A competent offense? A good run defense? A win on the road against the Raiders? All very weird. Let’s try to top it with some weird stats.
— Heck, let’s start with the above. This is the first time Pittsburgh has beaten the Raiders on the road since 1995 and is the first such road win over Mike Tomlin’s career. Previously, he was 0-3.
— For the first time since Week 14 of the 2021 season, a Steelers quarterback has thrown multiple touchdowns in the same game. Kenny Pickett had the first multi-touchdown passing performance of his NFL career Sunday night, the first Steeler since Ben Roethlisberger had three in a loss to the Minnesota Vikings in 2021. Roethlisberger did have a pair in the playoff loss to Kansas City but our stats, unless otherwise noted, only come from regular-season play.
— Last week, WR George Pickens had a 71-yard touchdown. This week, WR Calvin Austin III went for 72. It’s the first time the Steelers had back-to-back weeks with 70-plus yard passing scores since 2018 when they did it three weeks in a row. WR JuJu Smith-Schuster had two (75 and 97 yards) while Antonio Brown had one, a 78-yarder.
— Chris Boswell hit his 27th career field goal from 50-plus yards last night, doing so with a sensational 57-yarder. He now has as many made field goals from 50-plus as every other kicker in Steelers’ history…combined.
Career FGs of 50-Plus Yards
Chris Boswell: 27
All Other Steelers Kickers Combined: 27
One more and he’ll have more than the rest of them. I know eras matter but still; Boswell is one of the league’s best from long range. Statistically, he’s been even better than the Baltimore Ravens’ Justin Tucker (who, granted, is often asked to kick from extreme distances, like a missed 61-yarder Sunday).
— Through three games, T.J. Watt has six sacks. It’s the most sacks by a Steeler through the first three weeks in official recorded history, dating back to 1982. He beat the previous record set by…you guessed it, Edmund Nelson, who had five to kick off the 1984 season. Nelson would only pick up two more sacks the rest of the year. I’m guessing Watt will have more.
Across the entire NFL, it’s the most sacks by a player through the first three weeks since Shaq Barrett had an incredible eight of them in 2019. Myles Garrett also had six that season. Barrett and Mark Gastineau hold the record with eight.
— Okay, a less fun stat. Raiders WR Davante Adams had a great night, finishing with 13 receptions for 172 yards and two scores. It’s the most receptions the Steelers have allowed to an opposing receiver since Keenan Allen caught 14 in 2018 (the infamous Jon Bostic on Allen game). It’s the most yards allowed since Emmanuel Sanders, then a Denver Bronco, had 181 against them in 2015.
It’s the first time the Steelers allowed such a stat line, 13 receptions, 170 or more yards, and two touchdowns in franchise history. The only one that rivals it in this semi-specific way is when Washington’s Bobby Mitchell had an 11-catch, 218-yard, two-touchdown day against Pittsburgh all the way back in 1963.
— Pittsburgh’s initial first-quarter first down of the 2023 season came on Austin’s 72-yard TD. Worth the wait, I guess?
– CB Levi Wallace picked off a pair of passes Sunday night. It’s the first multi-interception game of his NFL career and something he did only once before. That came in 2017, his final year at Alabama, when he picked off Ole Miss twice in a 66-3 rout. This game was a little closer.
– Punter stats. We have punter stats. Pressley Harvin III finished the game with six punts for an average of 53.8 yards. He is the second punter in team history with such a line, six punts for at least 53 yards per punt, joining Bobby Walden in 1970. Walden just edged him out in average at 54.0.
Statistically, what Harvin did is one of the best punting outings in franchise history. Wow.
— Finally, Pittsburgh’s defense has forced eight turnovers through the Steelers’ first three games. That hasn’t happened since the 2010 team did it. Preceeded by the 2008 team. And before that by the 2005 team. I’m just saying…history says the Steelers are going to the Super Bowl.
Buy those tickets.
