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 coach | Jim Leonard |
| Home field | Forbes Field |
| Results | |
| Record | 2–8 |
| Division place | 5th NFL Eastern |
| Playoff finish | Did not qualify |
Regular season
Schedule
| 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 |
Week 1 (Tuesday September 25, 1945): Boston Yanks
| 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:
Week 2 (Sunday, October 7, 1945): New York Giants
| 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
| 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
| 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:
Week 5 (Sunday October 28, 1945): Boston Yanks
| 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:
Week 6 (Sunday November 4, 1945): Philadelphia Eagles
| 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
| 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
| 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
| 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:
Week 10 (Sunday December 2, 1945): Washington Redskins
| 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
| 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.