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
Local radio	KDKA
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

Game summaries

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:

• 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

	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:

• 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

	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

	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:

• Pittsburgh – FG Agajanian 15
• Pittsburgh – Dudley 1 run (Dudley kick)
• Pittsburgh – Dudley 1 run (kick failed)
• Pittsburgh – Warren 75 run (Dudley kick)

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:

• 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

	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.