The 1961 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the franchise's 29th in the National Football League.
Offseason NFL draft
Roster
Standings
Regular season
Schedule
Game Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap Sources 1 September 17 at Dallas Cowboys L 24–27 0–1Cotton Bowl23,500 2 September 24 New York Giants L 14–17 0–2Pitt Stadium35,587 3 October 1 at Los Angeles Rams L 14–24 0–3Memorial Coliseum40,407 4 October 8 at Philadelphia Eagles L 16–21 0–4Franklin Field60,671 5 October 15 Washington Redskins W 20–0 1–4Forbes Field15,072 6 October 22 Cleveland Browns L 28–30 1–5Forbes Field29,266 7 October 29 San Francisco 49ers W 20–10 2–5Forbes Field21,686 8 November 5 at Cleveland Browns W 17–13 3–5Cleveland Stadium62,723 9 November 12 Dallas Cowboys W 37–7 4–5Forbes Field17,519 10 November 19 at New York Giants L 21–42 4–6Yankee Stadium (I)62,592 11 November 26 St. Louis Cardinals W 30–27 5–6Forbes Field17,090 12 December 3 Philadelphia Eagles L 24–35 5–7Forbes Field21,653 13 December 10 at Washington Redskins W 30–14 6–7D.C. Stadium21,134 14 December 17 at St. Louis Cardinals L 0–20 6–8Busch Stadium (I)16,298 Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries
Week 1 (Sunday September 17, 1961): Dallas Cowboys
at Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 23,500 Referee: TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
Dallas – Clarke 44 pass from LeBaron (Green kick) Pittsburgh – Johnson 1 run (Layne kick) Pittsburgh – Dial 44 pass from Layne (Layne kick) Dallas – FG Green 15 Dallas – Howton 45 pass from LeBaron (Green kick) Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 12 Pittsburgh – Sample 39 interception return (Layne kick) Dallas – Bieski 17 pass from Meredith (Green kick) Dallas – FG Green 27
Week 2 (Sunday September 24, 1961): New York Giants
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 35,587 Referee: TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
Pittsburgh – Johnson 1 run (Tracy kick) New York Giants – Shofner 16 pass from Conerly (Summerall kick) New York Giants – FG Summerall 19 New York Giants – Morrison 5 pass from Tittle (Summerall kick) Pittsburgh – Dial 4 pass from Layne (Tracy kick)
Week 3 (Sunday October 1, 1961): Los Angeles Rams
at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 40,070 Referee: TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
Los Angeles – Bratkowski 2 run (Villanueva kick) Pittsburgh – Dial 20 pass from Bukich (Layne kick) Pittsburgh – Johnson 5 run (Layne kick) Los Angeles – Phillips 15 pass from Ryan (Villanueva kick) Los Angeles – Matson 96 pass from Ryan (Villanueva kick) Los Angeles – FG Villanueva 15
Week 4 (Sunday October 8, 1961): Philadelphia Eagles
at Franklin Field, Philadelphia
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 60,671 Referee: George Rennix TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 23 PIttsburgh – Bukich 1 run (Michaels kick) Philadelphia – Retzlaff 17 pass from Jurgensen (Walston kick) Philadelphia – Peaks 1 run (Walston kick) Pittsburgh – Dial 13 pass from Bukich (kick failed) Philadelphia – Retzlaff 2 pass from Jurgensen (Walston kick)
Week 5 (Sunday October 15, 1961): Washington Redskins
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 15,072 Referee: TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
Pittsburgh – Carpenter 8 pass from Bukich (Michaels kick) Pittsburgh – Dial 23 pass from Bukich (Michaels kick) Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 13 Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 36
Week 6 (Sunday October 22, 1961): Cleveland Browns
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 29,266 Referee: TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
Cleveland – FG Groza 24 Cleveland – Mitchell 6 run (Groza kick) Pittsburgh – Dial 12 pass from Bukich (Michaels kick) Pittsburgh – Tracy 1 run (Michaels kick) Cleveland – FG Groza 36 Cleveland – Mitchell 9 run (Groza kick) Pittsburgh – Tracy 1 run (Michaels kick) Cleveland – Mitchell 18 run (Groza kick) Cleveland – FG Groza 12 Pittsburgh – Dial 88 pass from Bukich (Michaels kick)
Week 7 (Sunday October 29, 1961): San Francisco 49ers
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 21,686 Referee: TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
Pittsburgh – Johnson 30 run (Michaels kick) Pittsburgh – Tracy 11 pass from Bukich (Michaels kick) Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 16 San Francisco – Stickles 50 pass from Brodie (Davis kick) San Francisco – FG Davis 20 Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 24
Week 8 (Sunday November 5, 1961): Cleveland Browns
at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 62,723 Referee: TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
Cleveland – J. Brown 3 run Cleveland – FG Groza 27 Pittsburgh – Bukich 1 run (Michaels kick) Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 10 Cleveland – FG Groza 37 Pittsburgh – Schnelker 26 pass from Bukich (Michaels kick)
Week 9 (Sunday November 12, 1961): Dallas Cowboys
at Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 17,519 Referee: TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
Pittsburgh – Johnson 1 run (Michaels kick) Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 28 Dallas – Perkins 11 run (Green kick) Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 19 Pittsburgh – Dial 73 pass from Bukich (Michaels kick) Pittsburgh – Butler 71 interception (Michaels kick) Pittsburgh – Dial 15 pass from Bikich (Michaels kick) Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 47
Week 10 (Sunday November 19, 1961): New York Giants
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 62,592 Referee: TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
Pittsburgh – Dial 15 pass from Bukich (Michaels kick) New York Giants – Walton 9 pass from Tittle (Summerall kick) New York Giants – Gaiters 3 run (Summerall kick) New York Giants – Webster 23 pass from Tittle (Summerall kick) New York Giants – Rote 20 pass from Tittle (Summerall kick) New York Giants – Rote 9 pass from Gaiters (Summerall kick) Pittsburgh – Carpenter 13 pass from Hoak (Michaels kick) Pittsburgh – Dial 3 pass from Layne (Michaels kick) New York Giants – Webster 32 run (Summerall kick)
Week 11 (Sunday November 26, 1961): St. Louis Cardinals
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 17,090 Referee: TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
St. Louis – Norton 47 interception return (kick failed) St. Louis – Randle 3 pass from Etcheverry (Perry kick) Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 18 Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 36 Pittsburgh – Schnelker 11 pass from Layne (Michaels kick) Pittsburgh – Sample 55 punt return (Michaels kick) Pittsburgh – Johnson 2 run (Michaels kick) St. Louis – Crow 61 pass from Guglielmi (Conrad kick) St. Louis – Norton 37 interception return (Conrad kick) Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 18
Week 12 (Sunday December 3, 1961): Philadelphia Eagles
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 21,653 Referee: TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
Philadelphia – Walston 17 pass from Jurgensen (Walston kick) Philadelphia – Peaks 1 run (Walston kick) Pittsburgh – Carpenter 7 pass from Layne (Michaels kick) Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 37 Philadelphia – Lucas 7 pass from Jurgensen (Walston kick) Philadelphia – Brown 66 punt return (Walston kick) Pittsburgh – Johnson 7 pass from Layne (Michaels kick) Pittsburgh – Schnelker 8 pass from Layne (Michaels kick) Philadelphia – Brown 42 run (Walston kick)
Week 13 (Sunday December 10, 1961): Washington Redskins
at D.C. Stadium, Washington, D.C.
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 21,134 Referee: TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
Pittsburgh – Mack 10 pass from Layne (Michaels kick) Washington – Dugan 9 pass from Snead (Aveni kick) Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 42 Pittsburgh – Carpenter 40 pass from Layne (Michaels kick) Pittsburgh – Mack 6 pass from Layne (Michaels kick) Washington – Dugan 11 pass from Izo (Aveni kick) Pittsburgh – Dial 5 pass from Layne (kick failed)
Week 14 (Sunday December 17, 1961): St. Louis Cardinals
at Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 16,298 Referee: TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
St. Louis – Randle 3 pass from Etcheverry (Perry kick) St. Louis – Stacy 25 fumble run (kick failed) St. Louis – Crow 15 pass from Etcheverry (Perry kick)
References