By Alex Kozora
A statistical breakdown from the Pittsburgh Steelers zany 51-34 victory over the Indianapolis Colts.
– Let’s start with the points. 51 points is the most scored by the Steelers since putting up 52 in a 52-24 victory over the San Diego Chargers on November 25th, 1984. Since 1940, it’s tied for the 5th most points they’ve scored in a game.
– Combined, the Steelers and Colts combined for 85 points. There have only been more combined points involving the Steelers five times in franchise history. Only once since 1992. The New England Patriots 55-31 victory last season.
The last time there were more combined points in a Steelers victory came way back in 1966. The Steelers defeated the Atlanta Falcons – their inaugural season – 57-33. Cannonball Butler ran for two touchdowns that day to lead the Steelers to victory.
– 75 of those 85 points came after the first quarter. Just a 7-3 ballgame after the first.
– The Steelers had 35 points at halftime. The last time they scored that much before intermission was the 75th anniversary MNF game against the Baltimore Ravens. The one where James Harrison decleated Ed Reed.
The last time the Steelers had more than 35 points before break was in 1973 when they placed 38 on the scoreboard versus the San Diego Chargers.
– The Steelers threw 49 passes. Ben Roethlisberger was sacked zero times.
– That number is made more impressive considering he had been sacked at least once in each of his last eleven games. You’d have to go back to Week 13 last year to find the last time #7 was clean all game.
– Before Sunday, the Steelers had 17 games of attempting 49+ passes. There was only one other instance of the team not being sacked.
In other words, there has been just once in team history where the Steelers threw the ball this much and weren’t sacked.
It occurred on November 1st, 1998. A 41-31 loss against the Tennessee Oilers. If you remember, that was also the last game, up until last week, the Steelers scored at least 24 points in a quarter.
They’ve done that in each of the last two weeks. Absurd.
– I’m going to hedge this stat a little bit because to find out with absolute certainty is next to impossible. If we were to assume Martavis Bryant never catches another pass again, he’ll be one of two Steelers to catch at least three touchdowns within his first seven catches.
The other? Hall of Famer Jack Butler, who found the end zone four times on seven grabs.
That’s two players out of 204 career Steelers that caught seven or fewer in their career. Pretty impressive, yes?
– Excluding Roethlisberger’s blocked effort, the Steelers did not punt in the first half.
– Coming into Sunday, during the last four weeks, the Colts had held opposing teams to 4/41 (9.8%) on third down. The Steelers were 8/13 (61.5%).
– Roethlisberger’s 40 completions and 522 yards passing are personal bests. The 522 yards breaks the team single game record, previously held by Ben. His six touchdown passes are a personal and team record.
– Only one other time in Steelers history has the team thrown for five touchdowns without an interception. I say “team” because the only other instance of this happening was in 2006, when two QBs combined to do it. Roethlisberger threw three touchdowns with Charlie Batch chucking the other two.
The Steelers would lose that day in overtime to the Falcons, 41-38.
– Le’Veon Bell has 100 yards from scrimmage in all eight games in 2014. He’s still on pace for 2172 yards from scrimmage.
– LeGarrette Blount had more rushing yards in Week Three against the Carolina Panthers (118) than he has in the last five weeks combined (111). Over that span, he has 33 carries for 11 yards, 3.4 yards per carry.
– I asked where Heath Miller was at…we found him Sunday. His 112 yards receiving were the most he’s had since 2009. That was the Steelers 37-36 win over the Green Bay Packers, the other time Big Ben threw for 500+ yards.
That yardage mark was the second most Miller had in his career, only behind that 2009 contest. Surprisingly, it was only the third 100 yard game of his career. Only other time was in 2006.
– Antonio Brown is on pace for 1704 yards receiving with 14 touchdowns. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, those would both be single-season highs in Steelers’ history.
– The Steelers’ defense allowed seven plays of 20+ yards Sunday.
– It took James Harrison 355 days to record his next sack. Last one came on October 27th of last year.
– William Gay has been in the league since 2007, but four of his seven career interceptions have come since 2012.
– This is the second time in 2014 that the Steelers have picked off at least two passes, taking one to the house. The Jacksonville Jaguars game was the other. Before this season, that hadn’t happened since 2010.
– Some special teams’ love. Shaun Suisham made seven extra points. He’s never made more than five in one game during his career.
