1978 Steelers 31 vs Falcons 7

[mcmillenandwife]

> 1978 Steelers 31 vs Falcons 7 - w/Costas & Matte
> 1978 Steelers 31 vs Falcons 7 - w/Fleming & Cope

Atlanta gets an old-school butt-kicking, Steeler style. Even though both teams are ultimately playoff-bound, the Falcons are totally outclassed and never stand a chance against the undefeated Steelers, who seemingly can do no wrong.

A broken play magically turns into a 6-yd Bradshaw TD run; a Rocky Bleier fumble magically becomes a 10 yd gain and a first down. Keying all of this good fortune is Franco Harris darting and cutting back against the grain for his first 100-yard game of the season, keeping Atlanta on their heels while opening up the passing game for Bradshaw. Terry takes full advantage, hitting 13 of 18 for 231 yds and 2 TDs (1 passing, 1 rushing) with John Stallworth snagging 6 of those passes for 114 yards and a TD (highlighted by a 71 yard catch & run).

But the glory this day really belongs to the men in the trenches as Pittsburgh's offensive and defensive lines simply ravage Atlanta. The Steelers execute multiple 80+ yard scoring drives as the O-Line opens gaping holes for Franco and gives Bradshaw all day to throw.

While the Steelers set a team record with 28 first downs, Steve Bartowski is the victim of one jail break after another by the Pittsburgh D-line. It's quite amazing to behold such a ferocious pass rush being generated by just the front four. And with no LBs blitzing, the Steelers are free to leave 7 defenders downfield in coverage on nearly every play. The result is a rout.

Unfortunately, the Steelers lose TE Bennie Cunningham for the season to a knee injury. Some edited huddles, post-game footage includes brief interview with Bradshaw and Cosell's Monday Night highlights.

Note: There are two different versions of this game. The first is the CBS TV broadcast (edited huddles) with Bob Costas and Tom Matte calling the game. The second is the same CBS TV edited broadcast sync'd with the full length WTAE radio call by Jack Fleming and Myron Cope.

[Guest]

Would be great if you could get 75 and 76 regular season games when the steel curtain was at its peak and dominated!

[mcmillenandwife]

Would be great if you could get 75 and 76 regular season games when the steel curtain was at its peak and dominated!

I have a few regular season games from that era, mostly from 1976. They are on the list if you search the "by season" drop-down menu. I'll be posting what I have over the next month or so.

[Guest]

Obviously, Atlanta was outclassed on this day- this game was over by halftime- but the way they rebounded from this was surprising the rest of the way. Whatever they learned on this day, they figured it out in a hurry surprisingly.

They finished 7-2 the rest of the regular season after this Three Rivers thumping. (They gave Dallas all they could handle on Divisional Playoff Saturday- and in a case of full circle, that game followed the PIT/DEN 33-10 rout)

[Garrett Garlits]

Don't forget, there are bonus highlights from This Week in Pro Football on the left side of the game description!

[Remington Steelers]

This is a rare jewel in which Bob Costas actually calls a game, and I never knew that he ever worked for CBS! I know he called games for NBC for many years before becoming the host of NFL Live! back in the '80s. I've always liked Costas especially in baseball so this is a treat. What a dominating game by the Steelers!

[Garrett Garlits]

I just wanted to congratulate you on a great merge job with the Jack and Myron version of this game. Using a photo of them in spots where the video cut out was inspired.

There are a lot of Steeler radio broadcasts becoming available lately, and some great opportunities for merges. I know you don't have time to do all of them, so I'll just list a couple that use the Steeler announcers:

1. Local call of Super Bowl XL with Billy, Tunch, and Wolf

2. Local call of Ben's first start in 2004 against the Dolphins in Miami with Billy, Myron, and Tunch.

There are a few CBS/Westwood One broadcasts as well, including the national call of the Divisional Playoff game against the Colts in 2005.

[mcmillenandwife]

I just wanted to congratulate you on a great merge job with the Jack and Myron version of this game. Using a photo of them in spots where the video cut out was inspired.

There are a lot of Steeler radio broadcasts becoming available lately, and some great opportunities for merges. I know you don't have  time to do all of them, so I'll just list a couple that use the Steeler announcers:

1. Local call of Super Bowl XL with Billy, Tunch, and Wolf

2. Local call of Ben's first start in 2004 against the Dolphins in Miami with Billy, Myron, and Tunch.

There are a few CBS/Westwood One broadcasts as well, including the national call of the Divisional Playoff game against the Colts in 2005.

Thanks, Garrett. Good suggestions. 

Next up: I'm syncing '78 vs. San Fran and the '75 AFCC vs Oakland. 

They're done, just need to upload them. These are a tremendous amount of work. Very time consuming. But I'm getting better at them.

[Garrett Garlits]

Thanks for the good news, Tim!

I wish Aaron Mintz still had his website. His list of radio games was pretty extensive, and gave people a good idea of what could be in circulation. He had a bunch of other Steelers games from the Super Bowl seasons, but I can't remember them all.