When the NFL expanded to 26 teams with the merger with the AFL in 1970, the Pittsburgh Steelers began playing the New York Jets. The previous year, the Jets had made their mark in the NFL history book as underdogs when they beat the Baltimore Colts 16-7 in Super Bowl III.
The Steelers have an overall 21-7 win record over the Jets. Playing in New York, they still maintain a healthy 10-5 advantage.
In the first two contests played in Pittsburgh, the Steelers won both. Terry Hanratty guided the team to a 21-7 triumph in 1970. Three years later, he took the honors again when he relieved a struggling Terry Bradshaw. The Steelers were 14-12 behind in the third quarter, but Hanratty came on to lead his team to a 26-14 win.
After the game, Gerela Gorillas’ were keen to highlight that the Steelers’ kicker with four field goals and two extra points equalled the team’s opponents total of 14 points.
With the Steelers celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Terrible Towel this season, I thought I would look at some of their games played that season.
With Bradshaw firmly ensconced as the Steelers’ quarterback in 1975 and with one Super Bowl victory behind them, Pittsburgh was intent on a repeat. When they travelled to New York to play the Jets, they were on top of the AFC Central division.
The week 11 game saw them with just the one loss to Buffalo. O.J. Simpson’s 227 yards, which included an 88-yard touchdown run, sealed the Steelers solitary defeat.
Cincinnati had been keeping pace with Pittsburgh until they handed Cleveland their first win of the season. That Bengals loss saw them slip a game behind the Steelers.
While the Steelers were looking good for another visit to the playoffs, the Jets were struggling. Their 32-year-old quarterback was no longer the same Broadway Joe who had led his team to a Super Bowl triumph. At $450,000 a year, Joe Namath was still the highest paid player in pro football history, but he wasn’t adding any value on the field for his team.
The (9-1) Steelers at the (2-8) Jets; November 30, 1975
The game began slowly for Terry Bradshaw, which saw the Steelers defense make the first impact. In the second quarter, Glen Edwards intercepted a Joe Namath pass, returning it 47 yards. Reggie Harrison ran 35 yards to move the chains, but Bradshaw was failing to find his receivers. Roy Gerela kick a 26-yard field goal.
The Jets replied by moving the ball to the Steelers four. Mel Blount stole Namath’s pass in the endzone for the first of his two interceptions, preventing a Jets score.
After six pass attempts that failed to connect with his receivers, Bradshaw finally found his mark with a flare pass completed to Franco Harris for a 44-yard touchdown.
In the second half, Bradshaw continued his streak of completions and found Frank Lewis with an 8-yard touchdown pass to move the Steelers further ahead.
Blount collected his second interception to set up a 19-yard field goal that saw the Steelers take a 20-0 advantage.
Jack Lambert was ejected in the final period after an altercation with Jets tackle Robert Woods. The Jets finally put points on the scoreboard after Namath found Jerome Barkum with a 6-yard touchdown pass, but by then the game had escaped them. The Steelers sealed a club record nine consecutive wins, and it also marked their tenth in a row on the road.
The Pittsburgh Steelers 20 at the New York Jets 7
Mel Blount’s two interceptions gave him ten on the season tying a team record held by Bill Dudley (1946), Howard Hartley (1951) and Jack Butler (1957). It was the fifth straight game in which Blount had collected an interception and the third time on the season he had collected two in a game.
Blount had started the season with 12 interceptions over his five-year NFL career as opposing quarterbacks stayed away from him. “Things are different this year,” Blount acknowledged. “They’re challenging me and I’m meeting it.” He would finish the season with 11, confirming a franchise record that still stands.
Terry Bradshaw’s two touchdown passes saw him set a career high 15 on the season. Bradshaw said, “It wasn’t one of our better games, but we did what we had to win. That’s the kind of football team we are.” He would finish the season with 18 touchdowns.
Dwight Wight was sympathetic towards the sad figure of Joe Namath. “I felt some compassion. He couldn’t do anything right. You hate to see a great player have such a bad day.”
The Steelers would lose one more game before moving into the playoffs and Super Bowl X where they would beat the Cowboys 21-17. The victory would see Pittsburgh become the third franchise to win back-to-back Super Bowls.
