Sunday marked what might be a huge turning point for the Pittsburgh Steelers. It might have been only a 20-10 win over the New Orleans Saints but it was the most complete game the Steelers had played since the first game of the season. We’ve had a chance to pour over the stats from the game and here are four that really stood out.
43 rushes
The Steelers decided to commit to the run game and it paid off. Pittsburgh rushed the ball 43 times for 217 yards. That alone is remarkable but made it more when you consider the Saints only ran 47 plays total.
29 rushing yards
The Steelers plan was to stuff the New Orleans run game and they succeeded. New Orleans only rushed for 29 yards total on 15 carries and despite having Alvin Kamara and being in a close game, the Saints abandoned the run. In a contrast to New Orleans’ 29 rushing yards, running back Najee Harris had a 36-yard rush and three other Steelers including quarterback Kenny Pickett had a rush of at least 20 yards.
Balance in the passing attack
There was some worry that by trading away wide receiver Chase Claypool, quarterback Kenny Pickett might struggle. And while it wasn’t Pickett’s best game passing the football, the fact he targeted nine different players with seven different players logging at least one catch says there is still plenty of playmakers to go around.
