The Steelers returned from Mile High Stadium licking their wounds after dropping at 34-7 decision. Week 10 brought the Chicago Bears to Three Rivers Stadium, and at least the potential for hope.
After all, returning to Three Rivers Stadium had inspired rallies in week 3 against the Vikings and then later in week 8 against the Kansas City Chiefs.
History was also on the Steelers side. The Chicago Bears had never won a game in Three Rivers Stadium, nor had they won in Pittsburgh since 1944.
Unfortunately for the Steelers, dice do not have memories.
Case in point, Bubby Brister entered the game not having thrown an interception since the week one 51-0 blowout against the Cleveland Browns. He’d thrown 179 passes with out a pick to be precise, a record for the Steelers under Chuck Noll…
- …Bears cornerback Lemuel Stimpson intercepted Brister’s very first pass.
That was only Stimpson’s first of the day, as he grabbed one more, as did another Chicago defender.
It actually got worse for the Steelers on the ground, as they gained a meager 54 yards total rushing,
- a stat made all the more worse when one considers that 32 of those came on a Dwight Stone reverse
In contrast, the Bears amassed 203 yards rushing – without a single back getting anywhere near the century mark. Even Jim Harbaugh ran 7 times for 56 yards.
About the only good news for the Steelers was that they held the Bear’s scoreless in the second half.
Of course that would have meant so much more had the Bears not held the Steelers scoreless in both halves.
When the dust settled, the Bears defeated the Steelers 20-0, handing them their third shut out in just ten games, the first time any Chuck Noll team had been shut out three times in a year.
It was mid-November, six games remained, they had just dropped two in a row, and the 1989 Steelers record was 4-6. Many thought Pittsburgh might be lucky to match the 1988 Steelers 5-11 record.
They were wrong.
Thanks for visiting. To read the entire series click here on the 1989 Steelers tag.
