NFL game summary for 09/09/1979:

Terry Bradshaw threw two touchdown passes, Sidney Thornton scored twice, and the Steelers' defense scored or set up 24 points as Pittsburgh rolled over Houston. Pittsburgh built a 24-0 third-quarter lead on Bradshaw's touchdown passes to Thornton (16 yards) and Jim Smith (18 yards) and scoring runs of one and eight yards by Thornton and Greg Hawthorne. The "Steel Curtain" defense, led by Mike Wagner's two interceptions and Tom Beasley's 11 unassisted tackles (most in Steeler history), allowed the Oilers just 124 net yards and held Earl Campbell to a career-low 38 yards rushing. Houston avoided a shutout when Gifford Nielsen, who entered the game in the third period for the injured Dan Pastorini, threw a nine-yard touchdown pass to Guido Merkens with eight seconds left.

Team stats coming into this game (NFL ranks in parentheses):

Team		Rush Yds/Gm	Pass Yds/Gm	Tot Yds/Gm	Turnovers
Houston Oilers	OFFENSE	199.0  (5)	166.0  (12)	365.0  (7)	3
	DEFENSE	142.0  (13)	104.0  (6)	246.0  (7)	3
Pittsburgh Steelers	OFFENSE	118.0  (20)	191.0  (11)	309.0  (14)	2
	DEFENSE	162.0  (17)	82.0  (4)	244.0  (6)	2

Line: Steelers by 6½

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Houston Oilers (1-1-0)	0	0	0	7	7
Pittsburgh Steelers (2-0-0)	7	3	14	14	38

( 0- 7) PIT Sidney Thornton 1 yard rush (Matt Bahr kick)
( 0-10) PIT Matt Bahr 45 yard field goal
( 0-17) PIT Sidney Thornton 16 yard pass from Terry Bradshaw (Matt Bahr kick)
( 0-24) PIT Greg Hawthorne 8 yard rush (Matt Bahr kick)
( 0-31) PIT Jim Smith 18 yard pass from Terry Bradshaw (Matt Bahr kick)
( 0-38) PIT Dennis Winston 41 yard interception return (Matt Bahr kick)
( 7-38) HOU Guido Merkens 9 yard pass from Gifford Nielsen (Toni Fritsch kick)

                     HOU             PIT
First Downs:         12              17
Rushes-yards:        39-102          29-82
Yards/rush:          2.6             2.8
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     8-27-57-5       12-29-198-2
Sacked-yards:        5-35            3-24
Net pass yards:      22              174
Net yards/pass:      0.7             5.4
Total net yards:     124             256
Total plays:         71 (54% run)    61 (47% run)  
Yards/play:          1.7             4.2
Fumbles-lost:        4-1             5-0
Turnovers:           6               2
Penalties-yards:     10-64           8-74

Attendance: 49,792

Passing:
HOU: Dan Pastorini, 4 of 16 for 16 yards (3 int); Gifford Nielsen, 4 of 11 for 41 yards and 1 TD (2 int)
PIT: Terry Bradshaw, 12 of 29 for 198 yards and 2 TDs (2 int)

Rushing:
HOU: Earl Campbell, 16 for 38 yards; Ronnie Coleman, 7 for 22 yards; Tim Wilson, 7 for 19 yards; Boobie Clark, 5 for 15 yards; Rob Carpenter, 4 for 8 yards
PIT: Franco Harris, 14 for 42 yards; Sidney Thornton, 7 for 20 yards and 1 TD; Greg Hawthorne, 3 for 9 yards and 1 TD; Terry Bradshaw, 3 for -3 yards; Rocky Bleier, 2 for 14 yards

Receiving:
HOU: Billy Johnson, 2 for 32 yards; Conrad Rucker, 1 for 13 yards; Mike Renfro, 1 for 12 yards; Guido Merkens, 1 for 9 yards and 1 TD; Earl Campbell, 1 for 4 yards; Rob Carpenter, 1 for -3 yards; Tim Wilson, 1 for -10 yards
PIT: Lynn Swann, 5 for 95 yards; John Stallworth, 1 for 20 yards; Franco Harris, 1 for 18 yards; Jim Smith, 1 for 18 yards and 1 TD; Sidney Thornton, 1 for 16 yards and 1 TD; Randy Grossman, 1 for 14 yards; Rocky Bleier, 1 for 9 yards; Greg Hawthorne, 1 for 8 yards

Kick returns:
HOU: Ronnie Coleman, 4 for 88 yards; Tim Wilson, 2 for 30 yards; Guido Merkens, 1 for 13 yards
PIT: Larry Anderson, 1 for 27 yards; Robin Cole, 1 for 3 yards

Punt returns:
HOU: Billy Johnson, 3 for 1 yard
PIT: Jim Smith, 8 for 65 yards

Interceptions:
HOU: Mike Reinfeldt, 1 for 23 yards; Art Stringer, 1 for 0 yards
PIT: Mike Wagner, 2 for 19 yards; Dirt Winston, 1 for 41 yards and 1 TD; John Banaszak, 1 for 3 yards; Jack Lambert, 1 for 2 yards

Punting:
HOU: Cliff Parsley, 9 for 415 yards
PIT: Craig Colquitt, 7 for 281 yards

Field Goals:
PIT: Matt Bahr, 1/2

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