This game kicked off just after 1pm ET. A little more than two hours earlier--at 10:56am ET--in Ellsworth, Maine, someone else entered planet earth. That someone is ME, some 6 weeks earlier than the anticipated due date. Of course, I didn't get to see this game as a then two-hour old boy. In fact, being born a premature one, I had a partially collapsed lung and was hospitalized for nearly three weeks. Then, in mid-December, my family and I moved to the Bay Area as my father began a new job at the US Post Office. Thanks for this upload on the same day I was born.
People always cite the Dallas game as "a changing of the guard", and it most certainly was, but that sentiment is even more applicable to this game. Dallas wasn't the team of the 70's, it was Pittsburgh, and here they were on the tail end of 4 Super Bowls, new decade, aging roster, up against what would become their historical bookend, duplicating their Super Bowl success in the new decade. The 80's absolutely ruled.
Yeah But Dallas was still gooed thru 1985. They were very good in 1981. The Steelers were essentially suddenly old starting in 1980. And Dallas was the runner up of the 70,s always an excellent team.
@@ricktheitalianrebel6687 Actually, the Dallas dynasty ended with the retirement of Roger Staubach. Danny White was good but couldn't carry his team to the SB.
It was believed, rightly or wrongly, that the Cowboys were still the best organization in the NFC in 1981. That's why the 49ers and their Fans all circled the Date that the 49ers would play the Cowboys for NFC Supremacy in 1981.
@@donquixote... They are definitely a standout football team. I read about the Steelers' defensive and offensive linemen were mostly on steroids. That also implied that the steelers were the NFL pioneer PED franchise.
Thanks for posting. Finding a bunch of these old games that I was too young to remember. My first memory is the NFC Championship game this season. I was too busy running around outside on Sundays, until that Sunday. I grew up in the Bay Area and that Sunday there was no one outside. But I’m watching every game I can find from 81.
Jedi I can relate I was only 8 years old when this game was played and I had just became a Pittsburgh Steelers fan and yeah I was busy running around outside growing up in Newark NJ to remember this changing of the guard... I couldn't see myself being a jet or a giants fan at that time... Til this day I'm a die hard Pittsburgh Steelers fan!!!
Thanks a million for uploading this game! What a historically important game: the team of the 1970's vs the eventual team of the '80s. The 'changing of the guard' with Dallas, give me a break! This was the REAL changing of the guard! Imagine being a 49ers rookie (like Ronnie Lott) proving yourself against a team that had won 4 Super Bowls over the span of 6 years, had quite a few Hall of Famers on both sides of the ball, and then actually BEAT them in their home stadium. For the Niners, no doubt this would have been the game of their lives.
Thanks for showing this recording. I lived is the Bay Area in the 80's and recorded the First 49er Superbowl game on VHS as well as the Dallas playoff game, that got them into the SB. (It was the one with the famous Dwight Clark leaping catch. "THE Catch".) Years later I met him and we talked about it. He commented on how everybody he met always asked him about that catch. I was thrilled to watch and tape ALL 5 Superbowls they won. I now have them all on DVD too. Watching an old game that I didn't record is fun for me and brings back good memories. Thanks again.
Wow looking back on this, its pretty crazy to see basically the team of the 70s vs the team of the 80s. Both qbs with 4 rings by the time they retired, i respect them both although i am a Raiders fan and those damn 70s steelers kept the Raiders out of a couple super bowls in the 70s, and i always wished SBXVIII had been Raiders vs 49ers instead of Redskins but oh well at least the Raiders beat the skins.
the game prior to this one had the 49ers beating the Rams in their first meeting of the season and it got the attention of sports illustrated who gave them the cover and did a big story about the game. The story ended with naming upcoming teams the 49ers woulld play and made sure to mention that Steelers were next week. The article ended with something like the niners are going to find out how good they really are. Well I guess they found out.
Yeah the Steelers were on the decline by this point but they were still a veteran team that was tough to beat at home and they still had the aura of those Super Bowl teams and big names.
The difference is the following: Bradshaw was a loud-mouth and Noll stacked his team with steroid supplements. Montana was all mental toughness and talents while Walsh was strategic planning and excecutions.
Just like in the three other Super Bowls they won in the 80's. People always mention Montana but D wins Championships. 49ers D was always in top 5 during those wins. That's one of the reasons why The Chargers never made it.
AVC IV All because the 49ers didn’t have a running game (and secondary) for two years...when they did have a running game in 1997 they got hit with a bunch of injuries and the team more or less declined from there.
0:34 A stunning reminder of the physical specimen Franco Harris was. Even with all the Immaculate Reception glory, he is still probably underrated as a dominant running back in his time.
Not a bad game. Probably the closest two dynasty teams will come to facing one another. Steelers dynasty ending, and the 49ers just starting. The funny thing is, this was not a shining performance for either team.
Mostly on point. A few other instances come close, in terms of legendary intersections of teams. The Raiders and Cowboys missed playing one another in a SB by a game on two occasions, in '76 and again in '80. They did play each other to some good regular season games in '80 and '83, though. Also, you can say the 1992 NFCCG between the Cowboys and 49ers was a meeting of two dynastic-ish teams.
Was hard to see as a Steeler fan, but the Niners did it right by choosing an innovative coach with an eye for great veteran players like Hacksaw Reynolds, Freddie Solomon, Lenvil Elliott, Wendell Tyler, Russ Francis, Lawrence Pillers, and ex-Chargers Gary "Hands" Johnson and Louie Kelcher. After San Francisco's early '70s disappointments and the horrible 2-14 season, watching longtime Niners fans rewarded with a stellar, consistent team was enjoyable.
This was the year Bill Walsh's "west coast" offense took off. Walsh was the OC in Cincinnati in the mid 70's. The Bengals retained his offensive philosophy after he left the team in 76. His offense is based on timing with quarterback/receivers/running backs for the passing game. Prior to 1978 defenders could keep contact with receivers 5 yards beyond the line of scrimmage.
I had a lot of newspaper cut outs of this game that I saved in a photo album and kept for many years. I had Carlton Williamson on one catching an interception that was called back with a penalty.
The switching of decade, dynasty team game. Cowboys, Vikings, of 70,s could never beat Pittsburgh at Three Rivers. This was first Pittsburgh loss to NFC team at home in 10 yrs. To the L.A. Rams in 1971. Pittsburgh had never defeated Rams until Superbowl XIV. Jan 1980.
The Rams were pretty good in '71 but the 49ers won the west by half a game over them while losing both games they played each other because of a tie against Atlanta in week 2 which proved to be crucial to the Rams in the end.
Snake Oiler, The Rams should have won but the Steelers roids linemen took extra dosage before the SB and prevailed at the scrimmage. It is hard to beat the PED pioneers. Also, poor Roger Staubach and the Cowboys lost to them twice.
I remember watching this game in Pittsburgh when I was 15. I remember being upset the way the Steelers played in this game but yet I was impressed and shocked at how good the 49ers defense was. And this was the game when I first heard of Joe Montana. I have been a die hard 49ers fan ever since.
This is the "Respect" game. Pittsburgh doesn't have any for SF, at kick-off. This 49ers game has a tremendous impact instilling confidence & gaining respect from every NFL player & team. SF 49ers defeated 6 teams twice that season. SF49ers earned "respect".
I remember watching this game as a 10 year old kid. Looking at the game as a 51 year old man, I still say the Steelers were still a good team. At this point (in 1981) the Steelers were starting to wear down with age, injuries, retirements and just being unable to find stud replacements. The 49ers were young, hungry, aspiring and had much to prove. Although the loss is not easy to accept, at least this was a loss to a worthy team.
How many legends in the same Game!!! Amazing! Lambert, Hamm, Harris, Bradshaw, Stallworth, Montana, Clark, Lot, Hicks, Turner... Maaaaan!! Just amazing!!! Glads for you from Mérida Yucatán México 🌟✨
A total of 19 players/ coaches/ owners. 14 for Pittsburgh, 5 for San Francisco. From the 1981 game, the HOF'S are: 49ers: Debartolo, Walsh, Montana, Dean, Lott Steelers: A. Rooney Sr, D. Rooney, Noll, Dungy, Greene, Ham, Blount, Bradshaw, Harris, Lambert, Webster, Swann, Stallworth, Shell
Talk about Hall of Fame & Superbowl Dynasties. Four rings to follow w/coaching trees resulting in several more rings & future HOFs. One Dynasty meeting a future one. Funny to hear that Steelers don't lose at home. 2020 loss to Browns shows where they're now.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was known for churning out football players. Joe Montana, Jim Kelly, Dan Marino, Johnny Unitas, George Blanda, Joe Namath and others are from the area.
Rookies Lott, Williamson & Wright were starters as DB's; Cooper, Stuckey, Turner, Puki, Leopold were 2nd year players; and of course Montana & Clark were 3rd year players - Walsh drafted very well.
Nice meeting of the old dynasty at their tail end, and the new young raw budding dynasty. Tough hitting by both, good secondary play, rough game with some TOs. Franco had a great day, and Montana some clutch plays. I like at very end of the game/video, on the far right of the screen - Montana shaking hands with the Steelers D-Linemen, then he and Lambert.
Other footnotes to this game: Joe Montana grew up near Pittsburgh. Bill Walsh would've gotten to know this steeler team well having to play them twice a year while an assistant in Cincinnati.
Yes, I looked it up on my own personal copy, and it was a Mel Blount 50 yard interception return. Basically Montana got pressured in the pocket, and threw a panicky pass on an out route to his left. Bad throw that was taken to the house. A shame that it's missing from the broadcast uploaded here.
@George Washington Dennis Miller was the all-time worst MNF announcer, Cosell did more than MNF, His " Down goes Frazier "! call during an Ali/Frazier fight was legendary.
I’m a Raiders Fan living In Altoona Pa. I Found Myself watching A Lot of Old Football Games from the 70s during this Man Made Virus by China anyway I 4GOT Just how GREAT the Steelers were, they weren’t Just Great but they Were So Deep they were litterly 6/7 players Deep per Position.!! Simply Awesome watching those Old Games & remember Bradshaw called his Own plays during the game which shows U how in tuned Bradshaw was During the Game too Know what to call..Amazing to watch if u can how Great the Steelers were in the 70s.!!
All the qbs in the '70s and prior called their own plays. Bradshaw was nothing special in this regard. Montana in the later part of the '80s knew Walsh's offense so well, he called his own plays too. But by then OCs where doing the play calling for almost every team.
The legends began retiring The USFL gutted the Steelers of more starters..namely Jim Smith Then Bradshaw got hurt Of course they passed on Marino And that finished off the best dynasty we knew
You alluded to it by passing on Marino, but it is to be noted that the drafts for the Steelers in the 80s did them in as well. Yes, they drafted Rod Woodson during that period, but it was a far cry from the track record they put together in the 70s. To me, Noll stayed on much longer than he should have. The Steelers continuity, loyalty, and stability was their greatest strength but eventually became their greatest weakness. If they didn't bring in Bill Cowher and the Bengals hired him instead of Dave Shula, who knows where they would be today?
@Brian OSullivan not sure what you mean but yes...the drafting in the 80s was below average...Marino alone would have made them a playoff team the whole decade dude...they may have won the super bowl in 83 and 84 w marino...they were in the playoffs w Cliff S and Mark Malone. .the Bengals were not going to hire Cowher
This was only Pittsburg's SECOND LOSS to an NFC team at home since the merger took place 10 seasons prior to this one. Ya I would've described it the same way. Virtually unbeatable at home! Not that I'm disappointed in the outcome mind you. I hate the Steelers
Are you kidding me. Montana practically gave this game away. He was good for two turnovers a game in '81. That pick 6 was all you had and definitely kept Pitt in this game. Meet the new defense. Same as your old defense....only a way better offense=the team of the 1980s. Pitt was never gonna win this game without divine intervention and they used all that up years before. PS: Ask John Stallworth about how Pitt beat the 49ers. Oh ya you can't. He don't remember this game😂
@@plantfeeder6677 I concur with you ,the better team, 49ers, won this contest ,no questions from me about that narrative.Your assessment about the 49ers 80's dynasty offense being better then 78,79 70's Steelers dynasty team ,and defense being equal then steel curtain i objectively disagree with . Pittsburgh Steelers possessed 5 hofers on offense ,goat wr tandem ,6 hofers on defense ,should be 8 with LC and Russell . Only defense in NFL history that can apply a objective debate of having the goat players at a respective position playing together on the same team . 43 defense DT Mean Joe Greene, OLB Jack Ham ,ILB Jack Lambert ,CB Mel Blount,SS Donnie Shell who retired with a NFL record 51 ints as a ss ,and NFL record total turnovers with fum recoveries added to ints . On offense, Mike Webster, Theo, Bell,Calvin Sweeney , Frank Lewis ,Bennie Cunningham,Craig Hawthorne ,Rocky Bleier, Randy Grossman one of the most underrated great hofers Franco Harris ,Swann ,Stallworth , great offensive line . Those incredible 49ers teams were transcended,gifted on every level , but as the 49ers legendary coach himself Bill Walsh once lamented ,the 70's Steelers were the greatest collection of talent ever assembled on a single football team . Oh,yeah ,like Walsh ,the Steelers had a top 10 all time head coach as well ,Chuck Noll. Steelers repeated twice ,43 years later ,no franchise still has ever equaled nor surpassed that iconic achievement . Steelers offensive and defensive collective talent were better then 49ers ,49ers coach even admitted it .
I see I'm a bit late to this comment party :) This was surely a statement win for the Niners that year. The Steelers, though aging at that point, went on a 2-6 slide with this loss and missed the playoffs for the second straight year after having won four of the previous six Super Bowls. Just a strategic note, nowadays field goal kicking is several bits better than it was back then. Even the "worst" kickers would be given a chance to try a 53-yarder to tie a game with less than two minutes to go, much as the Steelers found themselves late in this one. Also, and interestingly, the Steelers won the next two games they played against SF. Handed them their only loss in 1984 and one of only two losses in 1987.
@@danyluk1, my bad, indeed. Thought they had gone 7-9 overall but indeed they were 8-8. The 1981 Steelers were quite competitive for being a largely old team in transition.
Chuck noll and Terry Bradshaw really hurt the steelers teams of the 1980s early on with bad coaching decision and bad quarterback play with all the interceptions and noll playing wrong player's and getting rid of some good players Jim Smith dirt Winston Theo Bell Greg Hawthorne Larry Anderson Tony Dungy sid Thornton Russell Davis Anthony Washington Zack Valentine Mike merriweather and keeping his favorite slower lest affected players, names I didn't call!
After this game both teams went in different directions. Steelers went 8-8 after 5-3 start and 49ers went 13-3 after 6-2 start and Super Bowl champs . Steelers could have won a 5th title in 80’ if the Steelers defense didn’t fall off going from 5th to 15th . Steelers offense was number 1 in 79’ ,6th in 80’, 11th in 81 along with the Steelers being 11th in defense. San Francisco’s defense was number 2 that year and really the reason they won super bowl 16. San Fran’s offense was 13th that year . I’m glad the match up happened, Bradshaw was 3-0 against the 49ers and might have been 4-0 if Franco didn’t fumble in the 1st inside the 20.
Yep, pretty cool game looking back at it. The Team of the '70s in their final years, and the future Team of the '80s just getting started. The Steelers did win their division in '83, '84 and '85, even making it to the '84 AFC Championship. But most of those '70s Steeler greats were retired by '84 including Bradshaw, Greene, Harris, Swann, Ham and Blount. The only guys left who won all 4 Super Bowls were Lambert, Webster, Stallworth, Shell and Brown.
Too many injuries for the Steelers. Age was the likely culprit. Too many tough physical games vs the AFC Central foes and Oakland. 80 was a great team that got beat up. This team went toe-to-toe with both SB finalists with injury depleted lineups in all 3 games and went 0-3. It was a sad time for us Steeler fans. A time for revenge for everyone else.
@@TheTicktockman321 1980 teams lost to the browns , bengals and oilers at the end by a couple of points . Probably could have been 13-3 , I think they get 1 for the thumb in 81 ‘! Oakland was a weak team , barely got by the browns in the playoffs.
Hoping to see Dynasty vs Dynasty, but SF wasn't anywhere near their peak yet here and Pittsburgh was on the decline. Old and tired, having already made their mark.
Yes, Montana was just beginning to mature - still making some bad choices and throws. But on the other hand showing signs of what he would become and his natural talents, coolness and poise. But his ability to see, read and pick apart defenses would improve substantially. And of course the team's quickness and talent depth would increase. And once they established a better running game with Wendell Tyler and Roger Craig, that's when they really took off.
Actually, that's called playing defense. It was a close game, and if not for a Franco fumble early in the game that stopped a scoring drive, the Steelers may well have won.
@@jadentrez Yes, may well have, though apparently outplayed. The mistakes of a very young (no pun intended) Montana. What were Bradshaw's excuses...? Not so much meaning to rip the Steelers, but hey, the niners kicked Steeler ass that day, in Three Rivers...
@@jadentrez I understand your sentiments, but the Steelers needed a win, and were at the then fortress of Three Rivers, and save for the two interceptions, it also may well have been 31-7. At least Dallas got throttled at the old Candlestick.
@@donquixote... young Montana. When was he ever young? He just caught Pittsburgh in a rare off year. We've won 2 out of 3 Super Bowls since then. San Fran, not so much.
Noll A victim of his own teams massive success. He couldn't just cut guys that won him all those Superbowls. He should of by the time this game was played many of those great Steelers were older and much slower. STEELERS SUPER 70's greatest Dynasty ever.
Ya John Stallworth doesn't even remember this game. The 49ers beat the Steelers in total Raiders fashion. The only way Pittsburg is even in this game is because of that new qb of the 49ers throwing interceptions😂😂 Called both dynastys before they ever won their first SBs. Trouble was I was pulling for Hanrattey(Pitt)and DeBerg(SF)to do it. So I'm lousy at picking qbs. But not football teams😊
Week 9 Television Assignments CBS Doubleheader 1pm 49ers/Steelers Vin Scully, Hank Stram Falcons/Saints Gary Bender, Fred Dryer Bears/Buccaneers Frank Glieber, Johnny Morris 4pm Cowboys/Eagles Pat Summerall, John Madden Cardinals/Redskins Lindsey Nelson, George Allen Lions/Rams Tom Brookshier, Roger Staubach NBC Single Game 1pm Browns/Bills Don Criqui, John Brodie Jets/Giants Marv Albert, Len Dawson Oilers/Bengals Bob Costas, Bob Trumpy Colts/Dolphins Jay Randolph, Jim Turner 2pm Seahawks/Packers Sam Nover, Dave Rowe 4pm Chiefs/Chargers Phil Stone, Gene Washington Patriots/Raiders Merle Harmon, George Kunz ABC Monday Night Football 9pm Vikings/Broncos Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, Fran Tarkenton
This is a sloppy game. How often you see Joe cool threw an interception? He actually threw 2. Joe was going to become a much better QB. I think the 1984 Joe Montana was at his best.
@Ben TheKeeshond • this was Montana's first full season as the starting quarterback. Pittsburgh also had knowledge of Walsh's west coast offense when he was an offensive assistant with Cincinnati from 1970-75.
@@keithclark7266 Because of Bill Walsh's offensive strategy, the Cincinnati Bengals offence was playing very good against the Pittsburgh Steroiders. One of the Sterioders' SB season, they lost 2 games, both of them against the Bengals.
@@benthekeeshond545 In 1975, Pittsburgh finished 12-2. Their 2 losses were to the Bills in week 2, and to the Rams in week 14. They also finished 14-2 in 1978. Their 2 losses were to the Oilers in week 8, and to the Rams in week 11
