| Pittsburgh Steelers at Houston Oilers |
| Game Statistics & Box Score |
| Date: December 20, 1981 Location: Houston, TX Venue: Astrodome Attendance: 41056 |
| Weather: Indoors |
| Score By Quarters | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh SteelersPIT | 3 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 20 |
| Houston OilersHOU | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
| Qtr | Team | Scoring Plays | PIT | HOU |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pittsburgh SteelersPIT | David Trout 40 FG | 3 | 0 |
| 1 | Houston OilersHOU | Dave Casper 15 pass from Gifford Nielsen (Toni Fritsch kick) | 3 | 7 |
| 2 | Houston OilersHOU | Dave Casper 23 pass from Gifford Nielsen (Toni Fritsch kick) | 3 | 14 |
| 2 | Pittsburgh SteelersPIT | David Trout 37 FG | 6 | 14 |
| 3 | Pittsburgh SteelersPIT | Sidney Thornton 17 run (David Trout kick) | 13 | 14 |
| 3 | Pittsburgh SteelersPIT | Mark Malone 2 run (David Trout kick) | 20 | 14 |
| 4 | Houston OilersHOU | Dave Casper 16 pass from Gifford Nielsen (Toni Fritsch kick) | 20 | 21 |
| LINEUPS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh Steelers | ||
| Offense | ||
| 82 | WR | John Stallworth |
| 88 | WR | Lynn Swann |
| 55 | LOT | Jon Kolb |
| 73 | LOG | Craig Wolfley |
| 52 | C | Mike Webster |
| 77 | ROG | Steve Courson |
| 74 | ROT | Ray Pinney |
| 89 | TE | Bennie Cunningham |
| 16 | QB | Mark Malone |
| 38 | RB | Sidney Thornton |
| 32 | FB | Franco Harris |
| Defense | ||
| 95 | LDE | John Goodman |
| 65 | LDT | Tom Beasley |
| 67 | RDT | Gary Dunn |
| 76 | RDE | John Banaszak |
| 59 | LLB | Jack Ham |
| 58 | MLB | Jack Lambert |
| 56 | RLB | Robin Cole |
| 49 | LCB | Dwayne Woodruff |
| 31 | SS | Donnie Shell |
| 24 | FS | J.T. Thomas |
| 47 | RCB | Mel Blount |
| Houston Oilers | ||
| Offense | ||
| 00 | WR | Ken Burrough |
| 84 | WR | Mike Holston |
| 74 | LOT | Leon Gray |
| 62 | LOG | John Schuhmacher |
| 58 | C | David Carter |
| 60 | ROG | Ed Fisher |
| 76 | ROT | Morris Towns |
| 87 | TE | Dave Casper |
| 14 | QB | Gifford Nielsen |
| 45 | HB | Tim Wilson |
| 34 | FB | Earl Campbell |
| Defense | ||
| 69 | LDE | Andy Dorris |
| 71 | MG | Ken Kennard |
| 65 | RDE | Elvin Bethea |
| 59 | LOLB | Ted Washington |
| 54 | LILB | Gregg Bingham |
| 56 | RILB | Art Stringer |
| 52 | ROLB | Robert Brazile |
| 33 | LCB | J.C. Wilson |
| 32 | SS | Vernon Perry |
| 37 | FS | Mike Reinfeldt |
| 27 | RCB | Greg Stemrick |
| RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh Steelers | |||||
| Sidney Thornton | 4 | 39 | 9.8 | 17t | 1 |
| Franco Harris | 17 | 36 | 2.1 | 5 | 0 |
| Frank Pollard | 8 | 28 | 3.5 | 13 | 0 |
| Mark Malone | 6 | 19 | 3.2 | 15 | 1 |
| Russell Davis | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 4 | 0 |
| Houston Oilers | |||||
| Earl Campbell | 13 | 24 | 1.8 | 11 | 0 |
| Adger Armstrong | 3 | 13 | 4.3 | 10 | 0 |
| Gifford Nielsen | 3 | 4 | 1.3 | 4 | 0 |
| PASSING | ATT | COM | PCT | INT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD | TS | YL | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh Steelers | |||||||||||
| Mark Malone | 30 | 13 | 43.3 | 1 | 172 | 5.7 | 30 | 0 | 3 | 21 | 48.2 |
| Houston Oilers | |||||||||||
| Gifford Nielsen | 37 | 24 | 64.9 | 2 | 377 | 10.2 | 44 | 3 | 6 | 42 | 103.1 |
| RECEIVING | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh Steelers | |||||
| John Stallworth | 6 | 90 | 15.0 | 30 | 0 |
| Jim Smith | 3 | 50 | 16.7 | 23 | 0 |
| Franco Harris | 2 | 12 | 6.0 | 8 | 0 |
| Lynn Swann | 1 | 12 | 12.0 | 12 | 0 |
| Frank Pollard | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 8 | 0 |
| Houston Oilers | |||||
| Dave Casper | 6 | 139 | 23.2 | 38 | 3 |
| Mike Holston | 5 | 128 | 25.6 | 44 | 0 |
| Adger Armstrong | 5 | 30 | 6.0 | 8 | 0 |
| Earl Campbell | 4 | 18 | 4.5 | 6 | 0 |
| Ken Burrough | 3 | 48 | 16.0 | 26 | 0 |
| Ronnie Coleman | 1 | 14 | 14.0 | 14 | 0 |
| INTERCEPTIONS | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh Steelers | |||||
| Robin Cole | 1 | 29 | 29.0 | 29 | 0 |
| J.T. Thomas | 1 | 16 | 16.0 | 16 | 0 |
| Houston Oilers | |||||
| Carter Hartwig | 1 | 11 | 11.0 | 11 | 0 |
| PUNTING | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | BL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh Steelers | |||||
| Craig Colquitt | 6 | 286 | 47.7 | 62 | 0 |
| Houston Oilers | |||||
| Cliff Parsley | 7 | 264 | 37.7 | 53 | 0 |
| PUNT RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh Steelers | ||||||
| Larry Anderson | 2 | 34 | 17.0 | 20 | 0 | |
| Houston Oilers | ||||||
| Carl Roaches | 5 | 62 | 12.4 | 25 | 0 | |
| KICKOFF RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh Steelers | ||||||
| Rick Moser | 2 | 55 | 27.5 | 29 | 0 | |
| Larry Anderson | 2 | 43 | 21.5 | 23 | 0 | |
| Houston Oilers | ||||||
| Carl Roaches | 2 | 77 | 38.5 | 49 | 0 | |
| Willie Tullis | 2 | 43 | 21.5 | 26 | 0 | |
| SACKS | NO |
|---|---|
| Pittsburgh Steelers | |
| Tom Beasley | 2.0 |
| Dennis Winston | 1.0 |
| Robin Cole | 1.0 |
| John Banaszak | 1.0 |
| Joe Greene | 1.0 |
| Houston Oilers | |
| Jesse Baker | 1.0 |
| Gregg Bingham | 1.0 |
| Elvin Bethea | 1.0 |
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