A separate offseason collection we’re kicking off for the subsequent few weeks. The Pittsburgh Steelers have loads of “what ifs” of their now almost 100-year historical past. We’ll give attention to a few of these excellent, unanswerable questions that loom over the franchise.
What If Pittsburgh Gained Its First Playoff Sport?
You’d be forgiven for believing the Steelers’ first playoff recreation coincided with the Immaculate Reception in 1972. It was the primary playoff recreation Pittsburgh performed in a protracted time. However it was solely the second postseason contest in franchise historical past.
Flip the clock again to 1947. Head coach Jock Sutherland, famend for his 5 nationwide titles on the College of Pittsburgh, had the Steelers buzzing. Regular development from 2 wins in 1945, the yr earlier than Sutherland took over, to five wins in 1946, to a franchise-record 8 wins in 1947.
Pittsburgh opened the yr with a house win towards the Detroit Lions. The group rebounded after robust losses to Los Angeles and Washington and received six straight, together with a nail-biting victory over Curly Lambeau’s Packers. The Steelers capped the yr with a 17-7 win towards the Boston Yanks, a now-defunct franchise that folded after 1948.
Below Sutherland, the Steelers matched the Philadelphia Eagles’ report for the NFL Japanese Division title. On the time, there was imagined to be just one playoff recreation: the championship, almost 20 years earlier than it was known as the Tremendous Bowl after a well-liked kids’s toy. The East and West winners would sq. off to win all of it. As a result of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia every completed 8-5, and since there have been no tiebreakers, the Steelers and Eagles needed to play to find out who would advance. The match kicked off on December twenty first, 1947.
The Steelers couldn’t come by way of. Philadelphia discovered the tip zone within the first, second, and third quarters. Steve Van Buren caught a 15-yard move from Tommy Thompson, who briefly performed for the Steelers in 1940, to open the scoring. Thompson threw one other rating earlier than the half, and Abisha “Bosh” Pritchard completed issues off with a 79-yard punt return after the break.
Pittsburgh was held to only 154 yards of offense with two turnovers. Quarterback Johnny Clement, identified for carrying double-zeros on his jersey, accomplished simply 25 % of his passes. Rookie Elbie Nickel was the lone vibrant spot, catching two passes after hauling in only one move through the common season.
A 21-0 loss, mirroring the end result of the Steelers and Eagles simply two video games prior. Sutherland admitted the Eagles have been superior that day.
Philadelphia superior to the championship recreation towards the 9-3 Chicago Cardinals. The sport was shut all through, however the Cardinals by no means trailed and received 28-21. It stays the final championship in Cardinals historical past after QB Ben Roethlisberger, WR Santonio Holmes, and the Steelers spoiled Arizona’s 2008 bid.
What if Pittsburgh beat Philadelphia? They might’ve been on the doorstep of a title. The Steelers and Cardinals didn’t face one another within the common season; each groups would’ve seen the opposite for the primary time.
Might the Steelers have pulled it off? They might’ve been heavy underdogs. The Cardinals entered the sport 12-point favorites over the Eagles, and the Steelers might have confronted even longer odds. An upset to win that first championship would have been all of the sweeter.
In that case, Pittsburgh might have shed its “lovable loser” label that adopted the franchise till 1972. An NFL Championship lower than 15 years into the franchise’s existence isn’t any small feat. It’s additionally potential the Steelers would’ve received, regressed, and by no means captured one other trophy till the 70s. Nonetheless, it might’ve given Pittsburgh one other title and, within the current day, an outright lead for many championships by a franchise.
Months after the loss, Jock Sutherland died after falling gravely sick on a scouting journey. Flown again to Pittsburgh, docs found two mind tumors however couldn’t save his life. Assistant John Michelosen changed him, however the Steelers received simply 4 video games in 1948. The group wouldn’t sniff a title for many years.
That makes Sutherland’s dying a good larger “what-if”: what if he lived to a ripe outdated age and led the Steelers for years to return? Would he have introduced house a title in some unspecified time in the future earlier than Chuck Noll?
