1945 Pittsburgh Steelers season

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.

1945 Pittsburgh Steelers season
Head coachJim Leonard
Home fieldForbes Field
Local radioKDKA
Results
Record2–8
Division place5th NFL Eastern
Playoff finishDid not qualify

Regular season

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Schedule

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Week Date Opponent Result Record
1 September 26 at Boston Yanks L 7–28 0–1
2 October 7 New York Giants L 6–34 0–2
3 October 14 Washington Redskins L 0–14 0–3
4 October 21 at New York Giants W 21–7 1–3
5 October 28 Boston Yanks L 6–10 1–4
6 November 4 Philadelphia Eagles L 3–45 1–5
7 November 11 Chicago Cardinals W 23–0 2–5
8 November 18 at Philadelphia Eagles L 6–30 2–6
9 November 25 at Chicago Bears L 7–28 2–7
10 December 2 at Washington Redskins L 0–24 2–8

Game summaries

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Week 1 (Tuesday September 25, 1945): Boston Yanks

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1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 0 0 0 7 7
Yanks 7 7 7 7 28

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

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1 2 3 4 Total
Giants 6 28 0 0 34
Steelers 0 6 0 0 6

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

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1 2 3 4 Total
Redskins 0 7 0 7 14
Steelers 0 0 0 0 0

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

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1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 7 14 0 0 21
Giants 0 0 7 0 7

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

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1 2 3 4 Total
Yanks 0 7 0 0 7
Steelers 0 3 0 14 17

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

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1 2 3 4 Total
Eagles 6 7 13 19 45
Steelers 3 0 0 0 3

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

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1 2 3 4 Total
Cardinals 0 0 0 0 0
Steelers 0 3 0 20 23

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 13,153
  • Referee:

Scoring Drives:

Week 8 (Sunday November 18, 1945): Philadelphia Eagles

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1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 6 0 0 0 6
Eagles 7 6 10 7 30

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

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1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 7 0 0 0 7
Bears 14 7 0 7 28

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

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1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 0 0 0 0 0
Redskins 7 7 0 10 24

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)

Standings

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NFL Eastern Division
W L T PCT DIV PF PA STK
Washington Redskins 8 2 0 .800 6–2 209 121 W2
Philadelphia Eagles 7 3 0 .700 5–2 272 133 W1
Yanks 3 6 1 .333 3–2–1 123 211 L5
New York Giants 3 6 1 .333 2–4–1 179 198 L1
Pittsburgh Steelers 2 8 0 .200 1–7 79 220 L3
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

References

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