1979 AFC Divisional Playoff

 

Another in a series of stories about the 47 playoff games in Steelers history.

 

Dolphins demolished by Steelers' surge

 

By BOB LABRIOLA

Steelers.com

 

After the 1978 Pittsburgh Steelers became the first NFL team in history to win three Super Bowls, and after doing that by defeating the defending champion Dallas Cowboys in a 35-31 thriller, and after getting to that point by crushing the Houston Oilers in the AFC Championship Game on the way to a 14-2 regular season, many looked at a star-studded roster being coached by a living legend and decided the only team capable of beating the Steelers was the Steelers.

 

In 1979, they gave that a run. Beating themselves, that is.

 

History shows the 1979 Steelers finished 12-4, won the AFC Central Division and hosted another conference championship game, the third time that had happened in the five years since the NFL went to the merit-based system for determining the sites of playoff games. They topped 30 points in nine of their 16 regular season games; Terry Bradshaw threw 26 touchdown passes, and Franco Harris scored a dozen himself; and they averaged almost 400 yards of offense a game.

 

They also were minus-10 in turnover ratio.

 

The 1979 Steelers were somewhat schizophrenic during the regular season. Perfect at home and still often dominant. The beat the Oilers, 38-7; the Broncos, 42-7; the Redskins, 38-7; and in a game referred to at the time as Super Bowl XIII½, they handled the Cowboys, 14-3, as well.

 

On the road, they could be a disaster. Their first loss of the season was a four-turnover game in Philadelphia. At 5-1, they went to Cincinnati, turned the ball over nine times and lost, 34-10, to the 0-6 Bengals. They went to San Diego, turned the ball over eight times and allowed Bradshaw to be sacked four times in a 35-7 loss. Actually, Bradshaw helped the Chargers that day, unwittingly as it turned out, by becoming predictable with his snap count. At one point, after another third down sack, Noll met Bradshaw as he was coming off the field and screamed, "Change the (bleeping) count."

 

Age also was becoming an issue. When the season started, Joe Greene was 33. Dwight White, 30. Sam Davis, 35. Jon Kolb, 32. Franco Harris was 29 and had 2,344 NFL carries on his body, including playoffs. Mel Blount was 31, and the NFL had changed the rules on him. When the playoffs began, Jack Ham was on the injured reserve list with a dislocated ankle. Mike Wagner, 30, also was hobbled for the playoffs.

 

"We'll make the changes and adjustments we have to make, and we'll play with the kind of intensity we have to play with," said Greene as the postseason was to begin. "I don't say you can use history as a measuring stick, saying that we always rise to the occasion."

 

The opponent in the AFC Divisional Playoff round was the Miami Dolphins, and guard Bob Kuechenberg had a definite opinion about the Steelers' place in history. The Dolphins were coming to Pittsburgh as the only team to beat the Steelers in a playoff game at Three Rivers Stadium, and Kuechenberg figured doing it again would open some eyes.

 

"The World Football League did what the NFL could not do – stop the Dolphins," said Kuechenberg. "What would the Steelers have done if they lost Franco Harris, Rocky Bleier and Lynn Swann? I don't think they would've done too much without those three players. We lost Larry Csonka, Paul Warfield and Jim Kiick (to the WFL) and didn't get anything for them.

 

More from Kuechenberg: "I like to think of the Dolphins as the team of the 1970s. We went to Oakland (in 1974) and waged a war. We beat each other so bloody that Oakland had nothing left to give Pittsburgh. That particular year, Pittsburgh wasn't the best team. They were the third-best team."

 

When the ball was kicked off on Dec. 30, 1979, there was no doubt which was the best team on the Three Rivers Stadium turf.

 

On their first possession, the Steelers drove 62 yards in 13 plays for a touchdown run by Sidney Thornton; on their second, it was 62 yards in nine plays capped by a 17-yard pass to John Stallworth; on their third, it was 56 yards in six plays capped by a 20-yard pass to Lynn Swann; and on Miami's opening two possessions, the Dolphins went three-and-out.

 

It was 20-0 before the first quarter was over, and the Steelers defense had been on the field for less than two minutes of game-clock time. The Dolphins never got within double digits again and lost, 34-14.

 

"The most disappointing thing to us was that all game we never really challenged them," said Coach Don Shula. "We never got down to hard-nosed football in a game that means so much to us. We got dominated by Pittsburgh, and the first quarter killed us. Our defense just couldn't contain them on their first three possessions, and on our first two, it was three plays and out."

 

Also in this round of the 1979 playoffs, the Houston Oilers went to San Diego, and despite having to play the top-seeded Chargers without Earl Campbell and starting quarterback Dan Pastorini, and with leading wide receiver Ken Burrough able to play only a limited role, they found a hero in safety Vernon Perry.

 

Perry intercepted four Dan Fouts' passes and blocked a field goal in a 17-14 win that prevented the Steelers from having to go to San Diego for the conference championship game. Instead, it would be at Three Rivers Stadium, and it would be against the Oilers. Again.

 

"The 16 regular season games are for the fans," said Greene. "The playoffs are for us."

 

Dophins

 

0

0

7

7

 

14

Steelers

 

20

0

7

7

 

34

 

TEAM

QTR

PLAY

Pit

1

Thornton 1 run (Bahr kick)

Pit

1

Stallworth 17 pass from Bradshaw (Bahr kick)

Pit

1

Swann 20 pass from Bradshaw (Bahr kick)

Mia

3

Harris 7 pass from Griese (Von Schamann kick)

Pit

3

Bleier 1 run (Bahr kick)

Pit

4

Harris 5 run (Bahr kick)

Mia

4

Csonka 1 run (Von Schamann kick)

 

TEAM STATISTICS

 

Mia

Pit

First Downs

16

27

Third Downs

7-19 (36%)

11-14 (78%)

Total Net Yds

249

379

Plays-Avg

65-3.8

72-5.3

Rushing Yds

25

159

Att-Avg

22-1.1

40-4.0

Passing Yds

224

220

Att/Comp/Int

40-22-2

31-21-0

Punts-Avg

4-36.3

2-29.5

Penalties-Yds

4-35

8-41

Fumbles-Lost

0-0

3-3