Steel Curtain closes on Niners on Monday Night

The Pittsburgh Steelers made a statement in their 23-3 win over the San Francisco 49ers as Monday Night Football closed out the opening weekend of the 1977 season.

In a game that wasn't as close as the score, the vaunted Steel Curtain held the Jim Plunkett-led 49ers to 54 yards of total offense while sacking the 49er QB six times. San Francisco managed only four first downs and was 0-11 on 3rd down conversions.

Franco Harris opened the Steeler scoring with a first quarter touchdown. He added a second score in the 3rd quarter for the game's final tally. Harris led all rushers with 68 yards on 21 carries.

Terry Bradshaw threw for 254 yards and a score. Lynn Swann grabbed the lone Pittsburgh TD catch.

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	OT	Total
1977 San Francisco	0	3	0	0	0	3
1977 Pittsburgh	7	9	7	0	0	23

Scoring Plays
Qtr	Clock	Poss	Scoring Description(Extra Point)	Score
1	5:23	1977 Pittsburgh	F.Harris 2 yd. run (R.Gerela kick)	7-0 PIA
2	12:00	1977 Pittsburgh	R.Gerela 43 yd. field goal	10-0 PIA
2	5:03	1977 Pittsburgh	L.Swann 11 yd. pass from T.Bradshaw (kick blocked)	16-0 PIA
2	0:52	1977 San Francisco	R.Wersching 47 yd. field goal	16-3 PIA
3	2:11	1977 Pittsburgh	F.Harris 2 yd. run (R.Gerela kick)	23-3 PIA

Team Statistics
	1977 San Francisco	1977 Pittsburgh
First Downs by Rush-Pass-Pen-Total	2-2-0-4	11-14-0-25
Third Down Efficiency	0-11-0%	5-14-36%
Fourth Down Efficiency	0-1-0%	1-4-25%
Red Zone Efficiency (pts-poss-pct)	0-7-0%	21-28-75%
Total Offense-Plays-Avg Yards Per Play	54-42-1.3	379-80-4.7
Total Net Yards Rushing	46	142
Total Rushes	22	40
Average Per Rush	2.1	3.5
Passes Completed/Attempted	4/14 (28.6%)	21/37 (56.8%)
Net Yards Passing	8	237
Avg Yards Per Pass	3.6	6.9
Sacked/Yards Lost	6/42	3/17
Punts/Average	6/39.5	2/26.5
Punts Received/Return Yardage	1/-2	5/33
Kickoffs/Returns	5/125	2/42
Interceptions/Returns	2/35	2/0
Penalties/Yards	0/0	0/0
Total Fumbles/Fumbles Lost	2/0	2/0
Time of Possession	20 mins 43 secs	39 mins 17 secs
Average Drive Start	SFN 39	PIA 36

Passing Stats
	Att	Comp	Yds	Comp %	Yds/Att	TD	TD %	INT	INT %	Long	Sack	Rating
1977 San Francisco
Jim Plunkett	10	2	34	20.0	3.4	0	0	1	10.0	28	5/30	1.7
Scott Bull	4	2	16	50.0	4.0	0	0	1	25.0	13	1/12	20.8
1977 Pittsburgh
Terry Bradshaw	37	21	254	56.8	6.9	1	2.7	2	5.4	31	3/17	64.5

Rushing Stats
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD	2 Pt Conv	Fumbles/Lost
1977 San Francisco
Wilbur Jackson	11	19	1.7	8	0	0	0/0
Delvin Williams	7	20	2.9	9	0	0	0/0
Paul Hofer	2	6	3.0	6	0	0	0/0
Scott Bull	1	0	0.0	0	0	0	1/0
Bob Ferrell	1	1	1.0	1	0	0	0/0
1977 Pittsburgh
Franco Harris	21	68	3.2	16	2	0	0/0
Rocky Bleier	14	55	3.9	15	0	0	0/0
Reggie Harrison	4	19	4.8	15	0	0	0/0
Terry Bradshaw	1	0	0.0	0	0	0	1/0

Receiving Stats
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD	2 Pt Conv
1977 San Francisco
Paul Seal	1	6	6.0	6	0	0
Delvin Williams	1	13	13.0	13	0	0
Gene A. Washington	1	28	28.0	28	0	0
Paul Hofer	1	3	3.0	3	0	0
1977 Pittsburgh
Rocky Bleier	4	37	9.3	13	0	0
Randy Grossman	4	59	14.8	23	0	0
Lynn Swann	4	53	13.3	15	1	0
John Stallworth	2	23	11.5	14	0	0
Franco Harris	2	8	4.0	7	0	0
Frank Lewis	2	34	17.0	31	0	0
Bennie Cunningham	1	7	7.0	7	0	0
Jim Smith Jr.	1	23	23.0	23	0	0
Alvin Maxson	1	10	10.0	10	0	0

Field Goals
	1-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+	Totals	% Made
1977 San Francisco
Ray Wersching	0/0	0/1	0/0	1/1	0/1	1/3	33.3
1977 Pittsburgh
Roy Gerela	0/0	0/0	0/1	1/1	0/0	1/2	50.0

Punting
	No	Avg	Net	Tb	Inside 20	Long	Blocked
1977 San Francisco
Tom Wittum	6	39.5	34.0	0	0	46	0
1977 Pittsburgh
Bobby Walden	2	26.5	27.5	0	0	37	0

Kickoff Returns
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
1977 San Francisco
Paul Hofer	3	75	25.0	26	0
Dave R. Williams	2	50	25.0	30	0
1977 Pittsburgh
Laverne Smith	2	42	21.0	23	0

Punt Returns
	Ret	FC	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
1977 San Francisco
Tony Leonard	1	1	-2	-2.0	-2	0
1977 Pittsburgh
Jim Smith Jr.	5	0	33	6.6	13	0

Individual Defense
	Tackles	Sacks	Fum Rec
1977 San Francisco
Skip Vanderbundt	8	0	0
Ralph McGill	7	0	1
Willie Harper	7	0	0
Dave Washington	6	0	0
Mel Phillips	6	0	0
Jimmy Webb	6	2	0
Tony Leonard	6	0	0
Bruce Taylor	6	0	0
Tommy Hart	3	1	0
Cleveland Elam	3	0	0
Cedrick Hardman	3	0	0
Woody Peoples	0	0	1
1977 Pittsburgh
Jack Ham	5	2	0
"Mean" Joe Greene	5	2	0
L.C. Greenwood	4	1	0
Donnie Shell	3	1	0
Glen Edwards	3	0	0
Jimmy Allen	3	0	0
Jack Lambert	3	0	0
Steve Furness	2	0	0
Mel Blount	1	0	0
Dwight White	1	0	0
Loren Toews	1	0	0
Jon Kolb	0	0	1
Jim Smith Jr.	0	0	1

Interceptions
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
1977 San Francisco
Ralph McGill	1	25	25.0	25	0
Stan Black	1	10	10.0	10	0
1977 Pittsburgh
Glen Edwards	2	0	0.0	0	0