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 Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap Sources 1 September 27 at Detroit Lions L 21–38 0–1 2 October 3 New York Giants W 24–14 1–1 3 October 11 Chicago Cardinals W 31–28 2–1 4 October 17 at Philadelphia Eagles L 7–23 2–2 5 October 24 Green Bay Packers W 31–14 3–2 6 November 1 Philadelphia Eagles L 7–35 3–3 7 November 8 at Cleveland Browns L 16–34 3–4 8 November 15 at New York Giants W 14–10 4–4 9 November 22 Cleveland Browns L 16–20 4–5 10 November 29 Washington Redskins L 9–17 4–6 11 December 6 at Chicago Cardinals W 21–17 5–6 12 December 13 at Washington Redskins W 14–13 6–6
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
Roster
References
External links 1953 Pittsburgh Steelers at jt-sw.com 1953 Pittsburgh Steelers at Pro-Football-Reference.com 1953 Pittsburgh Steelers at ProFootballArchives.com