Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

I got to say one of the historical performances that I've stumbled upon that really stands out to me that is odd that it seems like not that big of a deal in NFL lore; OJ Simpson dropping 227 yards(including an 88 yard TD run) on the Steel Curtain in their home opener in 1975. Why is it that in all of my years as a nerd for NFL history I've rarely ever heard this brought up? It doesn't seem celebrated or like it was a big deal at all, kind of a forgotten deal. This was week 2 of the Steelers 1975 Championship season, they were coming off of winning Super Bowl IX. I'm not sure if that was a thing back then but traditionally the home opener of the previous year's Super Bowl Champions hung their banner up. So one of the all time great defenses literally in the middle of back-to-back Super Bowl run gets toasted by OJ Simpson in this game.

What was the story behind it? Was Pittsburgh hobbled by injuries? Why is this not regarded as one of the all time great single game performances in NFL history like it should be? Even before OJ's murders I don't remember ever hearing about this as a kid hooked on NFL Films from the 70's/80's.

Big game for OJ, that Jack Lambert mentioned a few times on NFL Films but in the 1974 playoffs, the Steelers shut him down to only 49 yards rushing, despite a too little-too late, TD reception.

A fresh OJ in 1975 highlighted his speed in this game but the Bills couldnt make the playoffs.

Despite Buddy Ryan now in his second year no longer in Philly, the peak as well as 'last-hurrah' of the Reggie White Eagles era was their first four games of '92. Same with the OJ/Saban/'Electric Co'-Bills' first four games of '75 despite they not making the playoffs anyway...

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Don't want to make an excuse for my '75 Steelers. After demolishing the Chargers at SD, 37-0, in the opener, they - as Lynn Swann has said - may have thought that repeating would be 'easy', especially with their next opponent being at home, and against a one-dimensional plain 'good' team who they so convincingly beat in the playoffs - shutting OJ down - the year before. Again, it shouldn't be an excuse, taken away from them, Buffalo sure looked hot those first four games and this, by all means, was the highlight! Pittsburgh, awaken back up, Historically did what they did from there, the struggle-some Giants went into Buffalo on MNF in Wk#5 and sent them into that downward spiral and that was that.

As hard a truth it is for me to accept, the '75 Steelers - at least statistically (and you've all pointed this out to me) - weren't so strong against the run, that Wk#2 set-back being the prime example. Hard to fathom that considering the HOF players on that very unit - especially UP-front! I consider them the best team in modern times yet that weakness as well as their special teams not being so up-to-par and also...yes...allowing a Bert-less Colts team to stay with them for most of that divisional game. Yes, they 'made-up' for that the following year, decimating them with Bert this time. and at Baltimore! But that was '76; we're talking '75 here. Losing a second game of the season in a meaningless finale to forge them to such a two-loss mark doesn't Historically help (the 14-2 squad from '78 getting more kudos, it seems, than the 12-2 one).

But it's just stats in the end. Even if not a Steeler-fan, it'd be hard for me to place any modern-day team up with them. As I already opined, only the 1941 Chicago Bears are above them if we're talking entire NFL history (era-for-era, 'pound-for-pound', adjusting inflation, etc, etc, etc). The '75 Steelers still swept 11-3 Cincy & 10-4 Houston, still topped Oakland, and 'dared' Captain Comeback to do just that against them by going for it on 4th down late on the Biggest Stage possible...

An amazing accomplishment by 'Electric Co' in Week #2 just the same. Turned it on for two more games before slowly-but-surely crash-landing to 8-6. A shame, they should have made the playoffs, won their division, looking like they did. But simply, sadly, a case a breathing their last - and BIGGEST - breath far too early in the season.

Larry Felser, Buffalo writer, and Sporting News columnist would mention this game often. When Walter Payton broke O.J.'s single game rushing record in 1977 with a 275 yard game against the Vikings, Felser wrote something like, "Let's see Walter Payton have a game like O.J. Simpson had against the Steel Curtain defense. Only then can Walter Payton be compared to O.J. Simpson."

Felser, in another column wrote that most 200-yard games by running backs came against losing teams while O.J.'s 1975 performance was against the best defense of the era and that year's Super Bowl champion.

Heck, that wasn't even O.J.'s longest run against the Steelers. In 1972, he had a 94 yard touchdown run against Pittsburgh. They weren't quite the Steel Curtain yet, but they were still an excellent defense that year.