Are there any stats that can’t top the collective weirdness of Monday night’s game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns? Probably not. But we’ll give it a shot…
– Alex Highsmith had a pick-six on the first play from scrimmage, becoming the first Steeler since CB William Gay in 2014 to have such a score on the first defensive play of the game. Gay picked off Tennessee Titans’ QB Zach Mettenberger (who would later briefly become a Steeler) that day.
– T.J. Watt made a scoop-and-score touchdown, meaning Pittsburgh had a pick-six and fumble recovery for a touchdown. The last time the Steelers had two defensive touchdowns in that fashion, a pick-six and fumble returned for a touchdown, came in 2009 against the Minnesota Vikings. That day, LB LaMarr Woodley had a 77-yard fumble return touchdown while LB Keyaron Fox added an 82-yard pick-six.
– Pittsburgh is the first team to get its first and last touchdown off a fumble and an interception for a touchdown since the 2019 New York Jets, who scored their only points of that day in that fashion in a 30-14 loss. The first team to do it in the first and fourth quarter like Pittsburgh, true bookend fashion, was the 2017 New Orleans Saints in a 52-38 win over the Detroit Lions. They started with a Kenny Vacarro fumble recovery touchdown and ended with a Cam Jordan interception. Here’s a look at the box score.
– T.J. Watt broke the Steelers’ sack record with 81.5 career sacks through 89 games. Here are the most sacks in NFL history through a player’s first 89 games:
1. Reggie White – 95
2. T.J. Watt – 81.5
3. Bruce Smith – 76.5
4. J.J. Watt – 76.0
5. Myles Garrett – 75.5
A reminder that Reggie White was just insane, man.
– OK, a not-so-fun stat. Through their first two games, the Steelers have allowed 386 yards rushing. 188 to San Francisco, 198 to Cleveland. It’s the third-most rushing yards allowed through the team’s first two games of a season in franchise history, only behind the 1975 unit (398) and 1950 squad (432). The ’75 team won the Super Bowl, for what it’s worth.
– On the other side of the coin, the Steelers have just 96 rushing yards through their first two games. It’s their third fewest since the 1970 merger, only ahead of 1970 (89 yards) and 2013 (75 yards). So the run defense is terrible and the run offense is terrible. Neat. (A very sarcastic “neat,” for the record).
– George Pickens’ 71-yard TD was the longest of his NFL and college career. His longest catch at Georgia was 52 yards in his final collegiate game.
– From 1994 to 2022, the Steelers never allowed more than one 65-plus yard run in a season. They’ve allowed two such plays in back-to-back weeks to start 2023: Christian McCaffrey last week (65 yards) and Jerome Ford Monday night (69 yards).
– Kenny Pickett is the first Steelers quarterback to attempt at least 30 passes and complete 50 percent or fewer of them, going 15-for-30 last night, since Ben Roethlisberger went 15-for-32 in 2007, a loss to Jacksonville.
Pickett is the first Steelers quarterback to do so in a Pittsburgh victory since Kent Graham went 13-for-33 in a 13-0 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in 2000.
– Pittsburgh won this game with only nine first downs, its fewest in a victory since it had just seven 2010, also a Week Two game, against the Tennessee Titans. The Steelers are the first NFL team to do it since the Miami Dolphins beat the Los Angeles Rams 28-17 with only eight first downs back in 2020.
– The Steelers have only six rushing first downs through their first two games.
– Pittsburgh is an ugly 9-for-29 (31 percent) on third down through its first two contests.
– Cole Holcomb is the first Steelers ILB to force a fumble since Week Eight of the 2021 season — no Steeler did it last year — when Joe Schobert popped one out. Which also came against the Browns in a Pittsburgh victory.
– Chris Boswell is a beautiful 26-of-32 from 50-plus yards in his NFL career. That’s 81.3 percent. From all other distances, he is 87.3 percent, only a small drop off when it comes to the league’s toughest kicks.
In fact, if you used his 81.3 percentage from 50 yards or greater, it would still rank fifth in Steelers history among kickers from any range in their career (minimum 50 attempts). Jeff Reed’s career field goal percentage is 81.9 percent, meaning Boswell is right behind him just from 50 or greater.
– Finally, since Mike Tomlin was hired in 2007, the Steelers defense leads the league with 25 games of registering six or more sacks in a game. The Philadelphia Eagles are the only other team with at least 20.
A whopping 11 of those 25 games by the Steelers have come against the Browns or 44 percent of the time. No team sacks the opposition like Pittsburgh does to Cleveland.
Over Pittsburgh’s last 17 games against Cleveland, the Steelers have racked up an incredible 82 sacks. In official recorded NFL history, no team has more than 72 in a season (the 1984 Chicago Bears). If you want to make it more relative to a 16-game scope, the Steelers still have 76 sacks, which would remain a record.
