# 1937 Pittsburgh Pirates (NFL) season

The 1937 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the team's fifth season as a professional sports club in the National Football League (NFL). The team hired John McNally as head coach after John Bach stepped down during the offseason. McNally was a former player, who played halfback for the Pirates during the 1934 season. His team finished with another 4–7 record however, McNally was welcomed back the next season.

## Offseason
### Draft

1937 Pittsburgh Pirates draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
| 1 | 5 | Mike Basrak | C | Duquesne | |
| 2 | 15 | Bob Finley | B | SMU | Played pro baseball |
| 3 | 25 | Bill Breeden | B | Oklahoma | |
| 4 | 35 | Elmo "Bo" Hewes | B | Oklahoma | |
| 5 | 45 | Jack Frye | B | Missouri | |
| 6 | 55 | Walt Roach | E | TCU | |
| 7 | 65 | Byron Haines | HB | Washington | |
| 8 | 75 | Marty Kordich | G | Saint Mary's (CA) | |
| 9 | 85 | Matt Patanelli | E | Michigan | |
| 10 | 95 | Stan Nevers | T | Kentucky | |
| Made roster ||||||

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Recap |
| 1 | September 5 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 27–14 | 1–0 | Forbes Field | Recap |
| 2 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 3 | September 19 | at Brooklyn Dodgers | W 21–0 | 2–0 | Ebbets Field | Recap |
| 4 | September 26 | New York Giants | L 7–10 | 2–1 | Forbes Field | Recap |
| 5 | October 4 | Chicago Bears | L 0–7 | 2–2 | Forbes Field | Recap |
| 6 | October 10 | at Detroit Lions | L 3–7 | 2–3 | University of Detroit Stadium | Recap |
| 7 | October 17 | at Washington Redskins | L 20–34 | 2–4 | Griffith Stadium | Recap |
| 8 | October 24 | Chicago Cardinals | L 7–13 | 2–5 | Forbes Field | Recap |
| 9 | October 31 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 16–7 | 3–5 | Forbes Field | Recap |
| 10 | November 7 | at New York Giants | L 0–17 | 3–6 | Polo Grounds | Recap |
| 11 | November 14 | Washington Redskins | W 21–13 | 4–6 | Forbes Field | Recap |
| 12 | November 21 | Brooklyn Dodgers | L 0–23 | 4–7 | Forbes Field | Recap |
| 13 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 14 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

### Game summaries
#### Week 1 (Sunday September 5, 1937): Philadelphia Eagles

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Eagles | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| Pirates | 7 | 0 | 7 | 13 | 27 |
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
* Game time:
* Game weather:
* Game attendance: 8,588
* Referee:
Scoring Drives:
* Pittsburgh – Brett 39 pass from Thompson (Weinstock kick)
* Philadelphia – Hanson 3 run (Smukler kick)
* Pittsburgh – Davidson 19 pass from Gildea (Niccolai kick)
* Philadelphia – Hewitt 7 pass from Smukler (Smukler kick)
* Pittsburgh – McNally 92 kick return (Breeden kick)
* Pittsburgh – McNally 44 pass from Fiske (kick failed)

#### Week 2 (Sunday September 19, 1937): Brooklyn Dodgers

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Pirates | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
| Dodgers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, New York
* Game time:
* Game weather:
* Game attendance: 18,000
* Referee:
Scoring Drives:
* Pittsburgh – Karcis 3 run (Kakasic kick)
* Pittsburgh – Gildea 1 run (Kakasic kick)
* Pittsburgh – McNally 6 pass from Fiske (Niccolai kick)

#### Week 3 (Sunday September 26, 1937): New York Giants

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Giants | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| Pirates | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
* Game time:
* Game weather:
* Game attendance: 33,095
* Referee:
Scoring Drives:
* New York – Richards 13 pass from Danowski (Manton kick)
* Pittsburgh – Karcis 4 run (Niccolai kick)
* New York – FG Manton 13

#### Week 4 (Monday October 4, 1937): Chicago Bears

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Pirates | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
* Game time:
* Game weather:
* Game attendance: 22,511
* Referee:
Scoring Drives:
* Chicago Bears – Nolting 13 run (Manders kick)

#### Week 5 (Sunday October 10, 1937): Detroit Lions

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Pirates | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Lions | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
at Titan Stadium, Detroit, Michigan
* Game time:
* Game weather:
* Game attendance: 16,000
* Referee:
Scoring Drives:
* Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 11
* Detroit – Caddel 2 run (Clark kick)

#### Week 6 (Sunday October 17, 1937): Washington Redskins

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Pirates | 0 | 13 | 0 | 7 | 20 |
| Redskins | 7 | 0 | 13 | 14 | 34 |
at Griffith Stadium, Washington, DC
* Game time:
* Game weather:
* Game attendance: 12,835
* Referee:
Scoring Drives:
* Washington – Battles 65 interception (Smith kick)
* Pittsburgh – McNally 43 pass from Fiske (Weinstock kick)
* Pittsburgh – Thompson 55 pass from McNally (kick blocked)
* Washington – Malone 7 pass from Baugh
* Washington – Justice 3 pass from Smith (Smith kick)
* Washington – Battles 60 run (Smith kick)
* Washington – Battles 62 run (Smith kick)
* Pittsburgh – McNally 2 pass from Karcis (Niccolai kick)

#### Week 7 (Sunday October 24, 1937): Chicago Cardinals

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cardinals | 0 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 13 |
| Pirates | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
* Game time:
* Game weather:
* Game attendance: 8,963
* Referee:
Scoring Drives:
* Chicago Cardinals – Deskin 18 pass from Coffee (May kick)
* Chicago Cardinals – Lawrence 2 run (kick failed)
* Pittsburgh – Davidson 65 pass from Fiske (Weinstock kick)

#### Week 8 (Sunday October 31, 1937): Philadelphia Eagles

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Eagles | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Pirates | 6 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 16 |
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
* Game time:
* Game weather:
* Game attendance: 2,772
* Referee:
Scoring Drives:
* Philadelphia – Pilconis 22 fumble run (Smukler kick)
* Pittsburgh – Davidson 87 interception (kick failed)
* Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 27
* Pittsburgh – Sortet 26 pass from Gildea (Niccolai kick)

#### Week 9 (Sunday November 7, 1937): New York Giants

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Pirates | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Giants | 0 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 17 |
at Polo Grounds, New York, NY
* Game time:
* Game weather:
* Game attendance: 21,447
* Referee:
Scoring Drives:
* New York – Burnett 5 pass from Danowski (Manton kick)
* New York – FG Cuf 35
* New York – Soar 25 interception

#### Week 10 (Sunday November 14, 1937): Washington Redskins

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Redskins | 6 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 13 |
| Pirates | 7 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 21 |
at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
* Game time:
* Game weather:
* Game attendance: 12,000
* Referee:
Scoring Drives:
* Washington – Pinckert 3 pass from Smith (kick failed)
* Pittsburgh – Davidson 68 run (Weinstock kick)
* Pittsburgh – Safety, Baugh tackled in end zone by Mayhew
* Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 21
* Washington – Justice 40 pass from Baugh (Smith kick)
* Pittsburgh – FG Niccolai 41
* Pittsburgh – Karcis 21 run (kick failed)

#### Week 11 (Sunday November 21, 1937): Brooklyn Dodgers

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Dodgers | 0 | 0 | 13 | 10 | 23 |
| Pirates | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* Game time:
* Game weather:
* Game attendance: 3,706
* Referee:
Scoring Drives:
* Brooklyn – Parker 2 run (Parker kick)
* Brooklyn – Parker 44 punt return (kick failed)
* Brooklyn – FG Maniaci 29
* Brooklyn – Mitchell 15 pass from Parker (Maniaci kick)

## Standings

NFL Eastern Division :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | PF | PA | STK |
| Washington Redskins | 8 | 3 | 0 | .727 | 6–2 | 195 | 120 | W3 |
| New York Giants | 6 | 3 | 2 | .667 | 5–2–1 | 128 | 109 | L1 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 4 | 7 | 0 | .364 | 4–4 | 122 | 145 | L1 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 3 | 7 | 1 | .300 | 2–5–1 | 82 | 174 | T1 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 2 | 8 | 1 | .200 | 2–6 | 86 | 177 | L1 |
    Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.