Welcome to your weekly Pittsburgh Steelers “stat pack,” five numbers you need to know to get ready for the team’s upcoming game. They could relate to the opponent, the Steelers themselves, and could involve an individual, unit, or something else. All to help you become the smartest fan for gameday.
138.5, 4.9
That’s the number or rushing yards against per game and the yards per carry allowed by the Las Vegas Raiders through two names. I know they’re baseline numbers, especially the yardage, and the sample size is small. But both figures are among the worst in football and indicate this unit can and should be run on.
The only concerning part about those numbers is they’re world’s better than Pittsburgh, who rank last in rush yards per game allowed (193.0) and yards per carry (5.6). But that’s a separate issue.
Buffalo ran for 183 in Week Two. Pittsburgh should at least hit triple-digits in this one.
4-8
Otherwise known as, Pittsburgh’s road record against the Raiders in their various locations. And their last win came in 1995, losing their last four on the road. Some of which were terrible upsets; in 2018, the Steelers were 10.5-point favorites and lost 24-21.
Pittsburgh’s four wins on the road against the Raiders came in 1995, 1994, 1984, and 1973. In other words, it’s been awhile. The Steelers traditionally aren’t a good West Coast team and that’s doubly true against the Raiders. Just in the way Pittsburgh maintained history to beat Cleveland Monday night, they’ll be battling that history Sunday night.
4.3
The average yards the Steelers have gained on first down this year. That’s 28th in the NFL. Incredibly, it’s actually better than where it’s been, relatively speaking. In 2022, they ranked 31st in first down yardage (though they average a better 4.7 yards per carry) while they were dead last in 2021 and 4.1 yards per first down play.
One of Matt Canada’s biggest issues as Steelers’ offensive coordinator has been a complete failure on first down. It consistently puts Pittsburgh behind schedule and in second/third and long. And it all starts with what happens on 1st and 10.
Zero
The number of times the Raiders have been sacked this season, the only team who can state that claim. You’d think it’d be because they’ve had an awesome run game or because starting QB Jimmy Garoppolo has gotten the ball out ultra-quick. Both are wrong. Their run game is the NFL’s worst, RB Josh Jacobs is averaging 1.6 yards per carry, and Garoppolo has an average snap-to-throw time of 2.97 seconds, one of the longest in football (Kenny Pickett, by comparison, sits at 2.90).
The Raiders’ line isn’t elite but solid with LT Kolton Miller slowly growing throughout his career. And this group doesn’t have any true “fish of the week,” what DL Coach Karl Dunbar refers to as the team’s true weakness up front. Pittsburgh’s pass rush still has an advantage and hopefully they can change that zero after Sunday night.
8.09
Josh Jacobs’ “Run Efficiency” stat per NextGen Stats. It’s the second-highest and worst number of all qualified running backs with the higher the number meaning the more lateral, East/West runner. And it’s not like that’s the team’s design. Jacobs is a power and between the tackles back who simply hasn’t been given any running room. Pittsburgh shut him down last year, holding him to only 41 yards, but that was with Cam Heyward. They’ll have to do it again without him.
BONUS Stat: 112
As Dave Bryan pointed out, the Raiders have allowed 112 yards to opposing tight ends through their first two games. Buffalo’s Dawson Knox and rookie Dalton Kincaid had particular success last week. Pat Freiermuth has just two catches through two games and needs to get going this week. I expect the Raiders to play a lot of zone and have a similar gameplan to the 49ers. Freiermuth has been open. Kenny Pickett just has to find him. I think Freiermuth has a good week this weekend.
