Washington joined the NFL in 1932 as the Boston Braves. A year later, when the Steelers and Eagles joined the league, Boston changed their name to the Redskins.
Washington lead the series 44-34 with 4 tied games. After the team moved to Washington in 1937, they began to dominate the Steelers winning eleven out of twelve games including a run of ten straight wins.
After the Steelers moved into the AFC in 1970, the teams have only met twelve times. Since the merger, the Steelers have dominated the exchanges 8-4 including winning the final game in Three Rivers Stadium 24-3.
The Steelers traded their third-round pick in the 1958 draft to Chicago who selected quarterback Bobby Layne. The Bears traded Layne to the Detroit where he won three championships while Pittsburgh struggled to give their fans a winning season.
Buddy Parker coached the Lions to two of Layne’s championship victories before becoming disgruntled with his players and quitting the franchise. Parker took over as the Steelers head coach in 1957.
Parker would be reunited with Layne a year later. After losing their first two games of the 1958 season, the Steelers traded their quarterback Earl Morrall and two draft picks for 33-year-old Layne. Parker was a great believer in using veteran players to build a winning team. He wouldn’t hesitate to trade away future picks if he believed a veteran could help the team win.
Layne’s first season in Pittsburgh saw the team finish with its second-best record at 7-4-1. The next three years would only produce one winning season, so Coach Parker acquired Ed Brown from Chicago to back up Layne and improve the offense.
Having lost their first four games the 1961 before finishing 6-8, Buddy Parker was determined not to repeat that bad start. Brown was designated as the starting quarterback, but after an opening day 45-7 humiliation by the Lions, Parker returned to Layne.
The following week as the Steelers squeezed past the Cowboys 30-28, Layne set a new NFL record. His touchdown pass to Buddy Dial saw him exceed Sammy Baugh’s record of 188 career touchdowns.
A week 10 victory over Washington which moved them to 6-4 saw them chasing a place in the playoffs. A week 12 defeat in Cleveland shattered those dreams. Although they missed the playoffs, a week 13 victory over the Eagles saw them make the runner up bowl.
The (8-5) Steelers at the (5-6-2) Redskins; December 16, 1962
Despite early morning snow showers, an enthusiastic crowd of 34,508 fans enjoyed a thrilling sixty minutes of football.
The Redskins struck first with a field goal from 33 yards but lost their star quarterback Norman Snead early in the first quarter with a separated shoulder.
Ater Lou Michaels missed a 47-yard field goal for Pittsburgh, the Steelers finished their next drive of 74 yards with Layne’s 39-yard touchdown pass to Buddy Dial.
Washington missed a field goal attempt from 48 yards.
A George Tarasovic interception at the beginning of the second quarter set up the Steelers second touchdown after a disputed call by the officials. Red Mack caught Layne’s pass of 40 yards that Washington’s Claude Crabb thought he had wrestled away for an interception. When the officials signalled a first down on the Redskins two for the Steelers, the home crowd made their protest loudly known.
Layne walked off the field as the crowd noise drowned out the signal calling. When some semblance of order was restored, Layne returned to finish the drive with a 1-yard touchdown dive by Dick Hoak. The Steelers went into the locker room at the half 14-3 ahead after Washington missed a 48-yard field goal.
The second half began with a Redskins scoring drive they finished with a Dick James 25-yard touchdown catch thrown by George Izo.
When the Steelers had the ball on a third down on their 23, Layne threw a pass in the direction of Preston Carpenter. Redskins Jim Steffen got to the ball first, but the ball bobbled as he attempted to gain possession and fell into the hands of Buddy Dial who carried it 62 yards. Washington’s defense held the Steelers to a Michaels’ 38-yard field goal. Michaels kicked another field goal from 33 yards as the game moved towards the fourth quarter.
On the second play of the final period, Ernie Stautner intercepted Izo’s screen pass to give Pittsburgh another scoring drive. Layne found Preston Carpenter with a 23-yard touchdown pass to extend the Steelers advantage to 27-10.
Urged on by their noisy fans, Washington pressed hard to reduce their deficit. A 49-yard pass from Izo to Dick James aided by a block from a teammate saw him sprung for a touchdown.
With two minutes remaining, the fans erupted when Izo found Bill Anderson with a 26-yard touchdown pass to bring the Redskins within three points. The fans increased their vocal support as the Redskins attempted an onside kick. The Steelers fumbled the kick before recovering the loose ball that sealed their victory as silence descended over the home fans.
The Pittsburgh Steelers 27 at the Washington Redskins 24
The Steelers 9-5 finish was their best ever record. It would see Buddy Parker become the first Steelers coach to deliver two winning seasons to the franchise. The following season he would give them a third. He was the only Steelers coach to have more than one winning season until the arrival of Chuck Noll.
Parker was complimentary about his team. “It’s the first real football team I’ve had since I’ve been here,” Parker enthused. “Before I’ve had pieces of a team. This one had all the pieces, even if we never go to use them at the same time.”
The Playoff Bowl saw Parker and Layne face their old team from Detroit. The game was expected to be a lopsided victory for the Lions much like the season opener. Despite a great performance from the Steelers, the Lions won 17-10.
Lou Michaels would set a franchise points record with 110 points on the season while just missing the NFL scoring championship by 4 points.
At the end of the season, Bobby Layne retired as a player but continued with the Steelers as their quarterback coach from 1963 to 1965.
When he retired, Layne held the NFL records for passing attempts (3,700), completions (1,814), touchdowns (196), yards (26,768), and interceptions (243).
