5 Crucial Steelers Numbers From Monday Night
Photo Credit: Philip G. Pavely-USA TODAY Sports
While it might be a bit dramatic to call a Week 2 game a must-win, teams that start 0-2 have just a 10% chance of making the playoffs, and after the disaster of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ season opener against the San Francisco 49ers, the Black and Gold absolutely needed to get to .500 and prevent disastrous inertia from setting in.
It was a long, strange game highlighted by defense, but ultimately the Steelers got the victory to keep their young season on track. Here are five numbers that tell the story of the big win over the Browns on Monday night.
2018
The Pittsburgh Steelers recorded a pick-six on the first play of the game, something that has not been done in the NFL since 2018 when rookie Sam Darnold threw an interception to the Detroit Lions’ defense. (How did things workout for Sam Darnold, anyway?) After last week’s embarrassment at the hands of San Francisco, the Steelers were going to need something to get the taste out of their mouths as soon as possible. Highsmith was able to capitalize on a double tip from both safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and Browns tight end Harrison Bryant were unable to catch the ball, having it fall perfectly into the hands of the outside linebacker.
The home opener could not have started any better for Steelers fans. The whole stadium was abuzz as Highsmith ran it back 30 yards for the score.
And this was just the start to what would be an incredible night for Highsmith, who also recorded a forced fumble, sack, and seven total tackles before the night was done.
89
Another historic event occurred tonight when T.J. Watt became the Steelers’ all-time sack leader in just 89 career games. Watt overtook James Harrison on Monday night when he recorded his 81st sack for the franchise.
The defensive line as a whole really stepped up, bringing Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson to the ground six times. Though Watt is again the standout with a sack and his first career touchdown on a fumble recovery, Highsmith, Larry Ogunjobi, Demarvin Leal, and the rest of the D-line stepped up and made life tough for the Browns’ offense.
The defense, and more specifically, the defensive line, was able to create turnovers and manufacture some much-needed points for an offense that sputtered for the majority of the night. Their ability to get these key plays is what saved the Steelers from waking up 0-2 this morning.
2.6
The offense wasn’t able to get anything going in terms of running the ball, as they finished with just a meager 2.6 yards per carry. It was another slow start, with just one first down on their first five drives.
This inability to sustain even the slightest momentum comes just a few days after 49ers offensive tackle Trent Williams said that he and other offensive players were “hoping they (Steelers) got a first down” so they could catch their breath on the sidelines. With Kenny Pickett still developing in Year 2 and the offense being without Diontae Johnson for at least four weeks, the run game needed to step up.
Though it would be easy to place all of the blame on Najee Harris — and he is partly to blame — much of the burden falls on the shoulders of the offensive line. Their inability to create running lanes for Harris and Jaylen Warren led to offensive stagnation. Pittsburgh finished with 57 rushing yards on 19 carries, but alarmingly the team had more yards after contact than total rushing yards meaning the backs were hit early and often before the line of scrimmage.
1
What the offensive line does get credit for is how they handled star Myles Garrett, who recorded just one quarterback hit on the night. Coming into the game, one of the biggest questions everyone had was how this offensive line would hold up against the new edge rushing duo of Garrett and the newly acquired Za’Darius Smith. In Week 1, both edge rushers made Joe Burrow‘s life miserable.
The Steelers’ line held up. Although Smith was able to record some pressures early, neither pass rusher was able to record a sack. This allowed Pickett to move the ball more as the game got going.
127
George Pickens had a career day in his first game as the undisputed top wide receiver, finishing with 127 yards. With Johnson out, it was clear that someone from the receiving corps was going to have to step up, and considering the evolving Pickett/Pickens connection, he seemed the obvious choice.
Despite recording just four receptions on the day, Pickens did see a majority of the targets as Pickett looked his way on 10 of his 30 pass attempts. Pickens excelled in routes down the field as he recorded more than 20 yards on three of his four catches and had one of the plays of the night with a 71-yard touchdown catch that highlighted his speed.
While it is easy to focus on the great performance Pickens had, it’s worth noting that there was more he could have done. On further inspection, his route tree lacked any diversity and showed a clear lack of creativity from offensive coordinator Matt Canada. Hopefully, in the upcoming weeks, the Steelers’ offense can put Pickens’ talent to better use.
In his first game as the Steelers' WR1, this is the route tree for George Pickens.
Gotta be the most diverse route tree he's had to this level of success in the NFL. pic.twitter.com/vWOXa1H7pl
— Nick Farabaugh (@FarabaughFB) September 19, 2023
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