Owner The Rooney Family Division place 1st AFC Central Start date 1997 Home field Three Rivers Stadium Team roy Chad Scott | Record 11–5 Head coach Bill Cowher General manager Tom Donahoe Team MVP Jerome Bettis | |
Playoff finish Won Divisional Playoffs (Patriots) 7–6
Lost AFC Championship (Broncos) 21–24 Pro Bowlers 6
RB Jerome Bettis
C Dermontti Dawson
ILB Levon Kirkland
SS/CB Carnell Lake
NT Joel Steed
WR Yancey Thigpen AP All-Pros 5
Dermontti Dawson (1st team)
Levon Kirkland (1st team)
Carnell Lake (1st team)
Jerome Bettis (2nd team)
Yancey Thigpen (2nd team) Similar 1995 Pittsburgh Steelers s, 1992 Pittsburgh Steelers s, 2002 Pittsburgh Steelers s, 1984 Pittsburgh Steelers s, 1982 Pittsburgh Steelers s |
The 1997 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the franchise's 65th season as a professional sports franchise and as a member of the National Football League.
Contents
- Staff
- Offseason
- Week 1 Sunday August 31 1997 vs Dallas Cowboys
- Week 2 Sunday September 7 1997 vs Washington Redskins
- Week 4 Monday September 22 1997 at Jacksonville Jaguars
- Week 5 Sunday September 28 1997 vs Tennessee Oilers
- Week 6 Sunday October 5 1997 at Baltimore Ravens
- Week 7 Sunday October 12 1997 vs Indianapolis Colts
- Week 8 Sunday October 19 1997 at Cincinnati Bengals
- Week 9 Sunday October 26 1997 vs Jacksonville Jaguars
- Week 10 Monday November 3 1997 at Kansas City Chiefs
- Week 11 Sunday November 9 1997 vs Baltimore Ravens
- Week 12 Sunday November 16 1997 vs Cincinnati Bengals
- Week 13 Sunday November 23 1997 at Philadelphia Eagles
- Week 14 Sunday November 30 1997 at Arizona Cardinals
- Week 15 Sunday December 7 1997 vs Denver Broncos
- Week 16 Saturday December 13 1997 at New England Patriots
- Week 17 Sunday December 21 1997 at Tennessee Oilers
- Game summaries
- AFC Divisional Playoff Saturday January 3 1998 vs New England Patriots
- AFC Championship Game Sunday January 11 1998 vs Denver Broncos
- Pro Bowlers
- All Pros
- References
This season was considered a transitional year due to many key free agent losses in the offseason, as well as the first season of Kordell Stewart starting at quarterback.
The Steelers finished with an 11–5 record, their fourth consecutive AFC Central top seed, and their sixth straight playoff appearance. In doing so, Steelers head coach Bill Cowher tied Hall of Fame coach Paul Brown with most consecutive playoff appearances to start a head coaching career in the NFL—a record Cowher still co-owns with Brown, as the Steelers missed the playoffs the following year.
The Steelers had 572 rushing attempts in 1997, the most in the 1990s. Their 2,479 total rushing yards were the third-most of the decade by any team.
The Steelers would host the AFC Championship Game for the third time in four years; however, they would ultimately lose to the eventual Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos.
Staff
Notable additions include Paul Wiggins and Mike Vrabel.
Offseason
The Steelers saw many key free-agents leave the team, the biggest being cornerback Rod Woodson, whose ten-year tenure with the team ended due to a dispute over money with the Rooney family. Woodson would sign with the San Francisco 49ers as a result, though the Steelers would see him again in the following four seasons afterward as a member of the rival Baltimore Ravens. Other free-agent losses included Chad Brown, Ernie Mills, Andre Hastings, Deon Figures, and Brentson Buckner, among others. The team did manage to keep its other prized free-agent besides Woodson, locking up Jerome Bettis (who they had acquired in a trade with the St. Louis Rams the year before) with a four-year deal.
The team also had a transition at quarterback. After pushing Bill Cowher play exclusively at quarterback, Kordell Stewart was handed the starting job and dropping his "Slash" role on the team. Stewart would have success with the team this season, but would be inconsistent afterwards.
The team also made some minor changes to the uniforms this season, the first changes since gold pants were adopted as part of the white jerseys in 1972. The jersey numbers, previously having the old-style block numbering, were switched to the rounder style (Futura Condensed) as seen on the helmets. In addition, the Steelers logo was added to the left shoulder. The uniforms have remained the same since these changes as of 2007.
Week 1 (Sunday August 31, 1997): vs. Dallas Cowboys
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Scoring Drives:
Week 2 (Sunday September 7, 1997): vs. Washington Redskins
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Scoring Drives:
Week 4 (Monday September 22, 1997): at Jacksonville Jaguars
at Alltel Stadium, Jacksonville, Florida
Scoring Drives:
Week 5 (Sunday September 28, 1997): vs. Tennessee Oilers
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Scoring Drives:
Week 6 (Sunday October 5, 1997): at Baltimore Ravens
at Memorial Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland
Scoring Drives:
Week 7 (Sunday October 12, 1997): vs. Indianapolis Colts
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Scoring Drives:
Week 8 (Sunday October 19, 1997): at Cincinnati Bengals
at Cinergy Field, Cincinnati
Scoring Drives:
Week 9 (Sunday October 26, 1997): vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Scoring Drives:
Week 10 (Monday November 3, 1997): at Kansas City Chiefs
at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
Scoring Drives:
Week 11 (Sunday November 9, 1997): vs. Baltimore Ravens
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Scoring Drives:
Week 12 (Sunday November 16, 1997): vs. Cincinnati Bengals
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Scoring Drives:
Week 13 (Sunday November 23, 1997): at Philadelphia Eagles
at Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia
Scoring Drives:
Week 14 (Sunday November 30, 1997): at Arizona Cardinals
at Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona
Scoring Drives:
Week 15 (Sunday December 7, 1997): vs. Denver Broncos
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Scoring Drives:
Week 16 (Saturday December 13, 1997): at New England Patriots
at Foxboro Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts
Scoring Drives:
Week 17 (Sunday December 21, 1997): at Tennessee Oilers
at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, Memphis, Tennessee
Scoring Drives:
Game summaries
Both of the Steelers post-season matchups were rematches from the regular season. The Steelers had a first-round bye, then faced the AFC East champion (and defending AFC champion) New England Patriots at home. The game, which was a homecoming for young Patriots players & Pittsburgh area natives Ty Law and Curtis Martin (Martin was in fact playing in his last game with New England before signing with the New York Jets that offseason), was also a rematch of the previous year's AFC Divisional matchup, which took place in Foxborough.
After defeating the Pats, the Steelers would lose to the eventual Super Bowl XXXII champion Denver Broncos 24–21 in Elway's last trip to Pittsburgh.
AFC Divisional Playoff (Saturday January 3, 1998): vs. New England Patriots
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Scoring Drives:
AFC Championship Game (Sunday January 11, 1998): vs. Denver Broncos
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Scoring Drives:
Pro Bowlers
See: 1998 Pro Bowl