It wasn’t weird. But the outcome is still awful.
– As always, a look at the boxscore. The 35-30 final is a rare regular season outcome in NFL history. Only the 8th time it’s ever happened. Twice have come in the 2016 calendar year. Once in January (last season) and today. It hadn’t happened prior to 2016 until 2006. And it’s the first game Pittsburgh or Dallas have ever been involved in.
– The bad news: Pittsburgh has now lost to two rookie quarterbacks this season: Carson Wentz and Dak Prescott. It’s the first time they’ve lost to a pair of rookies in the same year since 1998 when Charlie Batch – with Detroit – and the Jaguars’ Jonathan Quinn beat them.
– Prescott’s 319 yards are the most a rookie quarterback has ever had against the Steelers, breaking Warren Moon’s record of 303 yards in a 1984 win over Pittsburgh.
– And Ezekiel Elliott’s 114 yards rushing are the fourth most by a rookie running back since 1950 against the Steelers. It’s the most since Curtis Martin ran for 120 yards in 1995. The two others are Boyce Green’s 137 yards and John Henry Johnson’s 124 when he was apart of the Million Dollar Backfield in San Fran.
And his 95 yards receiving is the most by a rookie running back since the Bengals’ Brandon Bennett had 119 in 1998.
1998 was a bad year for rookies. And this seems to be replicating that.
– Ben Roethlisberger’s 37 completions are the fourth most he’s ever had in a game.
– Le’Veon Bell tied Franco Harris with three career games of 9+ receptions. For Bell, they’ve all happened this season.
He’s the first back to have three such games in a season since Steven Jackson in 2006.
Bell is on pace for 97 receptions despite missing the first three games.
– Fitzgerald Toussaint’s 33 yard kick return was the longest of the season. They haven’t had one better than that since November 29th, 2015 against the Seattle Seahawks when Jacoby Jones had a 36 yard return.
Pittsburgh hasn’t had one of 40+ in nearly two years, November 30th, 2014 when Markus Wheaton had a 41 yard runback.
– I don’t have the stat but I can’t imagine the last time the Steelers lost a game where they went 4/5 in the red zone while their opponent scored just once and still lost.
