The Pittsburgh Steelers will host the Arizona Cardinals at Acrisure Stadium on Sunday, and the last time that happened was in 2015, a game that the home team won, 25-13. These two teams obviously don’t play that often due to the NFL’s rotating schedule. In fact, Sunday will mark just the seventh time the two franchises have played each other in Pittsburgh since the AFL–NFL merger took place in 1966. The Cardinals, by the way, will be looking for their first win in Pittsburgh on Sunday against since 1969.
That 1969 Cardinals’ win against the Steelers in Pittsburgh took place on Oct. 5 and at Pitt Stadium. At that time, the Cardinals belonged to the city of St. Louis and their head coach was Charley Winner.
The Steelers’ head coach in 1969 was Chuck Noll and it was his first season in that role. The Steelers entered that home contest against the Cardinals with a 1-1 record while the Cardinals arrived in Pittsburgh having started their season also 1-1.
The Steelers jumped out to a 7-0 lead in that Week Three game in 1969 thanks to a two-yard touchdown pass from QB Dick Shiner to WR Roy Jefferson and a successful extra point by K Gene Mingo.
The Steelers’ 7-0 lead lasted through the first quarter. The Cardinals, however, owned the second quarter. They scored 20 unanswered points thanks to two field goals by K Jim Bakken and two rushing touchdowns by RB Willis Crenshaw.
While Shiner started for the Steelers at quarterback against the Cardinals, he was knocked out of the contest in the second quarter due to a left hand injury and his backup Kent Nix took over for him. In relief of Shiner, Nix struggled as he threw three interceptions in the game and also lost a fumble. He was also sacked four times by the Cardinals.
While Nix was able to connect with Jefferson for a 47-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter to draw the Steelers within six points of the Cardinals, Pittsburgh never scored again in the game. The Cardinals ultimately extended their lead to 27-14 thanks to a 58-yard touchdown pass from QB Jim Hart to WR John Gilliam in the fourth quarter. That was immediately followed by a Bakken extra point kick.
In a 27-14 losing effort, Jefferson ended the contest against the Cardinals with nine receptions for 155 yards and two touchdowns.
The Steelers went on to finish the 1969 season with a 1-13 record and among those losses was another one to the Cardinals in St. Louis in Week 11.
Since losing that 1969 game to the Cardinals in Pittsburgh, the Steelers have won the last three meetings between the two teams at home in 1985, 2003, and 2015. The Cardinals only managed to score a total of 38 points in those three games as well.
In total, the Steelers-Cardinals rivalry has been played 61 times (including one postseason game for the ages), with Pittsburgh winning 35 games and Arizona winning 23 games. They have also tied three times. The Steelers have won the last four meetings between the two teams, including Super Bowl XLIII. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is 4-1 versus Cardinals all-time and 1-0 against them in Pittsburgh.
At the time of this post, the Steelers are consensus 5.5-point home favorites against the Cardinals on Sunday. The Cardinals enter Sunday’s game with a 2-10 record, having lost their last two games and eight of their last nine. The Cardinals are also 0-6 on the road so far this season and 0-4 against AFC teams.
You can watch a recap of the Steelers’ 1969 home loss to the Cardinals below.
