Owner The Rooney Family Division place 3rd AFC Central Head coach Chuck Noll General manager Dick Haley Team MVP Louis Lipps | Record 9–7 AP All-Pros Rod Woodson (1st team) Start date 1989 Home field Three Rivers Stadium Team roy Carnell Lake | |
Playoff finish Won Wild Card Playoffs (Oilers) 26–23
Lost Divisional Playoffs (Broncos) 24–23 Pro Bowlers 2
OT Tunch Ilkin
CB Rod Woodson People also search for 1986 Pittsburgh Steelers season |
The 1989 Pittsburgh Steelers were considered a rebuilding team filled with many young players, especially after the release of longtime center Mike Webster in the offseason. The young team showed its inexperience in the first game of the season, when they lost at home to the archrival Cleveland Browns 51–0. The loss marked the Steelers worst defeat in franchise history. The following week wasn't much better, losing 41–10 to another division rival, the defending AFC Champion Cincinnati Bengals.
Contents
- Offseason
- Week 1 Sunday September 10 1989 vs Cleveland Browns
- Week 2 Sunday September 17 1989 at Cincinnati Bengals
- Week 3 Sunday September 24 1989 vs Minnesota Vikings
- Week 4 Sunday October 1 1989 at Detroit Lions
- Week 5 Sunday October 8 1989 vs Cincinnati Bengals
- Week 6 Sunday October 15 1989 at Cleveland Browns
- Week 7 Sunday October 22 1989 at Houston Oilers
- Week 8 Sunday October 29 1989 vs Kansas City Chiefs
- Week 9 Sunday November 5 1989 at Denver Broncos
- Week 10 Sunday November 12 1989 vs Chicago Bears
- Week 11 Sunday November 19 1989 vs San Diego Chargers
- Week 12 Sunday November 26 1989 at Miami Dolphins
- Week 13 Sunday December 3 1989 vs Houston Oilers
- Week 14 Sunday December 10 1989 at New York Jets
- Week 15 Sunday December 17 1989 vs New England Patriots
- Week 16 Sunday December 24 1989 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- AFC Wild Card Playoff Sunday December 31 1989 at Houston Oilers
- AFC Divisional Playoff Sunday January 7 1990 at Denver Broncos
- Awards and honors
- References
However, the Steelers clinched the final playoff spot in the last week in the season with a 9–7 record. Chuck Noll, in his 21st season as the team's head coach, was named the NFL's Coach of the Year for the only time in his coaching career. Noll was renowned as a stoic character, but in complete contrast was his reaction to Jerry Glanville, the head coach of the Oilers. After the Steelers second meeting, Noll in the post game handshake grabbed Glanville and told him he'd better watch out or he'd get jumped on. This was in reaction to Glanville's earlier comments on how the Oilers field was the 'house of pain' and his prediction that his players would intentionally hurt the Steelers. Despite the personal discord between the two coaches, at the end of the season, Glanville publicly revealed that he would vote for Noll for NFL Coach of the Year.
In the first round of the playoffs, the Steelers would have a memorable come-from-behind overtime victory over the division-rival Houston Oilers 26–23, which saw Gary Anderson kick a game-winning, 50-yard field goal in the extra period. The following week, the Steelers nearly pulled off a major upset against the Denver Broncos at Mile High Stadium before losing 24–23 on a Melvin Bratton one-yard touchdown run with 2:22 remaining in the game.
Though the Steelers would not make the playoffs again under Chuck Noll (missing in 1990 with an identical 9–7 record and again in 1991 at 7–9 despite a second-place finish that year), the season did set the tone for the team's return to prominence in the 1990s under his successor, Bill Cowher.
Until 2015, it was the last season the Steelers made the playoffs in a season the Super Bowl aired on CBS. Each of the next six such seasons (1991, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2012) would see the team missing the playoffs.
Offseason
The offseason was marked with the team deciding not to renew the contract of longtime center Mike Webster. Webster's release marked the end of the Super Bowl-era players on the team. Although Dwayne Woodruff was still with the Steelers and had won a Super Bowl ring during his rookie year, Webster had been the last member on the team that won all four Super Bowls. Webster would be succeeded at center with a young Dermontti Dawson, who was drafted the year before to be groomed as Webster's replacement, and like Webster would go on to an All-Pro career as one of the best at his position.
Meanwhile, the team drafted UCLA safety Carnell Lake in the second round of the 1989 draft. Lake would be a key member of the team's defense through the 1998 season, although his accomplishments would often be underlooked as opposed to his teammate, Rod Woodson.
Week 1 (Sunday September 10, 1989): vs. Cleveland Browns
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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Week 2 (Sunday September 17, 1989): at Cincinnati Bengals
at Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati
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Week 3 (Sunday September 24, 1989): vs. Minnesota Vikings
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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Week 4 (Sunday October 1, 1989): at Detroit Lions
at Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac, Michigan
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Week 5 (Sunday October 8, 1989): vs. Cincinnati Bengals
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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Week 6 (Sunday October 15, 1989): at Cleveland Browns
at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio
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Week 7 (Sunday October 22, 1989): at Houston Oilers
at Astrodome, Houston, Texas
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Week 8 (Sunday October 29, 1989): vs. Kansas City Chiefs
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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Week 9 (Sunday November 5, 1989): at Denver Broncos
at Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado
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Week 10 (Sunday November 12, 1989): vs. Chicago Bears
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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Week 11 (Sunday November 19, 1989): vs. San Diego Chargers
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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Week 12 (Sunday November 26, 1989): at Miami Dolphins
at Joe Robbie Stadium, Miami, Florida
Steelers get first ever win against the Dolphins in Miami. This game was played in a driving rain storm.
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Week 13 (Sunday December 3, 1989): vs. Houston Oilers
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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Week 14 (Sunday December 10, 1989): at New York Jets
at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey
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Week 15 (Sunday December 17, 1989): vs. New England Patriots
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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Week 16 (Sunday December 24, 1989): at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
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AFC Wild Card Playoff (Sunday December 31, 1989): at Houston Oilers
at Astrodome, Houston, Texas
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AFC Divisional Playoff (Sunday January 7, 1990): at Denver Broncos
at Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado
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