Sports season
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
.
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 season
.
The Steelers made 572 rushing attempts in 1997, the most in the 1990s.
[1]
Their 2,479 total rushing yards were the third-most of the decade by any team.
The Steelers went into the season introducing a new font style numbers on jerseys matching the ones they wear on the helmets and the Steelers logo patch on uniform. This was the only season where the white away jerseys featured the players last names in black letters. It would switch back to gold lettering with black trim the next season.
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
. That game was the last playoff appearance for the Steelers during the 1990s and they did not return to the postseason until
2001
.
Offseason
[
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]
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 and the names became single color (black) fonts on the white away jersey. The names returned to gold on black the following year. The uniforms have remained the same since these changes
as of 2007
.
NFL draft
[
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]
Personnel
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]
Staff
[
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]
1997 Pittsburgh Steelers staff
|
Front office
- President ?
Daniel M. Rooney
- Vice president ? John R. McGinley
- Vice president ? Arthur J. Rooney, Jr.
- Vice president and general counsel ?
Arthur J. Rooney II
- Administration advisor ?
Chuck Noll
- Director of business ? Mark Hart
- Business coordinator ? Dan Ferens
- Accounts coordinator ? Jim Ellenberger
- Office/ticket manager ? Geraldine Glenn
- Marketing coordinator ? Mark Fuhrman
- Merchandising manager ? Tim Carey
- Assistant marketing manager ? Lynne Molyneaux
- Media relations coordinator ? Rob Boulware
- Assistant/community relations ? Ron Miller
- Football operations
- Director of football operations ?
Tom Donahoe
- Personnel staff
- College personnel coordinator ?
Tom Modrak
- Pro personnel coordinator ? Charles Bailey
- College scout ? Bob Lane
- College scout ? Max McCartney
- College scout ? Phil Kreidler
- BLESTO College Scout ? Mark Gorscak
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
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|
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Defensive coaches
Special teams coaches
Strength and conditioning
- Conditioning coordinator ?
Chet Fuhrman
- Medical staff
- Ophthalmologist ? Dr. Randy Beatty
- Physician, orthopedic ? Dr. James P. Bradley
- Neurological surgery consultant ? Dr. Joseph Maroon
- Physician, M.D. ? Dr.
Richard Rydze
- Physician, consultant ? Dr.
Abraham J. Twerski
- Physician, M.D. ? Dr. Anthony P. Yates
- Training staff
- Head trainer ? John Norwig
- Assistant trainer ? Rick Burkholder
- Equipment manager ? Rodgers Freyvogel
- Field manager ? Rich Baker
- Field/equipment assistant ? Paul Gallagher
- Equipment consultant ? Tony Parisi
- Video coordinator ? Bob McCartney
- Video assistant ? Pat Dolan
- Player development coordinator ? Anthony Griggs
- Photographers ? Mike Fabus, Bill Amatucci,Michael Drazdzinski
[2]
|
Notable additions include Paul Wiggins and Mike Vrabel.
Roster
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1997 Pittsburgh Steelers final roster
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Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends
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Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen
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Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams
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Reserve lists
Practice squad
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
Rookies in italics
53 active, 4 inactive, 3 practice squad
|
Preseason
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Preseason
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Schedule
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Regular season
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Schedule
[
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]
Game summaries
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]
Week 1 (Sunday August 31, 1997): vs.
Dallas Cowboys
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|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
Total
|
Cowboys
|
0
|
17
|
17
|
3
|
37
|
Steelers
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
7
|
7
|
at
Three Rivers Stadium
,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Scoring drives:
- Dallas ? Miller 12 pass from
Aikman
(Cunningham kick)
- Dallas ?
Irvin
42 pass from
Aikman
(Cunningham kick)
- Dallas ? FG Cunningham 52
- Dallas ?
Irvin
15 pass from
Aikman
(Cunningham kick)
- Dallas ? FG Cunningham 24
- Dallas ? Johnston 13 pass from
Aikman
(Cunningham kick)
- Dallas ? FG Cunningham 28
- Pittsburgh ? Bruener 4 pass from Stewart (
N. Johnson
kick)
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
Total
|
Redskins
|
0
|
3
|
10
|
0
|
13
|
Steelers
|
7
|
0
|
0
|
7
|
14
|
at
Three Rivers Stadium
,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Game time:
1:00 pm EDT
- Game weather:
74 °F (23 °C) (Partly Sunny)
- Game attendance:
58,059
- Referee:
Ron Blum
- TV announcers:
(FOX)
Dick Stockton
(play by play),
Matt Millen
(color commentator),
Pam Oliver
(sideline reporter)
Scoring drives:
- Pittsburgh ? Stewart 1 run (
N. Johnson
kick)
- Washington ? FG Blanton 37
- Washington ? Mitchell 97 kickoff return (Blanton kick)
- Washington ? FG Blanton 28
- Pittsburgh ?
Bettis
1 run (
N. Johnson
kick)
Week 3 (Sunday September 14, 1997): Bye Week
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|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
Total
|
Steelers
|
7
|
0
|
7
|
7
|
21
|
Jaguars
|
7
|
10
|
3
|
10
|
30
|
at
Alltel Stadium
,
Jacksonville, Florida
Scoring drives:
- Jacksonville ?
Means
1 run (Hollis kick)
- Pittsburgh ? Stewart 6 run (
N. Johnson
kick)
- Jacksonville ? Smith 11 pass from Brunell (Hollis kick)
- Jacksonville ? FG Hollis 20
- Pittsburgh ?
Thigpen
4 pass from Stewart (
N. Johnson
kick)
- Jacksonville ? FG Hollis 45
- Pittsburgh ? Bruener 1 pass from Stewart (
N. Johnson
kick)
- Jacksonville ? FG Hollis 27
- Jacksonville ? Hudson 58 blocked field goal return (Hollis kick)
Week 5 (Sunday September 28, 1997): vs.
Tennessee Oilers
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|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
Total
|
Oilers
|
0
|
6
|
3
|
15
|
24
|
Steelers
|
10
|
21
|
3
|
3
|
37
|
at
Three Rivers Stadium
,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Game time:
1:00 pm EDT
- Game weather:
67 °F (19 °C) (Cloudy)
- Game attendance:
57,507
- Referee:
Bernie Kukar
- TV announcers:
(NBC)
Jim Donovan
(play by play),
Beasley Reece
(color commentator)
Scoring drives:
Week 6 (Sunday October 5, 1997): at
Baltimore Ravens
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|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
Total
|
Steelers
|
0
|
7
|
14
|
21
|
42
|
Ravens
|
14
|
10
|
0
|
10
|
34
|
at
Memorial Stadium
,
Baltimore, Maryland
- Game time:
1:00 pm EDT
- Game weather:
- Game attendance:
64,421
- Referee:
Bill Carollo
- TV announcers:
(NBC)
Tom Hammond
(play by play),
Jim Kelly
(color commentator)
Scoring drives:
- Baltimore ? Green 22 pass from
Testaverde
(
Stover
kick)
- Baltimore ? Morris 1 run (
Stover
kick)
- Baltimore ? Kinchen 24 pass from
Testaverde
(
Stover
kick)
- Pittsburgh ? Stewart 1 run (
N. Johnson
kick)
- Baltimore ? FG
Stover
34
- Pittsburgh ? Blackwell 97 kickoff return (
N. Johnson
kick)
- Pittsburgh ? C. Johnson 8 pass from Stewart (
N. Johnson
kick)
- Pittsburgh ? Bruener 4 pass from Stewart (
N. Johnson
kick)
- Pittsburgh ? C. Johnson 17 pass from Stewart (
N. Johnson
kick)
- Baltimore ? Alexander 10 pass from
Testaverde
(Byner pass from
Testaverde
)
- Pittsburgh ? Stewart 74 run (
N. Johnson
kick)
- Baltimore ? Safety, Miller ran out of end zone
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1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
Total
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Colts
|
10
|
0
|
3
|
9
|
22
|
Steelers
|
0
|
17
|
7
|
0
|
24
|
at
Three Rivers Stadium
,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Scoring drives:
- Indianapolis ? Harrison 18 pass from Harbaugh (Blanchard kick)
- Indianapolis ? FG Blanchard 37
- Pittsburgh ? FG
N. Johnson
23
- Pittsburgh ?
Bettis
7 run (
N. Johnson
kick)
- Pittsburgh ? Lake 38 fumble return (
N. Johnson
kick)
- Indianapolis ? FG Blanchard 27
- Pittsburgh ? Hawkins 28 pass from Tomczak (
N. Johnson
kick)
- Indianapolis ? FG Blanchard 35
- Indianapolis ? Stablein 5 pass from Harbaugh (pass failed)
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
Total
|
Steelers
|
0
|
13
|
7
|
6
|
26
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Bengals
|
7
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
10
|
at
Cinergy Field
,
Cincinnati
Scoring drives:
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
| OT
|
Total
|
Jaguars
|
0
|
10
|
0
|
7
| 0
|
17
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Steelers
|
0
|
0
|
7
|
10
| 6
|
23
|
at
Three Rivers Stadium
,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Scoring drives:
- Jacksonville ? Jackson 8 pass from Brunell (Hollis kick)
- Jacksonville ? FG Hollis 20
- Pittsburgh ? Hawkins 28 pass from Stewart (
N. Johnson
kick)
- Pittsburgh ? Stewart 1 run (
N. Johnson
kick)
- Jacksonville ? Mitchell 3 pass from Brunell (Hollis kick)
- Pittsburgh ? FG
N. Johnson
19
- Pittsburgh ?
Bettis
17 pass from Stewart
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1
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2
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3
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4
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Total
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Steelers
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10
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0
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0
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0
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10
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Chiefs
|
0
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13
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0
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0
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13
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at
Arrowhead Stadium
,
Kansas City, Missouri
Scoring drives:
Week 11 (Sunday November 9, 1997): vs.
Baltimore Ravens
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1
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2
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3
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4
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Total
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Ravens
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0
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0
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0
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0
|
0
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Steelers
|
10
|
10
|
10
|
7
|
37
|
at
Three Rivers Stadium
,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Scoring drives:
Week 12 (Sunday November 16, 1997): vs.
Cincinnati Bengals
[
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]
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1
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2
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3
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4
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Total
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Bengals
|
0
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0
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3
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0
|
3
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Steelers
|
3
|
3
|
7
|
7
|
20
|
at
Three Rivers Stadium
,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Game time:
1:00 pm EST
- Game weather:
30 °F (?1 °C) (Light Snow)
- Game attendance:
55,226
- Referee:
Johnny Grier
- TV announcers:
(NBC)
Dan Hicks
(play by play),
Jim Kelly
(color commentator)
Scoring drives:
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1
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2
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3
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4
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Total
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Steelers
|
3
|
3
|
7
|
7
|
20
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Eagles
|
14
|
3
|
3
|
3
|
23
|
at
Veterans Stadium
,
Philadelphia
Scoring drives:
- Philadelphia ? Dunn 31 pass from Hoying (Boniol kick)
- Philadelphia ? Fryar 8 pass from Hoying (Boniol kick)
- Pittsburgh ? FG
N. Johnson
46
- Pittsburgh ? FG
N. Johnson
40
- Philadelphia ? FG Boniol 23
- Philadelphia ? FG Boniol 35
- Pittsburgh ?
Bettis
19 pass from Stewart (
N. Johnson
kick)
- Philadelphia ? FG Boniol 25
- Pittsburgh ? Blackwell 30 pass from Stewart (
N. Johnson
kick)
Week 14 (Sunday November 30, 1997): at
Arizona Cardinals
[
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|
1
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2
|
3
|
4
| OT
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Total
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Steelers
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7
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3
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7
|
3
| 6
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26
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Cardinals
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0
|
3
|
14
|
3
| 0
|
20
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at
Sun Devil Stadium
,
Tempe, Arizona
- Game time:
4:00 pm EST
- Game weather:
- Game attendance:
66,341
- Referee:
Bob McElwee
- TV announcers:
(NBC)
Dan Hicks
(play by play),
Jim Kelly
(color commentator)
Scoring drives:
Week 15 (Sunday December 7, 1997): vs.
Denver Broncos
[
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]
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
Total
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Broncos
|
14
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7
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3
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0
|
24
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Steelers
|
7
|
14
|
7
|
7
|
35
|
at
Three Rivers Stadium
,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Scoring drives:
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
| OT
|
Total
|
Steelers
|
0
|
7
|
3
|
11
| 3
|
24
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Patriots
|
0
|
14
|
0
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7
| 0
|
21
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at
Foxboro Stadium
,
Foxborough, Massachusetts
Scoring drives:
Week 17 (Sunday December 21, 1997): at
Tennessee Oilers
[
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]
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
Total
|
Steelers
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
6
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Oilers
|
3
|
10
|
3
|
0
|
16
|
at
Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium
,
Memphis, Tennessee
Scoring drives:
Standings
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Playoffs
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Game summaries
[
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]
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
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|
1
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2
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3
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4
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Total
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Patriots
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0
|
3
|
0
|
3
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6
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Steelers
|
7
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
7
|
at
Three Rivers Stadium
,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Scoring drives:
AFC Championship Game (Sunday January 11, 1998): vs.
Denver Broncos
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|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
Total
|
Broncos
|
7
|
17
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0
|
0
|
24
|
Steelers
|
7
|
7
|
0
|
7
|
21
|
at
Three Rivers Stadium
,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Scoring drives:
Honors and awards
[
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]
Pro Bowlers
[
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]
See:
1998 Pro Bowl
All-Pros
[
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]
References
[
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]
External links
[
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]
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Formerly the
Pittsburgh Pirates
(1933?1939)
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Franchise
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Stadiums
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Culture
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Lore
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Rivalries
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Media
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Division championships (24)
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Conference championships (8)
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League championships (6)
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Retired numbers
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Hall of Fame members
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Current league affiliations
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