1982 Pittsburgh Steelers season
| 1982 Pittsburgh Steelers season | |
|---|---|
Steelers 50th Anniversary Logo
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|
| Head coach | Chuck Noll |
| General manager | Dick Haley |
| Owner | Art Rooney |
| Home field | Three Rivers Stadium |
| Results | |
| Record | 6–3 |
| Division place | 4th AFC |
| Playoff finish | Lost to the San Diego Chargers in the 1st Round of the Super Bowl Tournament |
| Pro Bowlers | OT Larry Brown LB Jack Lambert S Donnie Shell WR John Stallworth C Mike Webster |
| AP All-Pros | Jack Lambert (1st team) Donnie Shell (1st team) |
| Team MVP | Dwayne Woodruff |
The 1982 Pittsburgh Steelers saw the team return to the playoffs after a two-year hiatus. This was also the Steelers 50th Anniversary season. Although the season was shortened as a result of the 1982 strike, the Steelers finished a strong 6–3 record, good enough for fourth in the AFC as a whole. Although division standings were thrown out as a result of the strike, the Steelers unofficially finished second in the AFC Central, one game behind defending AFC Champion Cincinnati.
The 1982 season is best remembered as the final seasons for Hall of Famers Lynn Swann and Jack Ham and the "unofficial" final season of fellow Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw, who would miss much of the 1983 season due to injuries before retiring. On the flip side, it would also be the first year of future Hall of Fame placekicker Gary Anderson and the first year of the team using a 3-4 defense, a style still used by the team as of 2013.
The Steelers would lose in the first round of the playoffs to the San Diego Chargers, in what would be the last home playoff game for the Steelers for the next ten years.
The 1982 offseason was the start of a slow transition period for the team, as the defensive line was hit with key retirements in "Mean Joe" Greene and L. C. Greenwood. Partially due to the team losing two key players and partially due to the need to go up against a more wide-open NFL, head coach Chuck Noll switched from the traditional 4–3 defensive alignment (four lineman & three linebackers) to the 3–4 (three lineman & four linebackers). The Steelers would more than make a good transition to the 3–4, as many teams have since tried to copy the Steelers success with the 3–4 alignment, especially since 2001, when the Steelers were the only team in the NFL with the alignment but led the league in defense.
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