The 1937 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the team's fifth season as a professional sports club in the National Football League (NFL). The team hired Johnny Blood as head coach after John Bach stepped down during the offseason. Blood was a former player, who played halfback for the Pirates during the 1934 season. His team finished with another 4–7 record however, Blood was welcomed back the next season.
Offseason
Draft
Regular season
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 September 5 Philadelphia Eagles W 27–14 1–0 Forbes Field Recap 2 Bye 3 September 19 at Brooklyn Dodgers W 21–0 2–0 Ebbets Field Recap 4 September 26 New York Giants L 7–10 2–1 Forbes Field Recap 5 Chicago Bears L 0–7 2–2 Forbes Field Recap 6 October 10 at Detroit Lions L 3–7 2–3 University of Detroit Stadium Recap 7 October 17 at Washington Redskins L 20–34 2–4 Griffith Stadium Recap 8 October 24 Chicago Cardinals L 7–13 2–5 Forbes Field Recap 9 October 31 Philadelphia Eagles W 16–7 3–5 Forbes Field Recap 10 November 7 at New York Giants L 0–17 3–6 Polo Grounds Recap 11 November 14 Washington Redskins W 21–13 4–6 Forbes Field Recap 12 November 21 Brooklyn Dodgers L 0–23 4–7 Forbes Field Recap 13 Bye 14 Bye Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries
Week 1 (Sunday September 5, 1937): Philadelphia Eagles
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 8,588 Referee:
Scoring Drives:
Pittsburgh – Brett 39 pass from Thompson (Weinstock kick) Philadelphia – Hanson 3 run (Smukler kick) Pittsburgh – Davidson 19 pass from Gildea (Niccolai kick) Philadelphia – Hewitt 7 pass from Smukler (Smukler kick) Pittsburgh – Blood 92 kick return (Breeden kick) Pittsburgh – Blood 44 pass from Fiske (kick failed)
Week 2 (Sunday September 19, 1937): Brooklyn Dodgers
at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, New York
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 18,000 Referee:
Scoring Drives:
Pittsburgh – Karcis 3 run (Kakasic kick) Pittsburgh – Gildea 1 run (Kakasic kick) Pittsburgh – Blood 6 pass from Fiske (Niccolai kick)
Week 3 (Sunday September 26, 1937): New York Giants
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 33,095 Referee:
Scoring Drives:
New York – Richards 13 pass from Danowski (Manton kick) Pittsburgh – Karcis 4 run (Niccolai kick) New York – FG Manton 13
Week 4 (Monday October 4, 1937): Chicago Bears
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 22,511 Referee:
Scoring Drives:
Chicago Bears – Nolting 13 run (Manders kick)
Week 5 (Sunday October 10, 1937): Detroit Lions
at Titan Stadium, Detroit, Michigan
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 16,000 Referee:
Scoring Drives:
Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 11 Detroit – Caddel 2 run (Clark kick)
Week 6 (Sunday October 17, 1937): Washington Redskins
at Griffith Stadium, Washington, DC
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 12,835 Referee:
Scoring Drives:
Washington – Battles 65 interception (Smith kick) Pittsburgh – Blood 43 pass from Fiske (Weinstock kick) Pittsburgh – Thompson 55 pass from Blood (kick blocked) Washington – Malone 7 pass from Baugh Washington – Justice 3 pass from Smith (Smith kick) Washington – Battles 60 run (Smith kick) Washington – Battles 62 run (Smith kick) Pittsburgh – Blood 2 pass from Karcis (Niccolai kick)
Week 7 (Sunday October 24, 1937): Chicago Cardinals
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 8,963 Referee:
Scoring Drives:
Chicago Cardinals – Deskin 18 pass from Coffee (May kick) Chicago Cardinals – Lawrence 2 run (kick failed) Pittsburgh – Davidson 65 pass from Fiske (Weinstock kick)
Week 8 (Sunday October 31, 1937): Philadelphia Eagles
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 2,772 Referee:
Scoring Drives:
Philadelphia – Pilconis 22 fumble run (Smukler kick) Pittsburgh – Davidson 87 interception (kick failed) Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 27 Pittsburgh – Sortet 26 pass from Gildea (Niccolai kick)
Week 9 (Sunday November 7, 1937): New York Giants
at Polo Grounds, New York, NY
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 21,447 Referee:
Scoring Drives:
New York – Burnett 5 pass from Danowski (Manton kick) New York – FG Cuf 35 New York – Soar 25 interception
Week 10 (Sunday November 14, 1937): Washington Redskins
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 12,000 Referee:
Scoring Drives:
Washington – Pinckert 3 pass from Smith (kick failed) Pittsburgh – Davidson 68 run (Weinstock kick) Pittsburgh – Safety, Baugh tackled in end zone by Mayhew Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 21 Washington – Justice 40 pass from Baugh (Smith kick) Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 41 Pittsburgh – Karcis 21 run (kick failed)
Week 11 (Sunday November 21, 1937): Brooklyn Dodgers
Game time: Game weather: Game attendance: 3,706 Referee:
Scoring Drives:
Brooklyn – Parker 2 run (Parker kick) Brooklyn – Parker 44 punt return (kick failed) Brooklyn – FG Maniaci 29 Brooklyn – Mitchell 15 pass from Parker (Maniaci kick) Roster 1937 Pittsburgh Pirates final roster Backs Johnny Blood RB/S Bill Davidson RB/CB Johnny Gildea RB/S By Haines RB/CB Bull Karcis FB/LB Stu Smith FB/LB Tuffy Thompson RB/CB Izzy Weinstock FB/LB/K Silvio Zaninelli RB/S
Ends/Receivers Bill Breeden Jeep Brett Mac Cara Bill Sortet Linemen/Linebackers Mike Basrak C/LB Joe Cardwell G/DG/T/DT Byron Gentry G/DG George Kakasic G/DG/K Ed Karpowich T/DT Walt Kiesling G/DG Lindy Mayhew G/DG/T/DT Armand Niccolai T/DT/K John Perko G/DG Buster Raborn C/LB
Rookies in italics
Standings
References