1942 Pittsburgh Steelers season
# 1942 Pittsburgh Steelers season

The 1942 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the franchise's 10th season in the National Football League (NFL). The team improved on their previous season result of 1–9–1 with a record of 7–4–0, which was good enough for 2nd place in the NFL East. This was the franchise's first ever winning record.

For the second straight year, the team held training camp in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

## Regular season

### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | September 13 | Philadelphia Eagles | L 14–24 | 0–1 |
| 2 | September 20 | at Washington Redskins | L 14–28 | 0–2 |
| 3 | October 4 | New York Giants | W 13–10 | 1–2 |
| 4 | October 11 | at Brooklyn Dodgers | W 7–0 | 2–2 |
| 5 | October 18 | at Philadelphia Eagles | W 14–0 | 3–2 |
| 6 | October 25 | Washington Redskins | L 0–14 | 3–3 |
| 7 | November 1 | at New York Giants | W 17–9 | 4–3 |
| 8 | November 8 | at Detroit Lions | W 35–7 | 5–3 |
| 9 | November 22 | Chicago Cardinals | W 19–3 | 6–3 |
| 10 | November 29 | Brooklyn Dodgers | W 13–0 | 7–3 |
| 11 | December 6 | at Green Bay Packers | L 21–24 | 7–4 |

The 1942 Steeler Team was the best team the club had up to that point. For the first time in 10 seasons, the Steelers had a 4-game winning streak. The team finished with a 7–4 record and looked forward to the next season. However, due to the loss of players in the US draft, the team was forced to combine operation with the cross-state rival, Philadelphia Eagles. This would be one of the first times the Steelers felt that fate interrupted the future success that was expected. The Steelers wouldn't post another winning season until 1947, even then, their future was interrupted by fate.

### Game summaries

**Week 1 (Sunday September 13, 1942): Philadelphia Eagles**

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Eagles | 7 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 24 |
| Steelers | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 |

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

* Game time:
* Game weather:
* Game attendance: 13,349
* Referee:

Scoring Drives:

* Pittsburgh – Dudley 44 run (Binotto kick)
* Philadelphia – Davis 3 run (Barnum kick)
* Philadelphia – Supulski 41 pass from Thompson (Graves kick)
* Philadelphia – FG Barnum 24
* Philadelphia - Meyer 12 pass from Thompson (Barnum kick)
* Pittsburgh – Looney 24 pass from Dudley

**Week 2 (Sunday, September 20, 1942): Washington Redskins**

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Steelers | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 14 |
| Redskins | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 28 |

at Griffith Stadium, Washington, DC

* Game time:
* Game weather:
* Game attendance: 25,000
* Referee:

Scoring Drives:

* Washington – Juzwik 2 run (Juzwik kick)
* Pittsburgh – Dudley 84 kick return (Sanders kick)
* Pittsburgh – Riffle 1 run (Sanders kick)
* Washington – Aldrich 50 blocked field goal return (Juzwik kick)
* Washington – Juzwik 39 run (Juzwik kick)
* Washington – Justice 3 pass from Baugh

**Week 4 (Sunday October 4, 1942): New York Giants**

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Giants | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Steelers | 0 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 13 |

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

* Game time:
* Game weather:
* Game attendance: 9,600
* Referee:

Scoring Drives:

* New York – FG Cuff 37
* New York – Hapes 15 pass from Leemans (Cuff kick)
* Pittsburgh – Hoague 3 run (kick failed)
* Pittsburgh – Sandig 4 run (Niccolai kick)

**Week 5 (Sunday October 11, 1942): Brooklyn Dodgers**

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Steelers | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Dodgers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, New York

* Game time:
* Game weather:
* Game attendance: 17,689
* Referee:

Scoring Drives:

* Pittsburgh – Dudley 7 run (Niccolai kick)

**Week 6 (Sunday October 18, 1942): Philadelphia Eagles**

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Steelers | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
| Eagles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

at Shibe Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

* Game time:
* Game weather:
* Game attendance: 12,500
* Referee:

Scoring Drives:

* Pittsburgh – Sandig 39 run (Niccolai kick)
* Pittsburgh – Riffle 1 run (Niccolai kick)

**Week 7 (Sunday October 25, 1942): Washington Redskins**

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

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

* Game time:
* Game weather:
* Game attendance: 37,746
* Referee:

Scoring Drives:

* Washington – Todd 3 pass from Baugh (Masterson kick)
* Washington – Cifers 9 blocked punt return (Masterson kick)

**Week 8 (Sunday November 1, 1942): New York Giants**

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Steelers | 0 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
| Giants | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 9 |

at Polo Grounds, New York, New York

* Game time:
* Game weather:
* Game attendance: 19,346
* Referee:

Scoring Drives:

* New York Giants – FG Cuff 18
* Pittsburgh – Sandig 64 punt return (Niccolai kick)
* Pittsburgh – FG Simington 16
* New York Giants – Cuff 35 pass from Cantor (Cuff kick)
* Pittsburgh – Dudley 66 run (Niccolai kick)

**Week 9 (Sunday November 8, 1942): Detroit Lions**

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Steelers | 0 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 35 |
| Lions | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |

at Briggs Stadium, Detroit, Michigan

* Game time:
* Game weather:
* Game attendance: 16,473
* Referee:

Scoring Drives:

* Detroit – Hackney run (Lio kick)
* Pittsburgh – Sandig 8 run (Niccolai kick)
* Pittsburgh – Brown 9 lateral from Kichefski after 15 pass from Dudley (Sanders kick)
* Pittsburgh – Dudley 37 run (Sanders kick)
* Pittsburgh – Riffle 1 run (Sanders kick)
* Pittsburgh – Lamas 29 fumble run (Sommers kick)

**Week 10 (Sunday November 22, 1942): Chicago Cardinals**

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Cardinals | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Steelers | 7 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 19 |

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

* Game time:
* Game weather:
* Game attendance: 20,711
* Referee:

Scoring Drives:

* Chicago Cardinals – FG Daddio 38
* Pittsburgh – Riffle 44 run (Sanders kick)
* Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 22
* Pittsburgh – FG Nicolai 30
* Pittsburgh – Gonda 27 run (kick failed)

**Week 11 (Sunday November 29, 1942): Brooklyn Dodgers**

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Dodgers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Steelers | 0 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 13 |

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

* Game time:
* Game weather:
* Game attendance: 4,593
* Referee:

Scoring Drives:

* Pittsburgh – Tomasic 52 punt return (Niccolai kick)
* Pittsburgh – Gonda 68 run (kick failed)

**Week 12 (Sunday December 6, 1942): Green Bay Packers**

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Steelers | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 21 |
| Packers | 7 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 24 |

at Wisconsin State Fair Park, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

* Game time:
* Game weather:
* Game attendance: 5,138
* Referee:

Scoring Drives:

* Green Bay – Brock 20 pass from Isbell (Hutson kick)
* Green Bay – FG Hutson 20
* Pittsburgh – Martin 53 lateral from Riffle after run (Niccolai kick)
* Green Bay – Jacunski 49 pass from Isbell (Hutson kick)
* Green Bay – Rucinski 24 pass from Isbell (Hutson kick)
* Pittsburgh – Dudley 3 run (Simington kick)
* Pittsburgh – Martin 24 pass from Dudley (Sanders kick)

## Standings

NFL Eastern Division :

| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | PF | PA | STK |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Washington Redskins | 10 | 1 | 0 | .909 | 7–1 | 227 | 102 | W9 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 7 | 4 | 0 | .636 | 5–3 | 167 | 119 | L1 |
| New York Giants | 5 | 5 | 1 | .500 | 4–4 | 155 | 139 | W2 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 3 | 8 | 0 | .273 | 2–6 | 100 | 168 | L6 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 2 | 9 | 0 | .182 | 2–6 | 134 | 239 | L1 |

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

