1953 Pittsburgh Steelers season
American football season
The 1953 Pittsburgh Steelers season marked the franchise's 21st year in the National Football League (NFL). The club finished with a record of 6 wins and 6 losses, 4th place in the league's Eastern Conference.
Regular season
Schedule
Game summaries
Week 1 (Sunday September 27, 1953): Detroit Lions
at Briggs Stadium, Detroit, Michigan
Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 20,675
Referee:
TV announcers:
Scoring drives:
Detroit – Carpenter 73 interception (Walker kick)
Pittsburgh – Nickel 14 pass from Finks (Bolkovac kick)
Detroit – Gedman 1 run (Walker kick)
Detroit – FG Walker 40
Pittsburgh – Mathews 1 fumble run (Bolkovac kick)
Detroit – Hart 49 pass from Layne (Walker kick)
Detroit – Walker 8 pass from Hoernschmeyer (Walker kick)
Detroit – Hoernschemeyer 29 pass from Layne (Walker kick)
Pittsburgh – Nickel 15 pass from Marchibroda (Bolkovac kick)
Week 2 (Saturday October 3, 1953): New York Giants
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 31,500
Referee:
TV announcers:
Scoring drives:
New York Giants – Clay 2 pass from Conerly (Clay kick)
Pittsburgh – Chandnois 93 kick return (Bolkovac kick)
New York Giants – Long 55 pass from Conerly (Clay kick)
Pittsburgh – FG Bolkovac 35
Pittsburgh – Nickel 4 pass from Finks (Bolkovac kick)
Pittsburgh – Bolkovac 14 fumble run (Bolkovac kick)
Week 3 (Sunday October 11, 1953): Chicago Cardinals
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 25,953
Referee:
TV announcers:
Scoring drives:
Chicago Cardinals – Olszewski 1 run (Summerall kick)
Pittsburgh – Rogel 1 run (Bolkovac kick)
Chicago Cardinals – Nagler 34 pass from Root (Summerall kick)
Chicago Cardinals – Nagler 6 pass from Root (Summerall kick)
Chicago Cardinals – Stonesifer 3 pass from Trippi (Summerall kick)
Pittsburgh – Mathews 19 pass from Finks (Bolkovac kick)
Pittsburgh – Rogel 4 run (Bolkovac kick)
Pittsburgh – Barker 4 pass from Finks (Bolkovac kick)
Pittsburgh – FG Bolkovac 28
Week 4 (Saturday October 17, 1953): Philadelphia Eagles
at Connie Mack Stadium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 18,681
Referee:
TV announcers:
Scoring drives:
Philadelphia – Pihos 28 pass from Burk (kick blocked)
Pittsburgh – Mathews 23 pass from Finks (Bolkovac kick)
Philadelphia – FG Walston 11
Philadelphia – Giancanelli 16 pass from Thomason (Walston kick)
Philadelphia – Ziegler 1 run (Walston kick)
Week 5 (Saturday October 24, 1953): Green Bay Packers
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 22,918
Referee:
TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
Pittsburgh – Finks 4 run (Bolkovac kick)
Pittsburgh – FG Bolkovac 40
Pittsburgh – Chandnois 6 run (Bolkovac kick)
Pittsburgh – Brandt 2 run (Bolkovac kick)
PIttsburgh – Brandt 1 run (Bolkovac kick)
Green Bay – Parilli 1 run (Cone kick)
Green Bay – Cone 5 pass from Rote (Cone kick)
Week 6 (Sunday November 1, 1953): Philadelphia Eagles
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 27,547
Referee:
TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
Philadelphia – Gianganelli 7 run (Walston kick)
Philadelphia – Williams 48 run (Walston kick)
Philadelphia – Walston 21 pass from Thomason (Walston kick)
Pittsburgh – Mathews 11 pass from Finks (Bolkovac kick)
Philadelphia – Pihos 26 pass from Thomason (Walston kick)
Philadelphia – Giancanelli 8 pass from Thomason (Walston kick)
Week 7 (Sunday November 8, 1953): Cleveland Browns
at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio
Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 35,592
Referee:
TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
Pittsburgh – FG Bolkovac 27
Pittsburgh – Mathews 2 run (kick failed)
Cleveland – Carpenter 7 run (Groza kick)
Cleveland – FG Groza 20
Cleveland – Renfro 44 run (Groza kick)
Pittsburgh – Mathews 77 pass from Finks (Bolkovac kick)
Cleveland – Renfro 79 blocked field goal return (Groza kick)
Cleveland – Lavelli 17 pass from Graham (Groza kick)
Cleveland – FG Groza 14
Week 8 (Sunday November 15, 1953): New York Giants
at Polo Grounds, New York, New York
Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 20,411
Referee:
TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
Pittsburgh – Dodrill 16 fumble run (Bolkovac kick)
New York Giants – Gifford 6 pass from Conerly (Gifford kick)
New York Giants – FG Clay 20
Pittsburgh – Butler 33 pass from Finks (Bolkovac kick)
Week 9 (Sunday November 22, 1953): Cleveland Browns
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 32,904
Referee:
TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
Cleveland – Renfro 54 pass from Graham (Groza kick)
Pittsburgh – Finks 1 run (Bolkovac kick)
Pittsburgh – Safety, Lahr tackled in end zone by Mathews
Cleveland – FG Groza 50
Cleveland – Brewster 31 pass from Graham (Groza kick)
Cleveland – FG Groza 41
Pittsburgh – Mathews 1 run (Bolkovac kick)
Week 10 (Sunday November 29, 1953): Washington Redskins
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 17,206
Referee:
TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
Pittsburgh – Safety, Heath tackled by Ferry in end zone
Washington – Taylor 5 pass from LeBaron (Dudley kick)
Pittsburgh – Chandnois 5 run (Bolkovac kick)
Washington – FG Dudley 41
Washington – Rykovich 5 pass from LeBaron (Dudley kick)
Week 11 (Sunday December 6, 1953): Chicago Cardinals
at Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois
Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 14,138
Referee:
TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
Chicago Cardinals – Olszewski 1 run (Summerall kick)
Chicago Cardinals – FG Summerall 12
Pittsburgh – Brandt 1 run (Bolkovac kick)
Pittsburgh – Nickel 6 pass from Mackrides (Bolkovac kick)
Pittsburgh – Mackrides 2 run (Bolkovac kick)
Chicago Cardinals – Paul 5 pass from Romanik (Summerall kick)
Week 12 (Sunday December 13, 1953): Washington Redskins
at Griffith Stadium, Washington, DC
Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 22,057
Referee:
TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
Washington – Dekker 34 pass from LeBaron
Washington – FG Dudley 39
Washington – FG Dudley 20
Pittsburgh – Chandnois 23 lateral from Mathews (Bolkovac kick)
Pittsburgh – Butler 5 interception (Bolkovac kick)
Standings
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
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