| First game in the books, and an upset. The 1978 Steel Curtain falls to the 1957 Lions. The Steelers had a catastrophic start, as the ballhawking Lions picked off Terry Bradshaw 3 times in the first half en route to 24 unanswered points and a 24-3 halftime margin. Pittsburgh launched a furious comeback, finally scoring a TD with 5 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, and racked up 3 more TD's in the 4th - but too little, too late. Detroit ran 50 times for 254 yards, led by sledge hammer FB John Henry Johnson with 71 yards. Even an injury to Lions QB Bobby Layne (allegedly - I suspect he was hung over) was not enough to stop the Lions This one was far higher scoring than I anticipated, as both teams are defensive powerhouses. Lions 45 - Steelers 30 |
1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | OT | Total | |
| 1957 Detroit | 10 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 45 |
| 1978 Pittsburgh | 0 | 3 | 13 | 14 | 0 | 30 |
| Scoring Plays | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qtr | Clock | Poss | Scoring Description(Extra Point) | Score | ||
| 1 | 6:33 | 1957 Detroit | B.Layne 29 yd. field goal | 3-0 DEN | ||
| 1 | 4:09 | 1957 Detroit | H.Cassady 10 yd. pass from B.Layne (B.Layne kick) | 10-0 DEN | ||
| 2 | 14:43 | 1957 Detroit | H.Cassady 10 yd. pass from B.Layne (B.Layne kick) | 17-0 DEN | ||
| 2 | 10:15 | 1957 Detroit | J.Johnson 2 yd. run (B.Layne kick) | 24-0 DEN | ||
| 2 | 0:00 | 1978 Pittsburgh | R.Gerela 42 yd. field goal | 24-3 DEN | ||
| 3 | 8:53 | 1957 Detroit | G.Gedman 46 yd. run (B.Layne kick) | 31-3 DEN | ||
| 3 | 5:40 | 1978 Pittsburgh | B.Cunningham 21 yd. pass from T.Bradshaw (kick failed) | 31-9 DEN | ||
| 3 | 0:42 | 1957 Detroit | J.Reichow 59 yd. pass from B.Layne (B.Layne kick) | 38-9 DEN | ||
| 3 | 0:00 | 1978 Pittsburgh | J.Stallworth 51 yd. pass from T.Bradshaw (R.Gerela kick) | 38-16 DEN | ||
| 4 | 8:03 | 1957 Detroit | D.Dibble 10 yd. pass from T.Rote (B.Layne kick) | 45-16 DEN | ||
| 4 | 5:01 | 1978 Pittsburgh | R.Moser 13 yd. run (R.Gerela kick) | 45-23 DEN | ||
| 4 | 4:26 | 1978 Pittsburgh | L.Toews 25 yd. fumble recovery (R.Gerela kick) | 45-30 DEN | ||
Team Statistics | ||
| 1957 Detroit | 1978 Pittsburgh | |
| First Downs by Rush-Pass-Pen-Total | 12-12-1-25 | 7-4-3-14 |
| Third Down Efficiency | 9-15-60% | 1-6-17% |
| Fourth Down Efficiency | 0-0-0% | 0-1-0% |
| Red Zone Efficiency (pts-poss-pct) | 31-35-89% | 7-7-100% |
| Total Offense-Plays-Avg Yards Per Play | 438-73-6.0 | 290-45-6.4 |
| Total Net Yards Rushing | 254 | 149 |
| Total Rushes | 50 | 25 |
| Average Per Rush | 5.1 | 6.0 |
| Passes Completed/Attempted | 14/21 (66.7%) | 9/18 (50.0%) |
| Net Yards Passing | 184 | 141 |
| Avg Yards Per Pass | 9.4 | 8.2 |
| Sacked/Yards Lost | 2/13 | 2/7 |
| Punts/Average | 3/32.0 | 3/39.0 |
| Punts Received/Return Yardage | 3/8 | 2/22 |
| Kickoffs/Returns | 3/60 | 3/69 |
| Interceptions/Returns | 3/29 | 1/7 |
| Penalties/Yards | 9/90 | 6/44 |
| Total Fumbles/Fumbles Lost | 2/1 | 3/2 |
| Time of Possession | 39 mins 15 secs | 20 mins 45 secs |
| Average Drive Start | DEN 41 | PIA 29 |
Passing Stats | ||||||||||||
| Att | Comp | Yds | Comp % | Yds/Att | TD | TD % | INT | INT % | Long | Sack | Rating | |
| Bobby Layne | 16 | 10 | 151 | 62.5 | 9.4 | 3 | 18.8 | 1 | 6.3 | 59 | 1/8 | 107.0 |
| Tobin Rote | 5 | 4 | 46 | 80.0 | 9.2 | 1 | 20.0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 1/5 | 144.6 |
| Terry Bradshaw | 18 | 9 | 148 | 50.0 | 8.2 | 2 | 11.1 | 3 | 16.7 | 51 | 2/7 | 75.5 |
Rushing Stats | |||||||||||
| No | Yds | Avg | Long | TD | 2 Pt Conv | Fumbles/Lost | |||||
| John Henry Johnson | 15 | 71 | 4.7 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0/0 | ||||
| Hopalong Cassady | 10 | 34 | 3.4 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | ||||
| Gene Gedman | 7 | 74 | 10.6 | 46 | 1 | 0 | 0/0 | ||||
| Leon Hart | 5 | 14 | 2.8 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1/1 | ||||
| Bobby Layne | 4 | 14 | 3.5 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | ||||
| Tobin Rote | 4 | 29 | 7.3 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 1/0 | ||||
| Tom Tracy | 3 | 19 | 6.3 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | ||||
| Marv Brown | 2 | -1 | -0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | ||||
| Franco Harris | 9 | 16 | 1.8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | ||||
| Rocky Bleier | 7 | 50 | 7.1 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 1/1 | ||||
| Rick Moser | 5 | 80 | 16.0 | 52 | 1 | 0 | 0/0 | ||||
| Sidney Thornton | 3 | 3 | 1.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | ||||
| Terry Bradshaw | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1/1 | ||||
Receiving Stats | |||||||||||
| No | Yds | Avg | Long | TD | 2 Pt Conv | ||||||
| Hopalong Cassady | 5 | 56 | 11.2 | 14 | 2 | 0 | |||||
| Jerry Reichow | 3 | 80 | 26.7 | 59 | 1 | 0 | |||||
| John Henry Johnson | 2 | 19 | 9.5 | 13 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Steve Junker | 2 | 24 | 12.0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Dorne Dibble | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 10 | 1 | 0 | |||||
| Tom Tracy | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Franco Harris | 3 | 20 | 6.7 | 9 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| John Stallworth | 3 | 88 | 29.3 | 51 | 1 | 0 | |||||
| Sidney Thornton | 2 | 19 | 9.5 | 13 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Bennie Cunningham | 1 | 21 | 21.0 | 21 | 1 | 0 | |||||
Field Goals | |||||||||||
| 1-19 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50+ | Totals | % Made | |||||
| Bobby Layne | 0/0 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 1/2 | 50.0 | ||||
| Roy Gerela | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 100 | ||||
Punting | |||||||||||
| No | Avg | Net | Tb | Inside 20 | Long | Blocked | |||||
| Yale Lary | 3 | 32.0 | 24.7 | 0 | 2 | 44 | 0 | ||||
| Craig Colquitt | 3 | 39.0 | 36.3 | 0 | 1 | 52 | 0 | ||||
Kickoff Returns | |||||||||||
| No | Yds | Avg | Long | TD | |||||||
| Hopalong Cassady | 2 | 45 | 22.5 | 23 | 0 | ||||||
| Terry Barr | 1 | 15 | 15.0 | 15 | 0 | ||||||
| Larry Anderson | 3 | 69 | 23.0 | 25 | 0 | ||||||
Punt Returns | |||||||||||
| Ret | FC | Yds | Avg | Long | TD | ||||||
| Terry Barr | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | |||||
| Yale Lary | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4.0 | 4 | 0 | |||||
| Randy Reutershan | 2 | 0 | 22 | 11.0 | 24 | 0 | |||||
Individual Defense | |||||||||||
| Tackles | Sacks | Fum Rec | |||||||||
| Joe Schmidt | 9 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
| Jim Martin | 6 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Gil Mains | 4 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||
| Gerry Perry | 3 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||
| Terry Barr | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Jack Christiansen | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Carl Karilivacz | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Gene Cronin | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
| Jim David | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Darris McCord | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Yale Lary | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Jerry Reichow | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
| Jack Lambert | 11 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Mike Wagner | 6 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||
| John Banaszak | 6 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Donnie Shell | 5 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Jack Ham | 5 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Loren Toews | 5 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
| L.C. Greenwood | 5 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||
| "Mean" Joe Greene | 4 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Ron Johnson Sr. | 4 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Steve Furness | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Mel Blount | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Theo Bell | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
Interceptions | |||||||||||
| No | Yds | Avg | Long | TD | |||||||
| Gil Mains | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 10 | 0 | ||||||
| Terry Barr | 1 | 17 | 17.0 | 17 | 0 | ||||||
| Yale Lary | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | ||||||
| Mike Wagner | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 7 | 0 | ||||||
Game Story | |||||
| Bobby Layne enjoyed a big day as the visitors from Detroit beat Pittsburgh by the score of 45 to 30. Layne threw the ball 16 times for 151 yards and 3 touchdowns. Detroit was great on third down, converting on 9 of 15 opportunities. They controlled the ground game, out-rushing Pittsburgh 254 to 149 yards. Detroit controlled the ball for 39:15. The biggest play of the game was a touchdown pass to Jerry Reichow that gained 59 yards with 0:42 left in the 3rd quarter. Detroit had a good start outscoring Pittsburgh 10 to 0 in the first quarter. They took the lead into the locker room at the half 24 to 3. Detroit led after three quarters 38 to 16. | |||||
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