The 1983 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the franchise's 51st season in the National Football League. They were good enough to win ten games and claim the AFC Central Division title over the 9–7 Cleveland Browns. The clincher came in the penultimate game of the regular season, against the New York Jets in what was the final NFL game to be played at Shea Stadium. But to Steelers fans, this was a game that always will be remembered as Terry Bradshaw's final appearance at quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
By the start of the 1983 season, the Steelers had endured many retirements, they had been forced to adapt to many changes. The Steel Curtain was no more, both from the standpoint of personnel, what with Joe Greene, L.C. Greenwood, Dwight White Ernie Holmes and Jack Ham all retired, but also from the fact the scheme had been switched from a 4–3 to the 3–4, which the Steelers still use as their base defense in 2020.
However, nothing was as dramatic as what they were about to live through for the first time since coach Chuck Noll's first season of 1969: life without Terry Bradshaw.
In another season, Jack Lambert's career would be ended by a dislocated big toe, but at this point in franchise history the most important appendage to them was Bradshaw's right arm. More specifically, his right elbow.
Sometime in the months after the 1983 NFL season, a doctor would perform surgery on that very valuable elbow, but in September 1983, the medical plan agreed to by the Steelers and Bradshaw called for rest and treatment. Several times over the season, the false hope for Bradshaw's return to the starting lineup crystallized and then evaporated. Deadlines passed. More deadlines were set. They passed as well. And on and on it went.
The sporting press in Pittsburgh dutifully would attend each practice session from the start of the 1983 season and report the one thing everyone wanted to know, and it usually read like this:
Bradshaw didn’t throw today.
Noll never was one who spent any time worrying – or even talking – about injured players, and so when the Steelers opened their regular season at Three Rivers Stadium against the Denver Broncos and rookie sensation John Elway, it was Cliff Stoudt starting at quarterback and fourth-year pro Mark Malone as the No. 2.
The 1983 Steelers had some talent, but they also had their flaws, and when they turned the ball over and/or were highly penalized they were unable to make the kinds of plays necessary to overcome those things. When they did that – five interceptions vs. Detroit on Thanksgiving Day, three fumbles and two interceptions vs. Cincinnati, two interceptions combined with 11 penalties in Cleveland – they lost decisively.
That it would be Bradshaw's last NFL game wasn't known at the time, but what was known was the Steelers needed a hero because they needed a win. They were a team that started 9–2 but found itself mired in a three-game losing streak that had it reeling at 9–5 and facing back-to-back road trips – at New York and then at Cleveland.
Interception returned 34 yards for touchdown by Johnson, Gary Anderson kick good
17
14
4
Steelers
Interception returned 70 yards for touchdown by Harvey Clayton, Gary Anderson kick good/no good (blocked)/no good (miss right)/no good (miss left)/no good (miss short)/no good
24
14
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.
24
13
The Colts' first sellout since 1977, and last in Baltimore, came about because thousands of Steelers fans who normally could not purchase tickets at Three Rivers Stadium found them cheap and plentiful in Maryland. Pittsburgh returned to Memorial Stadium with the birth of the Baltimore Ravens in 1996.
Billy Sims 2-yard touchdown run, Eddie Murray kick good
3
31
4
Lions
Robbie Martin 81-yard punt return touchdown
3
38
4
Lions
Jeff Chadwick 4-yard touchdown reception from Gary Danielson, Eddie Murray kick good
3
45
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.
3
45
Pittsburgh's first trip to the Motor City since 1967 was nothing short of disastrous. It was the Steelers' most lopsided loss under Noll, eclipsed only by a 51-0 embarrassment by the Browns at home in the 1989 opener.
Week 14: vs. Cincinnati Bengals[]
Cincinnati Bengals at Pittsburgh Steelers
1
2
3
4
Total
Bengals
14
3
3
3
23
Steelers
0
3
0
7
10
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Date: December 4, 1983
Game time: 1:00 pm EST
Game weather: 44 °F or 6.7 °C (Fog & Light Drizzle)
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.
34
7
After having been sidelined with an elbow injury for the first 14 games of the season, 36-year old Terry Bradshaw started his first game of the season. Despite still clearly being hampered by his elbow, he was able to impress in limited time. Bradshaw played two complete series and directed touchdown drives of 77 yards in eight plays, and 72 yards in nine plays. He completed 5-of-8 for 77 yards and two touchdowns, 17 yards to Gregg Garrity and 10 yards to Calvin Sweeney, enough to inspire the Steelers to a 34–7 win that clinched the division championship and a second straight appearance in the playoffs.
It would the final time Bradshaw would see the field as a player, as he felt a pop in his elbow while throwing his final pass, a 10-yard touchdown to Sweeney. Bradshaw did not play during the play-offs and retired after the season.[19]
Week 16: at Cleveland Browns[]
1
2
3
4
Total
Steelers
3
7
0
7
17
Browns
9
14
7
0
30
at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio
Date: December 18, 1983
Game time: 1:00 pm EST
Game weather: 18 °F (−7.8 °C), wind 11 miles per hour (18 km/h; 9.6 kn), wind chill 6 °F or −14.4 °C
Game attendance: 72,313
Referee: Ben Dreith
TV announcers (NBC): Bob Costas (play by play), Bob Trumpy (color commentator)
Rocky Belk 64-yard touchdown reception from Brian Sipe, Matt Bahr kick no good
3
6
1
Browns
30-yard field goal by Matt Bahr
3
9
2
Browns
Harry Holt 3-yard touchdown reception from Brian Sipe, Matt Bahr kick good
3
16
2
Steelers
Cliff Stoudt 3-yard touchdown run, Gary Anderson kick good
10
16
2
Browns
Ricky Feacher 4-yard touchdown reception from Brian Sipe, Matt Bahr kick good
10
23
3
Browns
Harry Holt 1-yard touchdown reception from Brian Sipe, Matt Bahr kick good
10
30
4
Steelers
Franco Harris 2-yard touchdown reception from Mark Malone, Gary Anderson kick good
17
30
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.
17
30
Eight days after Bradshaw threw his last pass, Brian Sipe started his last NFL game in what turned out to be a hollow victory for the Browns, who were eliminated from the playoffs three hours later when the Seahawks defeated the Patriots in Seattle.
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.
10
38
Against a first-round opponent as formidable as the 1983 Raiders – who would go on to win the Super Bowl in a rout of the Washington Redskins – the Steelers would find themselves woefully short on weapons. Bradshaw's situation had drawn the most attention, but the 1983 Steelers also were without John Stallworth for the bulk of the season. Franco Harris averaged just 3.6 yards a carry, and after Calvin Sweeney, who led the team with 39 catches, no other wide receiver had even as many as 20.
If anything, the Steelers went to the West Coast for a playoff game against the Raiders on the strength of their defense, a unit that rolled up 50 sacks and 45 takeaways. Cliff Stoudt would finish with 12 touchdown passes as the starting quarterback in 15 games; the Steelers’ defense scored seven touchdowns itself.
Any hope the Steelers had to upset the 12–4 Raiders rested with its defense, but looming over everything was the specter of the turnovers.
The game was played on Sunday, January 1, and it wasn't much of one for long, and the fact it wasn't can be traced to two poor decisions by the Steelers, the first by their coach and the second by their quarterback.
Taking the opening kickoff, the Steelers marched 78 yards in eight plays, but Chuck Noll took the oomph factor out of the whole thing by opting for a field goal on fourth-and-inches from the Raiders goal line. The Steelers defense then forced a Raiders punt, and after Ray Guy pinned the Steelers offense deep in its territory, Stoudt was next in line to make a poor decision.
His out-pattern to Calvin Sweeney on first down was intercepted by Raiders cornerback Lester Hayes and returned 18 yards for a touchdown, and the impact on the respective teams was far more than the seven points it added to the scoreboard.
Hayes’ interception simultaneously inflated the Raiders and deflated the Steelers. The Raiders scored 10 more points before the end of the half, and then 17 more in their first three possessions of the second half.
When the 38–10 debacle was over, the Raiders were on their way to the third Super Bowl championship in their history, while the Steelers were about to embark on life without Terry Bradshaw. This time, permanently.[1]
