1977 Broncos 18 - 1979 Steelers 13

A magnificent day for the Broncos receiver corps. Haven Moses, Rick Upchurch, Jack Dolbin, and Riley Odoms each contributed a key big yardage reception at a key point in the game, helping Craig Morton to some sterling numbers in limited attempts. I limited Mortons attempts to avoid the Steelers interception rate and especially their pass rush - because the 77 Bronc's pass blocking is rated as low as is possible in this game system. Under the circumstances - a 9 point lead most of the game - I was willing to concede 3rd and long situations and play field position, depending on the Orange Crush defense to maintain the lead. Terry Bradshaw played well for his part, but the Orange Crush stifled the Steelers running attack all game long, including a great goal line stand where Franco Harris was stuffed by Randy Gradishar on a 4th and goal at the one.

1979 Pittsburgh 13, 1977 Denver 18
	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	OT	Total
1979 Pittsburgh	3	3	0	7	0	13
1977 Denver	9	6	0	3	0	18

Scoring Plays
Qtr	Clock	Poss	Scoring Description(Extra Point)	Score
1	12:58	1977 Denver	H.Moses 7 yd. pass from C.Morton (kick blocked)	6-0 DEA
1	9:10	1977 Denver	J.Turner 46 yd. field goal	9-0 DEA
1	6:40	1979 Pittsburgh	M.Bahr 43 yd. field goal	9-3 DEA
2	11:58	1977 Denver	J.Turner 23 yd. field goal	12-3 DEA
2	4:19	1979 Pittsburgh	M.Bahr 34 yd. field goal	12-6 DEA
2	0:00	1977 Denver	J.Turner 23 yd. field goal	15-6 DEA
4	6:29	1977 Denver	J.Turner 22 yd. field goal	18-6 DEA
4	2:56	1979 Pittsburgh	B.Cunningham 12 yd. pass from T.Bradshaw (M.Bahr kick)	18-13 DEA

Team Statistics
	1979 Pittsburgh	1977 Denver
First Downs by Rush-Pass-Pen-Total	1-15-0-16	4-13-1-18
Third Down Efficiency	4-12-33%	9-18-50%
Fourth Down Efficiency	1-2-50%	1-2-50%
Red Zone Efficiency (pts-poss-pct)	10-21-48%	16-42-38%
Total Offense-Plays-Avg Yards Per Play	333-56-5.9	401-69-5.8
Total Net Yards Rushing	49	93
Total Rushes	21	47
Average Per Rush	2.3	2.0
Passes Completed/Attempted	20/35 (57.1%)	16/22 (72.7%)
Net Yards Passing	284	308
Avg Yards Per Pass	8.1	14.0
Sacked/Yards Lost	0/0	0/0
Punts/Average	4/35.0	1/28.0
Punts Received/Return Yardage	0/0	2/21
Kickoffs/Returns	3/65	3/64
Interceptions/Returns	1/0	0/0
Penalties/Yards	7/55	2/15
Total Fumbles/Fumbles Lost	0/0	1/0
Time of Possession	26 mins 36 secs	33 mins 24 secs
Average Drive Start	PIA 24	DEA 33

Passing Stats
	Att	Comp	Yds	Comp %	Yds/Att	TD	TD %	INT	INT %	Long	Sack	Rating
1979 Pittsburgh
Terry Bradshaw	35	20	284	57.1	8.1	1	2.9	0	0	33	0/0	93.0
1977 Denver
Craig Morton	21	15	292	71.4	13.9	1	4.8	1	4.8	55	0/0	109.7
Norris Weese	1	1	16	100.0	16.0	0	0	0	0	16	0/0	118.8

Rushing Stats
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD	2 Pt Conv	Fumbles/Lost
1979 Pittsburgh
Franco Harris	8	17	2.1	5	0	0	0/0
Sidney Thornton	6	15	2.5	15	0	0	0/0
Rocky Bleier	5	11	2.2	5	0	0	0/0
Greg Hawthorne	2	6	3.0	3	0	0	0/0
1977 Denver
Lonnie Perrin	15	26	1.7	8	0	0	1/0
Otis Armstrong	11	18	1.6	8	0	0	0/0
Jon Keyworth	10	13	1.3	5	0	0	0/0
Rob Lytle	7	34	4.9	14	0	0	0/0
Craig Morton	3	0	0.0	2	0	0	0/0
Jim D. Jensen	1	2	2.0	2	0	0	0/0

Receiving Stats
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD	2 Pt Conv
1979 Pittsburgh
John Stallworth	6	90	15.0	33	0	0
Rocky Bleier	5	81	16.2	30	0	0
Bennie Cunningham	2	15	7.5	12	1	0
Jim Smith Jr.	2	28	14.0	15	0	0
Lynn Swann	2	43	21.5	30	0	0
Franco Harris	2	14	7.0	10	0	0
Theo Bell	1	13	13.0	13	0	0
1977 Denver
Haven Moses	4	66	16.5	24	1	0
Riley Odoms	4	66	16.5	30	0	0
Rob Lytle	3	47	15.7	16	0	0
Rick Upchurch	2	44	22.0	34	0	0
Otis Armstrong	1	7	7.0	7	0	0
Ron Egloff	1	23	23.0	23	0	0
Jack Dolbin	1	55	55.0	55	0	0

Field Goals
	1-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+	Totals	% Made
1979 Pittsburgh
Matt Bahr	0/0	0/0	1/1	1/1	0/0	2/2	100
1977 Denver
Jim Turner	0/0	3/3	0/0	1/1	0/0	4/4	100

Punting
	No	Avg	Net	Tb	Inside 20	Long	Blocked
1979 Pittsburgh
Craig Colquitt	4	35.0	24.8	1	1	41	0
1977 Denver
Bucky Dilts	1	28.0	28.0	0	1	28	0

Kickoff Returns
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
1979 Pittsburgh
Larry Anderson	3	65	21.7	22	0
1977 Denver
Rick Upchurch	3	64	21.3	23	0

Punt Returns
	Ret	FC	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
1979 Pittsburgh
1977 Denver
Rick Upchurch	2	0	21	10.5	13	0

Individual Defense
	Tackles	Sacks	Fum Rec
1979 Pittsburgh
Jack Lambert	11	0	0
Dennis Winston	8	0	0
J.T. Thomas	6	0	0
Jack Ham	6	0	0
"Mean" Joe Greene	6	0	0
Ron Johnson Sr.	5	0	0
John Banaszak	4	0	0
Mel Blount	3	0	0
L.C. Greenwood	3	0	0
Gary Dunn	3	0	0
Dwayne Woodruff	2	0	0
Larry Anderson	1	0	0
Donnie Shell	1	0	0
Mike Wagner	1	0	0
1977 Denver
Steve J. Foley	6	0	0
Chris Pane	6	0	0
Bob Swenson	6	0	0
Randy Gradishar	5	0	0
Bernard Jackson	4	0	0
Lyle Alzado	3	0	0
Tom Jackson	3	0	0
Bill Thompson	2	0	0
Randy Poltl	1	0	0
Louis Wright	1	0	0
Joe Rizzo	1	0	0
Rubin Carter	1	0	0
Barney Chavous	1	0	0
Andy Maurer	0	0	1

Interceptions
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
1979 Pittsburgh
Mel Blount	1	0	0.0	0	0
1977 Denver

Game Story

Jim Turner was locked in as Denver defeated Pittsburgh by the score of 18 to 13. Turner kicked 4 field goals, including a long one of 46 yards for the winners. Craig Morton threw 21 times for 292 yards adding a touchdown. Denver controlled the ball for 33:24. The crowd was treated to a pass to Jack Dolbin that went for 55 yards with 6:04 left in the 1st quarter. Denver got ahead early outscoring Pittsburgh 9 to 3 in the first quarter. They were ahead at halftime 15 to 6.

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