1935 Pittsburgh Pirates (NFL) season

The 1935 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the team's third season since its formation two years prior. The 1935 Pirates (would later be renamed in 1940) fired former coach Luby DiMeolo after completing the '34 season with a 2–10 record. They brought in Duquesne head coach, Joe Bach, who improved their record to 4–8, and stayed until the next season before returning to coach in college.

1935 Pittsburgh Pirates season
Owner	Art Rooney
Head coach	Joe Bach
Home field	Forbes Field
Results
Record	4–8
Division place	3rd NFL Eastern
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
← 1934 Pirates seasons 1936 →

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record
1	September 13	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 17–7	1–0
2	September 22	New York Giants	L 7–42	1–1
3	September 29	Chicago Bears	L 7–23	1–2
4	October 6	at Green Bay Packers	L 0–27	1–3
5	October 9	Philadelphia Eagles	L 6–17	1–4
6	October 20	Chicago Cardinals	W 17–13	2–4
7	October 27	Boston Redskins	W 6–0	3–4
8	November 3	Brooklyn Dodgers	L 7–13	3–5
9	November 10	at Brooklyn Dodgers	W 16–7	4–5
10	November 24	Green Bay Packers	L 14–34	4–6
11	December 1	at Boston Redskins	L 3–13	4–7
12	December 8	at New York Giants	L 0–13	4–8

Standings

NFL Eastern Division
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	PF	PA	STK
New York Giants	9	3	0	.750	8–0	180	96	W5
Brooklyn Dodgers	5	6	1	.455	3–4–1	90	141	T1
Pittsburgh Pirates	4	8	0	.333	3–5	100	209	L3
Boston Redskins	2	8	1	.200	2–4–1	65	123	T1
Philadelphia Eagles	2	9	0	.182	2–5	60	179	L5

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Game summaries

Week 1 (Friday September 13, 1935): Philadelphia Eagles

	1	2	3	4	Total
Pirates	14	0	0	3	17
Eagles	7	0	0	0	7

at Temple Stadium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 20,000
• Referee:

Scoring Drives:

• Philadelphia – Manske 1 pass from Kirkman (Kirkman kick)
• Pittsburgh – Casper 1 run (Niccolai kick)
• Pittsburgh – Ribble blocked punt recovery in end zone (Niccolai kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 47

Week 2 (Sunday September 22, 1935): New York Giants

	1	2	3	4	Total
Giants	7	21	0	14	42
Pirates	0	0	0	7	7

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 23,298
• Referee:

Scoring Drives:

• New York – Richards 13 run (Strong kick)
• New York – Burnett 45 pass from Danowski (Strong kick)
• New York – Molenda 30 interception (Strong kick)
• New York – Clancy 10 run (Sarausky kick)
• Pittsburgh – Weisenbaugh 3 pass from Gildea (Niccolai kick)
• New York – Burnett 25 pass from Danowski (Strong kick)
• New York – Sarausky 10 run (Molenda kick)
• Notes: New York head coach Steve Owen admits in 1935 that he "shaved" the game, ordering his Giants to fumble 3 times inside the 10 & didn't call a pass play in the 4th quarter, the world's first public admission of game fixing.^[1]

Week 3 (Sunday September 29, 1935): Chicago Bears

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	23	0	0	23
Pirates	0	0	7	0	7

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 11,858
• Referee:

Scoring Drives:

• Chicago Bears – Pollock 13 pass from Masterson (Manders kick)
• Chicago Bears – Johnsos 18 pass from Molesworth (Manders kick)
• Chicago Bears – Johnsos 13 pass from Dunlap (kick failed)
• Chicago Bears – FG Kopcha 26
• Pittsburgh – Casper lateral from Sortet after pass from Gildea (Niccolai kick)

Week 4 (Sunday October 6, 1935): Green Bay Packers

	1	2	3	4	Total
Pirates	0	0	0	0	0
Packers	0	20	0	7	27

at City Stadium, Green Bay, Wisconsin

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 5,000
• Referee:

Scoring Drives:

• Green Bay – Sauer 3 run (Schwammel kick)
• Green Bay – Laws run (kick failed)
• Green Bay – Hutson 50 pass from Herber (Smith kick)
• Green Bay – Hutson 1 pass from Herber (Engebretsen kick)

Week 5 (Wednesday October 9, 1935): Philadelphia Eagles

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	10	0	0	7	17
Pirates	0	0	0	6	6

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 6,271
• Referee:

Scoring Drives:

• Philadelphia – Matesic 2 run (Reese kick)
• Philadelphia – FG Reese 40
• Philadelphia – Carter 58 pass from Storm (Reese kick)
• Pittsburgh – Weisenbaugh 10 pass from Doehring (kick failed)

Week 6 (Sunday October 20, 1935): Chicago Cardinals

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	0	7	0	0	7
Pirates	6	6	0	14	26

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 7,000
• Referee:

Scoring Drives:

• Pittsburgh – Casper 14 pass from Doehring (Niccolai kick)
• Chicago Cardinals – Sarboe 80 punt return (Smith kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 22
• Chicago Cardinals – Nichelini 5 run (kick blocked)
• Pittsburgh – Strutt 74 interception (Niccolai kick)

Week 7 (Sunday October 27, 1935): Boston Redskins

	1	2	3	4	Total
Redskins	0	0	0	0	0
Pirates	0	3	3	0	6

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 12,000
• Referee:

Scoring Drives:

• Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 41
• Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 46

Week 8 (Sunday November 3, 1935): Brooklyn Dodgers

	1	2	3	4	Total
Dodgers	7	6	0	0	13
Pirates	0	0	7	0	7

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 13,390
• Referee:

Scoring Drives:

• Brooklyn – Becker pass from Franklin (Kercheval kick)
• Brooklyn – Hubbard 56 pass from Kercheval (kick blocked)
• Pittsburgh – Wetzel 1 run (Niccolai kick)

Week 9 (Sunday November 10, 1935): Brooklyn Dodgers

	1	2	3	4	Total
Pirates	6	0	3	7	16
Dodgers	7	0	0	0	7

at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, New York

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 18,000
• Referee:

Scoring Drives:

• Brooklyn – Grossman 5 run (Kercheval kick)
• Pittsburgh – Levey 34 pass from Gildea (kick blocked)
• Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 25
• Pittsburgh – Levey run (Niccolai kick)

Week 11 (Sunday November 24, 1935): Green Bay Packers

	1	2	3	4	Total
Packers	6	14	0	14	34
Pirates	0	7	7	0	14

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 12,902
• Referee:

Scoring Drives:

• Green Bay – Sauer 3 run (kick blocked)
• Green Bay – Sauer 75 interception (Smith kick)
• Pittsburgh – Levey 3 run (Niccolai kick)
• Green Bay – McNally 41 pass from Monnett (Smith kick)
• Pittsburgh – Levey 13 pass from Turley (Niccolai kick)
• Green Bay – Hinkle 2 run (Smith kick)
• Green Bay – McNally 11 interception (Smith kick)

Week 12 (Sunday December 1, 1935): Boston Redskins

	1	2	3	4	Total
Pirates	0	3	0	0	3
Redskins	0	0	0	13	13

at Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 5,000
• Referee:

Scoring Drives:

• Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 27
• Boston – Musick run (Musick kick)
• Boston – Renter 19 run (kick failed)

Week 13 (Sunday December 8, 1935): New York Giants

	1	2	3	4	Total
Pirates	0	0	0	0	0
Giants	3	7	0	3	13

at Polo Grounds, New York, New York

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 7,000
• Referee:

Scoring Drives:

• New York – FG Newman 29
• New York – Goodwin 65 pass from Danowski (Strong kick)
• New York – FG Strong 44

References

1. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Google News Archive Search