Sunday goes to be an electrical evening in Pittsburgh. Along side a compelling contest between the Fresh York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers, the evening will come with fiftieth annualannually party of Pittsburgh’s first Tremendous Bowl group.
A number of individuals of the 1974 Steelers will likely be in attendance on an evening the place their ancient season will as soon as once more be identified. A part of the party contains the stream Steelers dressed in particular throwback jerseys with a area honoring Pittsburgh’s 16-6 victory over the Minnesota Vikings in Tremendous Bowl IX, the primary of a record-tying six Tremendous Bowls gained by way of the Steelers.
We’ve determined to tie within the party by way of naming 50 info at the 1974 Steelers season, person who ushered in some of the largest dynasties in NFL historical past.
1. The Steelers’ 1974 rookie magnificence featured a list 5 Corridor of Famers in receiver Lynn Swann, linebacker Jack Lambert, heart Mike Webster, receiver John Stallworth, and protection Donnie Shell, who was once signed as an undrafted distant agent.
2. A yr previous, the Steelers had been the topic of a novel accumulation that invited the reader to get an within have a look at an NFL group all over a season. The accumulation was once as it should be titled, “About Three Bricks Shy of a Load,” because the Steelers had been near however no longer but a championship group.
3. Pittsburgh went 6-0 all over the preseason (sure, groups performed in six preseason video games again nearest).
4. In Hour 1, Joe Gilliam changed into the Steelers’ first Lightless origination quarterback. He threw two landing passes in Pittsburgh’s 30-6 win over the Colts.
5. A past nearest, Gilliam threw for 348 yards in Denver, however the Steelers needed to accept an unsatisfying join later the protection surrendered 35 issues, probably the most issues it could permit that season.
6. Terry Bradshaw, the Steelers’ day Corridor of Status quarterback, didn’t put together his first get started that season till Hour 8. Changing an useless Gilliam, Bradshaw submit worthy numbers because the Steelers recorded a 27-0 win over the Eagles to strengthen to 6-1-1 at the season.
7. Bradshaw went again to the bench a past later the Steelers misplaced a 17-10 determination in Cincinnati. Spare Terry Hanratty finished simply 2 passes a past nearest in Cleveland, however Pittsburgh nonetheless gained at the energy of Franco Harris’ 156 yards and a protection that pressured seven submits.
8. Towards the Saints please see past, Bradshaw returned the lineup and ran for 99 yards and a ranking as Pittsburgh prevailed on “Monday Night Football.” The win passed off in Tulane Stadium, the host website of that yr’s Tremendous Bowl.
9. The turning level in Pittsburgh’s season passed off a past nearest following a 13-10 loss to the Oilers in Hour 12. Rather of fixing quarterbacks once more, Steelers schoolteacher Chuck Noll caught with Bradshaw for please see past’s the most important street contest in opposition to the Patriots.
10. Bradshaw rewarded Noll’s religion in him by way of throwing the game-clinching landing cross because the Steelers clinched the AFC Central section identify and a place within the playoffs.
11. The Steelers completed the steady season with a 10-3-1 list later defeating the Bengals in Hour 14. Many pundits tabbed Pittsburgh because the AFC’s third-best group getting into the postseason, in the back of the Raiders and the two-time protecting champion Dolphins.
12. Joe Greene was once named Defensive Participant of the Hour for the second one hour in a three-year span. The day Corridor of Status defensive take on anchored a protection that tallied 52 sacks, recovered 35 fumbles, picked off 25 passes, completed 2d within the NFL in issues allowed and primary in passing yards allowed.
13. Greene nearly left the Steelers, despite the fact that, following the late-season loss to Houston. However Lionel Taylor, the group’s receivers schoolteacher, satisfied Greene that higher days had been forward for the Steelers.
14. In spite of being underneath complaint many of the yr, the Steelers offense nonetheless completed the ’74 season Negative. 6 within the NFL in issues scored. The offense was once in large part carried by way of Harris, who beggarly the 1,000-yard barrier regardless of being hampered by way of an trauma previous within the yr.
15. Pittsburgh’s sack chief all over the steady season was once defensive take on Ernie Holmes, a valued member of the group’s vaunted “Steel Curtain” defensive layout. Referred to as “Fats,” Holmes tallied 11.5 sacks, simply forward of fellow “Steel Curtain” member L.C. Greenwood, who recorded 11 sacks. Greene, who incessantly took on double groups, nonetheless controlled to get 9 sacks to his credit score.
16. Mixed, Gilliam, Bradshaw, and Hanratty mixed to finish simply 43% in their passes all over the steady season. The trio threw 12 touchdowns in opposition to 21 interceptions.
17. Frank Lewis, a day Professional Bowl receiver for the Expenses, completed the steady season as Pittsburgh’s eminent receiver with simply 365 yards and 4 touchdowns on 30 receptions.
18. Swann, the group’s first-round select, didn’t give a contribution a lot to the offense, however he was once a abundance contributor on particular groups. He led the NFL with 577 punt go back yards that integrated a 64-yard go back for a ranking in opposition to the Saints.
19. 3 Steelers secured for the group supremacy in interceptions with 5: protection Glen Edwards, linebacker Jack Ham and cornerback J.T. Thomas. Sarcastically, Corridor of Status cornerback Mel Blount was once secured for fourth at the group with two selections, the similar quantity Lambert recorded.
20. Bobby Walden, the veteran punter, was once the Steelers’ oldest participant at 36 years younger. Walden was once certainly one of simply 5 gamers from Noll’s unedited group that had been a part of the ’74 Steelers.
21. The alternative 4: Greene, Greenwood, operating again Rocky Bleier and seven-time Professional Bowl linebacker Andy Russell.
22. Along side Greenwood and Hines Ward, Russell is thought of as certainly one of Pittsburgh’s ideally suited gamers who isn’t within the Corridor of Status. Russell, who toiled on shedding Steelers groups within the ’60s, is credited with taking part in a bulky position in mentoring day Corridor of Status linebackers Russell and Lambert.
23. Talking of underrated Steelers, tight finish Randy Grossman made the Steelers roster that season as an undrafted rookie. Year his title is incessantly no longer discussed when Pittsburgh’s ancient 1974 rookie magnificence is mentioned, Grossman was once a key member of each and every of Pittsburgh’s 4 Tremendous Bowl groups all over the last decade. He stuck a bulky landing cross in Tremendous Bowl X and was once the group’s 0.33 eminent receiver all over the ’78 season.
24. The ’74 Steelers had six Professional Bowlers: Greene, Greenwood, Russell, Ham, Harris and kicker Roy Gerela. Greene, Greenwood, Ham had been tabbed as All-Execs.
25. Pittsburgh opened the playoffs with a 32-14 trouncing of the Expenses. The Steelers held Corridor of Status operating again O.J. Simpson to 49 yards on 15 carries in his simplest occupation playoff contest. Simpson did catch 3 passes for 37 yards and a landing.
26. Harris scored 3 touchdowns in opposition to the Expenses, however the contest was once a coming-out birthday celebration of varieties for Bradshaw, who threw for over 200 yards that integrated a 27-yard landing cross to Bleier. Bradshaw additionally ran for only one much less lawn than Simpson.
27. Along side Bradshaw and Harris, Bleier additionally had a bulky contest in opposition to the Expenses. He led the Steelers with 54 yards receiving in in overall yards from scrimmage (109).
28. The win marked the second one house playoff win in franchise historical past. The primary was once Pittsburgh’s dramatic 13-7 win over the Raiders within the ’72 divisional around in contest that may endlessly be recognized by way of Harris’ “Immaculate Reception.”
29. The Steelers AFC Championship contest opponent, the Raiders, dethroned the Dolphins within the divisional around following Clarence Davis’ “Sea of Hands” landing catch. The Raiders had defeated the Steelers, 17-0, again in Hour 3, and the overall consensus was once that Oakland would defeat Pittsburgh en path to attaining Tremendous Bowl IX.
30. Later his group’s win over Miami, Raiders schoolteacher John Madden declared the Raiders and Dolphins as the most productive two groups in soccer and that that contest was once the de facto Tremendous Bowl. That didn’t sit down smartly with Noll, who beggarly persona age turning in an extraordinary pregame pronunciation.
“In our meeting,” Greene recalled, “Chuck said, well, fellas, the Super Bowl wasn’t played yesterday, it’s going to be played in two weeks and the best team in football is sitting right here in this room. It just kind of levitated us out of our seat and everybody let up a big whoop and it was a done deal.”
31. The 1974 AFC Championship contest featured 20 day Corridor of Famers, 10 on each groups. The ’74 Raiders offense is ancient, with extra Corridor of Famers in its lineup (7) than any alternative unit within the Tremendous Bowl moment. The offense was once led by way of Corridor of Status quarterback Ken Stabler, that yr’s league MVP, 3 Corridor of Status cross catchers and 3 Corridor of Status linemen.
32. In spite of all of that firepower, the Raiders offense had negligible good fortune that time. Led by way of Greene, the Steelers held the Raiders to fifteen first downs and 278 overall yards age choosing off Stabler 3 times. Ham, whose 32 occupation selections is secured for third-most all hour amongst linebackers, had two of the ones selections.
33. Essentially the most obvious quantity from the AFC identify contest was once 29, which was once the amongst of dashing yards Pittsburgh allowed. The Raiders averaged 167 dashing yards all over the steady season, however they averaged simply 1.38 yards consistent with raise within the ’74 AFC identify contest.
34. Together with his operating contest nonexistent, Stabler attacked Pittsburgh’s protection. He tried 36 passes (a host in the ones days) and threw for almost 3 times as many yards as Bradshaw. His favourite goal that time was once day Corridor of Status wideout Cliff Area, whose 38-yard landing catch in opposition to Blount gave the house group a 10-3 third-quarter supremacy.
35. Later scoring simply 3 issues via 3 quarters, the Steelers ruled the fourth quarter, outscoring the Raiders 21-3 all over the sport’s ultimate quarter-hour. Harris were given issues going with an 8-yard landing run. Swann nearest gave the Steelers the supremacy for just right when he stuck a 6-yard bullet from Bradshaw within the again heart of the top zone. Later a Raiders garden objective, a 21-yard landing run by way of Harris put the sport out of succeed in, clinching Pittsburgh’s first travel to the Tremendous Bowl.
36. Year the Raiders couldn’t run the ball that time, the Steelers offense ran in every single place Oakland’s protection. Harris ran for 111 yards on 29 carries. Bleier added 98 yards on 18 carries, as Pittsburgh’s offensive layout imposed their will at the Raiders protection.
37. Years later Pittsburgh’s 24-13 victory over Oakland, Harris stated that that win was once, “the biggest game for the ’70s teams. It made us realize that we’re a really good football team, and right now, we’re probably the best. And that really set the tone for what was to come for the rest of that decade.”
38. Again nearest, groups that had Tremendous Bowl enjoy had been normally the having a bet favourite. However even though Bud Handover’s Vikings had already been in two Tremendous Bowls (together with the former yr), they had been three-point underdogs to the Steelers getting into Tremendous Bowl IX. The over/underneath was once poised at 33 issues.
39. Minnesota had already misplaced two Tremendous Bowls and was once seeking to keep away from changing into the primary group to lose the bulky contest in consecutive years. Year they struggled in Tremendous Bowls, Minnesota was once some of the NFC’s dominant groups all through the ’70s. Led by way of quarterback Fran Tarkenton and defensive finish Alan Web page, the Vikings gained a whopping 69.4% in their regular-season video games all over the last decade.
40. Tremendous Bowl IX was once meant to be the primary Tremendous Bowl to be performed within a dome. However the Superdome was once unfinished, so the sport was once rather performed at Tulane Stadium, which had already hosted two Tremendous Bowls. Of the Tremendous Bowls performed to that time, Tremendous Bowl IX had the worst climate but. It was once stormy, chilly (the temperature was once round 50 levels all through the sport) and was once performed on a water-logged garden later a hurricane had long gone in the course of the section previous within the time.
41. Talking of climate, Steelers defensive take on Dwight White was once underneath the elements all through the past. He spent a number of days within the health facility later getting pneumonia and had misplaced just about 20 kilos. White’s personal teammates didn’t know possibly later he would play games as he took phase in pregame warmups regardless of his weakened situation.
42. Year no longer simplest performed, he recored the primary protection in Tremendous Bowl historical past when he tagged Tarkenton finally zone to fracture a scoreless join in the second one quarter. That became out to be the one ranking of the primary part in what remains to be the smallest halftime supremacy for a group in a Tremendous Bowl.
43. As they’d in opposition to Oakland, the Metal Curtain totally close ill the Vikings’ dashing assault. The Vikings’ 17 yards at the garden that time (on 21 carries) is the second one fewest dashing yards by way of a group in Tremendous Bowl historical past. The ’85 Patriots are the one group to run for fewer yards in a Tremendous Bowl (7 on 11 carries in Tremendous Bowl XX).
44. Additionally indistinguishable to their contest in opposition to Oakland, Pittsburgh’s garden contest was once operating on all cylinders, led by way of Harris, who gained MVP honors later operating for then-Tremendous Bowl information 158 yards on 34 carries. Harris scored the Steelers’ first landing on a 9-yard run that integrated a crushing forbid by way of cover Gerry Mullins that cleared the nook for Harris.
45. Pittsburgh close out Minnesota’s offense, with Greene taking part in a key position with a select and a fumble healing. Greenwood additionally made his presence felt by way of batting ill 3 of Tarkenton’s passes. Tarkenton persevered a coarse time, throwing 3 selections and being held to 102 yards on 11 of 26 passing.
46. The Vikings did put together issues attention-grabbing later scoring a landing off a cancelled punt, trimming their shortage to 9-6 within the fourth quarter. However as he did in each and every of Pittsburgh’s 4 Tremendous Bowl wins all over that decade, Bradshaw engineered a game-winning pressure that ended with a landing cross. In Tremendous Bowl IX, it was once a 4-yard hit to Larry Brown that sealed Pittsburgh’s 16-6 victory.
47. You’ll argue that Pittsburgh recorded the best defensive efficiency in Tremendous Bowl historical past that time. In all, the Steelers protection allowed simply 119 overall yards, 9 first downs, and recorded 5 submits. Additionally they scored the sport’s first issues on White’s protection.
48. The group captain, Russell introduced the sport ball to Artwork Rooney, the group’s founder who persevered 4 a long time of shedding earlier than he in any case reached professional soccer’s height.
49. The 1974 Pittsburgh Steelers had been tabbed because the forty third ideally suited group in NFL historical past all over the league’s one hundredth season party in 2019.
50. Bradshaw, when requested what was once his favourite contest all over his 14-year occupation with the Steelers, had this to mention:
“I do have one game, and it was Super Bowl IX against the Minnesota Vikings. Mr. Rooney got his first world title, and he was such a sweetheart of a human being and such a gentlemen. In that game, I threw [14] passes. Franco broke the Super Bowl record for rushing, and I called all those plays, and that made me feel really good. It was after the game, and when we saw [Mr. Rooney] go up on the podium and they presented him with the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
“They all mattered, they all intended one thing, however that was once the person who intended probably the most.”
