 Bleier, RockyRocky Bleier
QB 12 Bradshaw, TerryTerry Bradshaw
OT 79 Brown, LarryLarry Brown
G 77 Courson, SteveSteve Courson
TE 89 Cunningham, BennieBennie Cunningham
G 57 Davis, SamSam Davis
RB 35 Deloplaine, JackJack Deloplaine
G 63 Dornbrook, ThomThom Dornbrook
TE 84 Grossman, RandyRandy Grossman
RB 32 Harris, FrancoFranco Harris
RB 27 Hawthorne, GregGreg Hawthorne
OT 55 Kolb, JonJon Kolb
QB 15 Kruczek, MikeMike Kruczek
RB 39 Moser, RickRick Moser
G 72 Mullins, GerryGerry Mullins
OT 66 Petersen, TedTed Petersen
WR 86 Smith, JimJim Smith
WR 82 Stallworth, JohnJohn Stallworth
WR 88 Swann, LynnLynn Swann
RB 38 Thornton, SidneySidney Thornton
C 52 Webster, MikeMike Webster
Defense
Pos. # Name
DB 30 Anderson, LarryLarry Anderson
DE 76 Banaszak, JohnJohn Banaszak
DE 65 Beasley, TomTom Beasley
CB 47 Blount, MelMel Blount
LB 56 Cole, RobinRobin Cole
DT 67 Dunn, GaryGary Dunn
DT 64 Furness, SteveSteve Furness
LB 56 Graves, TomTom Graves
DT 75 Greene, JoeJoe Greene
DE 68 Greenwood, L.C.L.C. Greenwood
LB 59 Ham, JackJack Ham
CB 29 Johnson, RonRon Johnson
LB 58 Lambert, JackJack Lambert
SS 31 Shell, DonnieDonnie Shell
FS 24 Thomas, J.T.J.T. Thomas
LB 51 Toews, LorenLoren Toews
DB 23 Wagner, MikeMike Wagner
DE 78 White, DwightDwight White
LB 53 Winston, DirtDirt Winston
DB 49 Woodruff, DwayneDwayne Woodruff
LB 54 Valentine, ZackZack Valentine
Special teams
Pos. # Name
K 9 Bahr, MattMatt Bahr
P 5 Colquitt, CraigCraig Colquitt
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
  • Woody WidenhoferDefensive Coordinator
  • Dick HoakRunning Backs
  • Tom MooreWide Receivers
  • George PerlesDefensive Line
  • Rollie Dotsch
  • Lou Riecke
  • Paul Uram
  • Dick Walker

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible


Defense
1979 Pittsburgh Steelers roster


FS
J.T. Thomas


WLB MLB SLB
Jack Lambert
Robin Cole
SS
Donnie Shell
CB
Ron Johnson


DE DT DT DE
John Banaszak Gary Dunn Joe Greene L.C. Greenwood
Tom Beasley
CB
Mel Blount
Offense
1979 Pittsburgh Steelers roster
WR
John Stallworth
LT LG C RG RT
Jon Kolb Sam Davis Mike Webster Steve Courson Larry Brown
Ted Petersen Gerry Mullins
TE
Bennie Cunningham
Randy Grossman
WR
Lynn Swann
QB
Terry Bradshaw
RB
Sidney Thornton
Rocky Bleier
FB
Franco Harris
Special Teams
PK Matt Bahr
P Craig Colquitt
KR Larry Anderson
PR Theo Bell


Regular season[]

Schedule[]

Week Date Opponent Result Record Game Site
1 Monday September 3 at New England W 16–13 (OT) 1–0 Schaefer Stadium
2 Sunday September 9 Houston W 38–7 2–0 Three Rivers Stadium
3 Sunday September 16 at St. Louis W 24–21 3–0 Busch Memorial Stadium
4 Sunday September 23 Baltimore W 17–13 4–0 Three Rivers Stadium
5 Sunday September 30 at Philadelphia L 17–14 4–1 Veterans Stadium
6 Sunday October 7 at Cleveland W 51–35 5–1 Cleveland Municipal Stadium
7 Sunday October 14 at Cincinnati L 34–10 5–2 Riverfront Stadium
8 Monday October 22 Denver W 42–7 6–2 Three Rivers Stadium
9 Sunday October 28 Dallas W 14–3 7–2 Three Rivers Stadium
10 Sunday November 4 Washington W 38–7 8–2 Three Rivers Stadium
11 Sunday November 11 at Kansas City W 30–3 9–2 Arrowhead Stadium
12 Sunday November 18 at San Diego L 35–7 9–3 San Diego Stadium
13 Sunday November 25 Cleveland W 33–30 (OT) 10–3 Three Rivers Stadium
14 Sunday December 2 Cincinnati W 37–17 11–3 Three Rivers Stadium
15 Monday December 10 at Houston L 20–17 11–4 Astrodome
16 Sunday December 16 Buffalo W 28–0 12–4 Three Rivers Stadium

Game summaries[]

see: 1979 Pittsburgh Steelers Season game summaries

Standings[]

AFC Central
Team W L T PCT PF PA
Pittsburgh Steelers 12 4 0 .750 416 262
Houston Oilers 11 5 0 .688 362 331
Cleveland Browns 9 7 0 .563 359 352
Cincinnati Bengals 4 12 0 .250 337 421

Postseason[]

Schedule[]

Week Date Opponent Result Game Site
Divisional Sunday December 30 Miami W 34–14 Three Rivers Stadium
Conference Sunday January 6 Houston W 27–13 Three Rivers Stadium
Super Bowl XIV Sunday January 20 Los Angeles W 31–19 Rose Bowl

Game summaries[]

AFC Divisional Playoff (Sunday December 30, 1979): vs. Miami Dolphins[]

1 2 3 4 Total
Dolphins 0 0 7 7 14
Steelers 20 0 7 7 34




Game Information[]

Stadium: Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Time: 12:30 pm EST
Weather:
Attendance: 50,214
Referee: Cal Lepore
TV: NBC-TV
In-game TV-Announcers: Don Criqui (play by play), John Brodie (color commentator)
Scoring Summary:
PIT – Thornton 1 run (Bahr kick PIT:–Stallworth 17 pass from Bradshaw (kick blocked)
PIT – Swann 20 pass from Bradshaw
(Bahr kick)
MIA – Harris 7 pass from Griese (von Schamann kick)
PIT – Bleier 1 run (Bahr kick)
PIT – Harris 5 run (Bahr kick)
MIA – Csonka 1 run (von Schamann kick)

AFC Championship (Sunday January 6, 1980): vs. Houston Oilers[]

1 2 3 4 Total
Oilers 7 3 0 3 13
Steelers 3 14 0 10 27



Game Information[]

*Stadium: Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
*Time: 1:00 pm EST
*Weather:
*Attendance: 50,475
*Referee: [[Jim Tunney (American football official)|Jim Tunney]
'* Television: NBC-TV
*TV Game Announcers: Dick Enberg (play by play), Merlin Olsen (color commentators)
*Scoring Summary:
HOU – Perry 75 interception return (Fritsch kick)
PIT – FG Bahr 21
HOU – FG Fritsch 21
PIT – Cunningham 16 pass from Bradshaw (Bahr kick)
PIT – Stallworth 20 pass from Bradshaw (Bhar kick)
HOU – FG Fritsch 23
PIT – FG Bahr 39
PIT – Bleier 4 run (Bahr kick)

Super Bowl XIV (Sunday January 20, 1980): vs. Los Angeles Rams[]

1 2 3 4 Total
Rams 7 6 6 0 19
Steelers 3 7 7 14 31




Game Information[]

Stadium: Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California
Time: 6:15 pm EST
Weather: 67 °F (Sunny)
Attendance: 103,985
Referee: Fred Silva
Television: CBS-TV
TV Game Announcers: Pat Summerall (play by play), Tom Brookshier(color commentator)
Scoring Summary:

  • PIT – FG Bahr 41
  • LA – Bryant 1 run (Corral kick)
  • PIT – Harris 1 run (Bahr kick)
  • LA – FG Corral 31
  • LA – FG Corral 45
  • PIT – Swann 47 pass from Bradshaw (Bahr kick)
  • Los Angeles – Smith 24 pass from McCutcheon (kick failed)
  • PIT – Stallworth 73 pass from Bradshaw (Bahr kick)
  • PIT – Harris 1 run (Bahr kick)

Statistics[]

Passing[]

Player Comp Att Yards TD INT
Terry Bradshaw 259 472 3,724 26 25

Rushing[]

Player Att Yards TD
Franco Harris 267 1,186 11
Sidney Thornton 118 585 6
Rocky Bleier 92 434 4
Terry Bradshaw 21 83
Lynn Swann 1 9

Receiving[]

Player Rec Yards TD
John Stallworth 70 1,183 8
Lynn Swann 41 808 5
Bennie Cunningham 36 512 4
Franco Harris 36 291 1
Rocky Bleier 31 277
Sidney Thornton 16 231 4

[1]

Honors and awards[]

References[]

  1. Pro-Football-Reference.com