The 1973 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the team's 41st season in the
National Football League. The team finished second in the
AFC Central division, but qualified for the
postseason for the second consecutive season. The Steelers got off to a terrific start winning eight of their first nine games. However, a costly three game losing streak would put their playoff hopes in jeopardy. The Steelers would recover to win their last two games, but had to settle for a Wild Card berth with a 10–4 record. The Steelers would lose in the playoffs to the
Oakland Raiders 33–14 in Oakland.
The 1973 Steelers' pass defense is arguably the greatest in the history of the NFL. Their defensive passer rating—the
quarterbackpasser rating of all opposing quarterbacks throughout the season—was 33.1, an NFL record for the
Super Bowl era.
Pittsburgh's pass-defense numbers that year were stunning. Opposing passers compiled the following stat-line:
164 of 359 (45.7%) for 1,923 yards, 5.36 [yards-per-attempt], 11 [touchdowns] and 37 [interceptions]
The figure that leaps screaming off the sheet is the amazing 37 picks in 14 games. The
2009 Jets, by comparison, allowed a puny 8 TDs in 16 games, but hauled in just 17 picks.
Pittsburgh's all-time best pass defense was an equal-opportunity unit:
Mike Wagner led the team with 8 INT, but 10 other guys recorded at least one pick. Amazing. Eleven defenders boasted at least one INT for Pittsburgh that season. The entire starting secondary recorded 24 picks alone, and
Hall of Fame cornerback
Mel Blount was last on the list: Wagner (8), safety
Glen Edwards (6), cornerback
John Rowser (6) and Blount (4).
The campaign was chronicled in
Roy Blount Jr.'s 1974 book About Three Bricks Shy of a Load. The source of its title was
Craig Hanneman whose endearing description of himself and his teammates after the regular season away victory over the
Oakland Raiders was "We’re all about three bricks shy of a load."[2]
The 1973 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the team's 41st season in the
National Football League. The team finished second in the
AFC Central division, but qualified for the
postseason for the second consecutive season. The Steelers got off to a terrific start winning eight of their first nine games. However, a costly three game losing streak would put their playoff hopes in jeopardy. The Steelers would recover to win their last two games, but had to settle for a Wild Card berth with a 10–4 record. The Steelers would lose in the playoffs to the
Oakland Raiders 33–14 in Oakland.
The 1973 Steelers' pass defense is arguably the greatest in the history of the NFL. Their defensive passer rating—the
quarterbackpasser rating of all opposing quarterbacks throughout the season—was 33.1, an NFL record for the
Super Bowl era.
Pittsburgh's pass-defense numbers that year were stunning. Opposing passers compiled the following stat-line:
164 of 359 (45.7%) for 1,923 yards, 5.36 [yards-per-attempt], 11 [touchdowns] and 37 [interceptions]
The figure that leaps screaming off the sheet is the amazing 37 picks in 14 games. The
2009 Jets, by comparison, allowed a puny 8 TDs in 16 games, but hauled in just 17 picks.
Pittsburgh's all-time best pass defense was an equal-opportunity unit:
Mike Wagner led the team with 8 INT, but 10 other guys recorded at least one pick. Amazing. Eleven defenders boasted at least one INT for Pittsburgh that season. The entire starting secondary recorded 24 picks alone, and
Hall of Fame cornerback
Mel Blount was last on the list: Wagner (8), safety
Glen Edwards (6), cornerback
John Rowser (6) and Blount (4).
The campaign was chronicled in
Roy Blount Jr.'s 1974 book About Three Bricks Shy of a Load. The source of its title was
Craig Hanneman whose endearing description of himself and his teammates after the regular season away victory over the
Oakland Raiders was "We’re all about three bricks shy of a load."[2]