An insane game only deserves equally insane statistics. I hope I can do it justice.
– The Pittsburgh Steelers and Oakland Raiders have been playing for 45 years. Today’s 38-35 contest was the second highest-scoring matchup between the two, only surpassed by the Raiders 45-34 victory in 1980.
– Let’s get some of the obvious out of the way. Antonio Brown’s 17 catches was a franchise single-game record. So were his 284 yards. Since 1960, only one player in NFL history has posted such a stat line: Terrell Owens’ 20 catches for 283 yards in 2000.
– Brown and DeAngelo Williams each had over 200 yards from scrimmaged. It’s the first time two Steelers have done that on the same day. Williams finished with 225, Brown with 306.
– Brown and D-Will accounted for 531 yards of total offense. That is an incredible 88.9% of the Steelers’ total 597 yards of offense. Going to stick my neck out and say that is a record.
– Williams becomes just the third running back in franchise history with a game where he rushed for at least 150 yards and had another 50+ receiving. Le’Veon Bell and Franco Harris are the other two. Not bad company.
– Martavis Bryant has 13 touchdowns in fifteen career games (including postseason). He’s never gone more than two games without finding the end zone. Can you say playmaker?
– Heath Miller caught a three yard touchown in his first game. Jesse James caught a four yard touchdown in his.
– All receivers not named Antonio Brown accounted for four catches and 29 yards on 13 targets. AB did what he did on 23 targets.
– Chris Boswell made his first ten kicks before finally missing. That is shy of the Steelers record held by, you guessed it, Kris Brown, who made his first 13 with the Steelers in 1999.
– The Steelers were 6/17 on third down today, or 35.3%. That is a pretty low number but their best figure in a month, which tells you how bad this team has been on money downs lately.
– The Steelers 597 yards of total offense was the 5th most in franchise history. But not the highest of the decade. They racked up 639 last year against the Indianapolis Colts.
– The 50 pass attempts today were the Steelers most in a victory since 2011 when they knocked off the New England Patriots.
– One less appealing stat to leave you with. Tom Brady and Derek Carr have thrown 4+ touchdowns this season. It’s the first time the Steelers have allowed that from two quarterbacks since the 2006 season. Yuck.
