This one may not have been the prettiest of the stretch, but for a franchise-best fifth straight game, the Pittsburgh Steelers put up at least 30 points in a game. I say the Steelers as a whole, and not the Steelers offense, because in this one, Pittsburgh got seven points courtesy of an interception returned for a touchdown by William Gay. Fortunately, those points count the same as any other in the end tally.
On the day, the Steelers scored two offensive touchdowns courtesy of running back DeAngelo Williams, who recorded his third multi-touchdown game of the year, bringing his rushing touchdown total of the season to eight, which is the second-most he has ever had in his career.
All of the other points came courtesy of the Steelers’ young first-year placekicker, Chris Boswell, who has done a more than commendable job replacing Shaun Suisham. He connected on a career-high four field goals—the second time he has done so this year—including three that came in the 40-49-yard range.
That all added up to 33 points, which was enough to beat the division-rival Cincinnati Bengals by a score of 33-20. During this five-game streak, the Steelers have posted a record of 4-1, with the only loss coming in a 39-30 game on the road against the Seattle Seahawks.
This road began two games prior to the bye week, when the Steelers needed nearly every bit of a 38-point showing to top the Raiders at home by three points. Williams rushed for two scored and Ben Roethlisberger threw for two in that game.
A week later, Pittsburgh closed out its 10-game opening schedule with a 30-9 stomping of the Browns, which included three Roethlisberger touchdowns. He had just one in the loss to Seattle, as did Williams, while Martavis Bryant also had a rushing touchdown.
Last week, the Steelers exploded for a season-high 45 points over the Colts, with Roethlisberger throwing four touchdown passes and Antonio Brown adding a punt return touchdown for good measure.
That game tied the franchise’s longest ever regular season 30-point game streak, which was split over a two-season span in 1973 and 1974. The Steelers also scored at least 30 points in three straight games from Weeks 2-4 during the 1973 season. The Steelers also had a three-game streak of 30 or more points last season.
Considering the fact that, up until last season, the Steelers did not even have five 30-point games in an entire season since 2007, and considering where this team was at the midpoint of the year from a scoring perspective, this points explosion should not be overlooked.
Roethlisberger told reporters leading up to the season that he believes with the firepower they had on offense this season, they should be able to put up 30 points a game, and that became a sort of aspiring benchmark, which they were failing to reach as they rode a rollercoaster of misfortune with missing personnel.
But they have come on down the home stretch, averaging over 35 points per game during this span, and in the process have driven their average points per game total on the season up to 26.5, which after today looks like will have them ranked fifth in the league.
