End Of September: Steelers Friday Night Five Questions

Happy Friday and I hope yinz are doing well.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have their first winning streak of the season thanks to their 23-18 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders. It was the offense’s best performance of the season as QB Kenny Pickett threw for two touchdowns for the first time in his career. The Steelers will look to make it three in a row Sunday afternoon against the Houston Texans. Houston is coming off its first win of the year with a 37-17 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Former Texan J.J. Watt will be inducted into the team’s Hall of Honor during halftime this weekend.

We’ll be here to cover whatever happens in this game and to analyze the film afterwards.

Hope you all have a great weekend and that you enjoy our continued coverage. I thank you for visiting the site and we appreciate all of your great feedback. As always, we have five Friday night questions for you to answer.

Peace and love, peace and love!

1 – As always, we ask: Will the Steelers beat the Texans?

2 – Texans QB C.J. Stroud hasn’t thrown an interception this year. Will he throw a pick against Pittsburgh? 

3 – Kenny Pickett threw two touchdowns last week. Will he throw for at least two again Sunday? 

4 – Pittsburgh leads the NFL with 13 sacks. Over/under 3.25 sacks for the defense in this game? 

5 – The offense has had 70-plus yard touchdowns in back-to-back weeks. Will the Steelers have a completion of at least 40 yards in this game? 

Tiebreaker: How many total yards of offense (rushing and passing) will the Steelers have in this game? Closest answer wins, even if it goes over. 

Recap of 2023 Week 3 Weekend Friday Night 5 Questions

Question 1: It happened in Vegas. The Steelers beat the Raiders 23-18. Steelers Depot respondents very confident going into this game. Eighty-two percent (50 of 61) predicted a Pittsburgh win.

Question 2: Pittsburgh built an early lead, resulting in the Steelers running on 31 plays versus 28 passes. The Raiders ran 19 times and passed 44 times trying to catch up. Jimmy Garoppolo threw for 324 yards compared to 235 for Kenny Pickett. Almost 58 percent (57.4, 35 of 61) correctly predicted Garoppolo outgaining Pickett in passing yards.

Question 3: The Steelers easily avoided having their worst three-game rushing start since the merger. Pittsburgh went over 60 rushing yards on the last play of the first half. Almost everyone (96.7%, 59 of 61) picked up a point by predicting the Steelers rushing for at least 60 yards against the Raiders.

Question 4: The Steelers held last year’s NFL rushing leader to 62 rushing yards. Josh Jacobs’ longest run was 10 yards. Almost 46 percent (45.9, 28 of 61) said the Steelers defense would prevent Jacobs from having a run of at least 20 yards. This was the only question that Steelers Depot respondents got wrong as a group.

Question 5: Calvin Austin III caught two passes, one for no gain, the other a 72-yard touchdown pass. Connor Heyward was targeted twice but caught neither. He ran once for no gain. Darnell Washington was not targeted in this game. So, George Pickens, who caught four passes for 75 yards, had three more yards from scrimmage than the aforementioned trio. Almost 70 percent (68.3, 48 of 60) of respondents picked Pickens. One respondent answered in a way that was inconclusive. Read those questions carefully folks!

Here are the consensus responses of Steelers Depot respondents compared to the correct answers:

Steelers Depot respondents got four of five questions correct as a group. Great job!

Congratulations to Andi B, Doc Ellis D, 6 Ring Circus, Beaver Falls Hosiery (yours truly), and Steely McBeam! They answered all five questions correctly and received 11 points (with the participation and five bonus points). The tiebreaker used to determine this week’s winner was how many receptions Pat Freiermuth would have in Week Three. Muth caught three of four passes targeting him. Doc, 6 Ring, and I would have won if Freiermuth caught all four. But he had three receptions. So, Steely McBeam is this week’s winner!

Excellent job Steely McBeam! Please send me a DM (subBurgher on twitter or quarternelson on Instagram or email quarter_nelson@yahoo.com) with your PayPal address to receive your share of the winnings. Alternatively, you can kick your share back towards the next pot or donate it to the Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. Or new this season, opt for a Steelers Depot polo shirt in lieu of the cash prize. Entirely up to you, just let me know.

After three weeks, Buckeye Steel and Steelers D remain in first. But Andi B joins them in the lead. Some dramatic swings on the board. Doc Ellis D and Steely McBeam climbed up 43 spots on the strength of their weekly bonus points. 6 Ring Circus rose 51 spots! 11 folks on the leaderboard for the first time this season. Just one dropped off.  Answer every week to see how far up the ladder you climb.

Here is 2023 Leaderboard after Week 3:

*New to Leaderboard