The 1952 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the franchise's 20th in the National Football League they finished the season with a 5–7 record under head coach Joe Bach, who returned to the organization replacing John Michelosen.
The season was notable in that it was the last year the Steelers used the single-wing formation on offense, switching to the T formation the following year. The Steelers were the last NFL team to use the single-wing as their primary offensive formation.
Regular season
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record 1 September 28 Philadelphia Eagles L 25–31 0–1 2 October 4 Cleveland Browns L 20–21 0–2 3 October 12 at Philadelphia Eagles L 21–26 0–3 4 October 19 Washington Redskins L 24–28 0–4 5 October 26 at Chicago Cardinals W 34–28 1–4 6 November 2 at Washington Redskins W 24–23 2–4 7 November 9 Detroit Lions L 6–31 2–5 8 November 16 at Cleveland Browns L 28–29 2–6 9 November 23 Chicago Cardinals W 17–14 3—6 10 November 30 New York Giants W 63–7 4–6 11 December 7 at San Francisco 49ers W 24–7 5–6 12 December 14 at Los Angeles Rams L 14–28 5–7
Game summaries
Week 1 (Sunday September 28, 1952): Philadelphia Eagles
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 22,501 Referee: TV announcers:
Scoring drives:
Philadelphia – Grant 84 pass from Burk (Walston kick) Philadelphia – Ziegler 4 pass from Burk (Walston kick) Pittsburgh – Finks 20 run (kick blocked) Philadelphia – FG Walston 32 Pittsburgh – Modzelewski 1 run (kick blocked) Philadelphia – Ziegler 3 run (Walston kick) Pittsburgh – Finks 1 run (Kerkorian kick) Philadelphia – Pihos 25 pass from Burk (Walston kick) Pittsburgh – Mathews 27 pass from Finks (kick blocked)
Week 2 (Saturday October 4, 1952): Cleveland Browns
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 27,923 Referee: TV announcers:
Scoring drives:
Pittsburgh – Nickel 10 pass from Finks (kick failed) Cleveland – Motley 68 pass from Graham (Groza kick) Pittsburgh – Nickel 30 pass from Finks (Kerkorian kick) Pittsburgh – Finks 1 run (Kerkorian kick) Cleveland – Jones 17 pass from Graham (Groza kick) Cleveland – Howard 57 pass from Graham (Groza kick)
Week 3 (Sunday October 12, 1952): Philadelphia Eagles
at Shibe Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 18,648 Referee: TV announcers:
'Scoring drives:
Philadelphia – FG Walston 25 Philadelphia – FG Walston 20 Pittsburgh – Chandnois 93 kick return (Kerkorian kick) Philadelphia – Brewer 1 run (Walston kick) Pittsburgh – Mathews 25 pass from Finks (Kerkorian kick) Pittsburgh – Nickel 54 pass from Finks (Kerkorian kick) Philadelphia – Grant 17 pass from Enke (Walston kick) Philadelphia – FG Walston 24 Philadelphia – FG Walston 19
Week 4 (Sunday October 19, 1952): Washington Redskins
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 22,605 Referee: TV announcers:
Scoring drives:
Washington – Williams 62 punt return (LeBaron kick) Washington – Heath 1 run (LeBaron kick) Pittsburgh – Nickel 6 pass from Finks (Kerkorian kick) Pittsburgh – FG Kerkorian 36 Pittsburgh – Hays 1 interception (Kerkorian kick) Washington – Taylor 11 pass from Gilmer (LeBaron kick) Pittsburgh – Nickel 36 pass from Finks (Kerkorian kick) Washington – Taylor 43 pass from LeBaron (LeBaron kick)
Week 5 (Sunday October 26, 1952): Chicago Cardinals
at Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 20,395 Referee: TV announcers:
Scoring drives:
Pittsburgh – Chandnois 28 pass from Finks (Kerkorian kick) Pittsburgh – Mathews 70 punt return (kick blocked) Pittsburgh – Nickel 5 pass from Finks (Kerkorian kick) Pittsburgh – Sulima 13 pass from Finks (Kerkorian kick) Chicago Cardinals – Matson 33 pass from Panciera (Geri kick) Pittsburgh – Ferry 71 fumble run (Kerkorian kick) Chicago Cardinals – Matson 41 pass from Panciera (Geri kick) Chicago Cardinals – Matson 47 pass from Panciera (Geri kick) Chicago Cardinals – Cross 4 run (Geri kick)
Week 6 (Sunday November 2, 1952): Washington Redskins
at Griffith Stadium, Washington, DC
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 25,866 Referee: TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
Pittsburgh – Dodrill 35 blocked field goal return (Kerkorian kick) Washington – LeBaron 2 run (Rykovich kick) Pittsburgh – FG Kerkorian 23 Pittsburgh – Mathews 70 punt return (Kerkorian kick) Pittsburgh – Rogel 1 run (Kerkorian kick) Washington – Safety, Finks tackled in end zone by Hennessey Washington – Taylor 40 pass from LeBaron (LeBaron kick) Washington – Justice 13 pass from LeBaron (Buksar kick)
Week 7 (Sunday November 9, 1952): Detroit Lions
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 26,170 Referee: TV announcers:
Scoring drives:
Detroit – FG Walker 16 Detroit – Girard 1 run (Walker kick) Detroit – Box 46 pass from Layne (Walker kick) Pittsburgh – Rogel 3 run (kick failed) Detroit – Girard 31 run (Walker kick) Detroit – Bailey 9 run (Layne kick)
Week 8 (Sunday November 16, 1952): Cleveland Browns
at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 34,973 Referee: TV announcers:
Scoring drives:
Cleveland – Lavelli 22 pass from Graham (Groza kick) Cleveland – Safety, Finks tackled in end zone by Young Cleveland – FG Groza 11 Cleveland – FG Groza 34 Cleveland – Lavelli 22 pass from Graham (Groza kick) Pittsburgh – Mathews 33 pass from Finks (Kerkorian kick) Pittsburgh – Butler 7 pass from Finks (Kerkorian kick) Cleveland – Graham 2 run (Groza kick) Pittsburgh – Mathews 38 pass from Finks (Kerkorian kick) Pittsburgh – Nickel 9 pass from Finks (Kerkorian kick)
Week 9 (Sunday November 23, 1952): Chicago Cardinals
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 18,330 Referee: TV announcers:
Scoring drives:
Pittsburgh – FG Kerkorian 23 PIttsburgh – Modzelewski 6 run (Kerkorian kick) Chicago Cardinals – Paul 9 pass from Panciera (Geri kick) Pittsburgh – Finks 1 run (Kerkorian kick) Chicago Cardinals – Cross 38 pass from Panciera (Geri kick)
Week 10 (Sunday November 30, 1952): New York Giants
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 15,140 Referee: TV announcers:
Scoring drives:
Pittsburgh – Chandnois 91 kick return (Kerkorian kick) Pittsburgh – Chandnois 5 run (Kerkorian kick) Pittsburgh – Nickel 21 pass from Finks (Kerkorian kick) Pittsburgh – Mathews 42 pass from Finks (Kerkorian kick) Pittsburgh – Hensley 25 pass from Finks (Kerkorian kick) New York Giants – Stribling 55 lateral from Scott after 15 pass from Landry (Poole kick) Pittsburgh – Hensley 60 pass from Finks (Kerkorian kick) Pittsburgh – George Hays 3 run with blocked punt (Mathews kick) Pittsburgh – Butler 20 pass from Kerkorian (Kerkorian kick) Pittsburgh – Modzelewski 3 run (Kerkorian kick
Notes: Tom Landry was brought in as a 3rd string quarterback for New York to complete the game for the entire 2nd half.Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Google News Archive Search
Week 11 (Sunday December 7, 1952): San Francisco 49ers
at Kezar Stadium, San Francisco, California
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 13,886 Referee: TV announcers:
Scoring drives:
Pittsburgh – Rogel 3 run (Kerkorian kick) San Francisco – Soltau 6 pass from Albert (Soltau kick) Pittsburgh – FG Kerkorian 19 Pittsburgh – Finks 1 run (Kerkorian kick) Pittsburgh – Chandnois 48 pass from Finks (Kerkorian kick)
Week 12 (Sunday December 14, 1952): Los Angeles Rams
at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 71,130 Referee: TV announcers:
Scoring drives:
Los Angeles – Fears 10 pass from Van Brocklin (Waterfield kick) Los Angeles – Lane 42 interception return (Waterfield kick) Pittsburgh – Hogan 15 interception return (Kerkorian kick) Pittsburgh – Nickel 13 pass from Finks (Kerkorian kick) Los Angeles – Hirsch 65 pass from Van Brocklin (Waterfield kick) Los Angeles – Fears 5 pass from Van Brocklin (Waterfield kick)
Standings
Roster
References
External links 1952 Pittsburgh Steelers at jt-sw.com 1952 Pittsburgh Steelers at Pro-Football-Reference.com 1952 Pittsburgh Steelers at ProFootballArchives.com
External links
1952 Pittsburgh Steelers season, YouTube.com/