The 1945 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the franchise's 13th season in the National Football League (NFL). The team finished the season with a record of 2–8. This season marked the first and only season played with Jim Leonard as head coach.
Regular season
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record 1 September 25 at Boston Yanks L 7–28 0–1 3 October 7 New York Giants L 6–34 0–2 4 October 14 Washington Redskins L 0–14 0–3 5 October 21 at New York Giants W 21–7 1–3 6 October 28 Boston Yanks L 6–10 1–4 7 November 4 Philadelphia Eagles L 3–45 1–5 8 November 11 Chicago Cardinals W 23–0 2–5 9 November 18 at Philadelphia Eagles L 6–30 2–6 10 November 25 at Chicago Bears L 7–28 2–7 11 December 2 at Washington Redskins L 0–24 2–8
Source: JT-SW.com
Game summaries
Week 1 (Tuesday September 25, 1945): Boston Yanks
at Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 27,502 Referee:
Scoring drives:
Boston – J. Martin 5 run (Lio kick) Boston – F. Martin 53 pass from Cafego (Lio kick) Boston – Manders 1 run (Lio kick) Pittsburgh – Lucente 60 lateral from Bova after 10 pass from Jarvi (Naioti kick) Boston – Manders 2 run (Lio kick)
Week 2 (Sunday, October 7, 1945): New York Giants
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 20,097 Referee:
Scoring drives:
New York – FG Strong 21 New York – FG Strong 42 Pittsburgh – Duhart 3 run (kick failed) New York – Filpowicz – 10 pass from Herber (Strong kick) New York – Leibel 38 pass from Herber (Strong kick) New York – Piccolo 7 fumble run (Strong kick)
Week 3 (Sunday October 14, 1945): Washington Redskins
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 14,050 Referee:
Scoring drives:
Washington – Dye 13 pass from Baugh (Aguirre kick) Washington – Rosato 3 run (Aguirre kick)
Week 4 (Sunday October 21, 1945): New York Giants
at Polo Grounds, New York, New York
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 43,070 Referee:
Scoring drives:
Pittsburgh – Lucente 3 run (Naioti kick) Pittsburgh – Warren 1 run (Naioti kick) Pittsburgh – Doyle 50 interception (Naioti kick) New York – Livingston 15 pass from Herber (Strong kick)
Week 5 (Sunday October 28, 1945): Boston Yanks
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 25,447 Referee:
Scoring drives:
Boston – FG Lio 19 Pittsburgh – FG Agajanian 19 Pittsburgh – FG Agajanian 25 Boston Martin 25 lateral from Currivan after 27 pass from Gudmundson (Lio kick)
Week 6 (Sunday November 4, 1945): Philadelphia Eagles
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 23,018 Referee:
Scoring drives:
Pittsburgh – FG Agajanian 31 Philadelphia – Ferrante 26 pass from Zimmerman (kick failed) Philadelphia – Ferrante 65 pass from Zimmerman (Zimmerman kick) Philadelphia – Van Buren 20 run (kick failed) Philadelphia – Meyer 27 pass from Zimmerman (Zimmerman kick) Philadelphia – Banta 22 run (kick failed) Philadelphia – Bleeker 14 run (Zimmerman kick) Philadelphia – Karnofsky 19 run (kick failed)
Week 7 (Sunday November 11, 1945): Chicago Cardinals
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 13,153 Referee:
Scoring drives:
Pittsburgh – FG Agajanian 15 Pittsburgh – Dudley 1 run (Dudley kick) Pittsburgh – Dudley 1 run (kick failed) Pittsburgh – Warren 75 run (Dudley kick)
Week 8 (Sunday November 18, 1945): Philadelphia Eagles
at Shibe Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 23,838 Referee:
Scoring drives:
Philadelphia – Karnofsky 12 run (Zimmerman kick) Pittsburgh – Kiick 1 run (kick failed) Philadelphia – Van Buren 3 run (kick failed) Philadelphia – FG Zimmerman 30 Philadelphia – Van Buren 6 run (Zimmerman kick) Philadelphia – Steele 4 run (Rogalla kick)
Week 9 (Sunday November 25, 1945): Chicago Bears
at Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 20,689 Referee:
Scoring drives:
Chicago Bears – McAffee 33 run (Gudauskas kick) Pittsburgh – Dudley 4 run (Agajanian kick) Chicago Bears – McAfee 65 pass from Luckman (Gudauskas kick) Chicago Bears – Grygo 33 pass from Luckman (Gudauskas kick) Chicago Bears – McAfee 2 run (Gudauskas kick)
Week 10 (Sunday December 2, 1945): Washington Redskins
at Griffith Stadium, Washington, DC
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 34,788 Referee:
Scoring drives:
Washington – Bagarus 70 pass from Baugh (Aguirre kick) Washington – Turley 10 pass from Baugh (Aguirre kick) Washington – FG Aguirre 26 Washington – Bagarus 29 pass from Baugh (Aguirre kick) Roster 1945 Pittsburgh Steelers final roster Backs Tony Bova RB/CB Bill Dudley RB/CB/K Jack Itzel FB/LB Art Jones RB/CB George Kiick FB/LB Johnny Lucente FB/LB John Naioti RB/S Leon Pense RB/S John Petchel RB/S Al Postus RB/CB Sid Tinsley RB/CB/P Buss Warren RB/CB Linemen/linebackers Tom Alberghini T/DT Art Brandau C/LB Garth Chamberlain G/DG Chuck Cherundolo C/LB Joe Cibulas T/DT Joe Coomer T/DT Henry DePaul G/DG Ted Doyle T/DT John Kondrla T/DT Hubbard Law G/DG Elmer Merkovsky G/DG John Perko G/DG Glen Stough T/DT Si Titus C/LB Ends/receivers Dick Dolly Frank Kimble Joe Pierre Morgan Tiller
Special teams Ben Agajanian K
Reserve Jackie Lowther RB/CB John Patrick FB/LB
Rookies in italics
Standings
References