Maybe some weird will lift your spirits after that terrible, no-good Pittsburgh Steelers 30-6 loss to the Houston Texans in Week Four.
One heads up. I am saving my weirdest and worst stat for a separate article than ran earlier in the morning. Click here to find out the details. It’s so wild I had to write a separate article on it.
— Not that the Steelers have played a lot of games against the Houston Texans — Sunday was just their eighth all-time meeting since Houston broke into the NFL in 2002 — but this was the largest defeat to the Texans ever. A 24-point loss beats out the previous mark of 18 set in their first meeting, 2002, one of their worst losses in franchise history. This one isn’t too far off.
— Pittsburgh has just four total first downs in the first quarter in four games this season. Zero against San Francisco, zero against Cleveland, two against Las Vegas, and two against Houston. Averaging one per game a month into the year is…bad. That’s my expert analysis.
— RB Najee Harris led the team in receiving yards with 32. He had just one catch on the day.
— FS Minkah Fitzpatrick had 11 more tackles Sunday. He has 32 through four games. That puts him on pace for 136 in 2023. For reference, he had 124 in 2021 when he set a team record for most tackles by a Steelers defensive back. And he’s currently obliterating that mark one month through the year. It’s not a good thing when your free safety has to make so many stops.
— Through the Steelers first four games, Pittsburgh has zero rushing touchdowns. That hasn’t happened since 1990. The only other time it happened since the Steelers became the Steelers in 1940 (they were called the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1933-1939) was in 1984. If they go five games in a row next week against Baltimore, it’ll be the first time that has happened in team history. Ever.
— Over the last two weeks, the Steelers have allowed two receivers to record games of 150-plus yards receiving with at least two receiving scores: Las Vegas’ Davante Adams last week, Houston’s Nico Collins this week. That’s the first time in franchise history the Steelers have given that up in back-to-back contests.
Heck, since the 1970 merger, it’s only the fourth time it’s ever happened twice in a season: 1971 (Otis Taylor, Paul Warfield), 1999 (Qadry Ismail, Patrick Jeffers), and last year (Gabe Davis, A.J. Brown). This secondary has not defended the pass well, even if it has been opportunistic and picked off a few passes.
— For a second straight season, a non-quarterback has thrown a touchdown pass against the Steelers. Last year, it was New York Jets WR Braxton Berrios hitting QB Zach Wilson for a two-yard score. Sunday, it was RB Devin Singletary hitting TE Dalton Schultz from six yards out.
The last running back to throw a TD against the Steelers was another Jet, Curtis Martin in 2001. That was an 18-yard touchdown pass to WR Wayne Chrebet, which I’ve linked for you here. I’m sure you’re thrilled.
— For the first time since 2010, and the third time since this stat was tracked (which I believe was 1994), the Steelers had four or fewer passing first downs in a game. They had four in the loss to Houston. The last instance came in 2010 when Pittsburgh somehow beat the Tennessee Titans despite zero passing first downs. They had four in a 2005 win over the Green Bay Packers. No such luck to escape with victory yesterday. Far from it.
— The Steelers have gone four straight games (in a single season) with no more than 17 first downs in any single contest for the first time since 2015. In the Mike Tomlin era, it also happened in 2010. The only time that’s been stretched to five in a row was back in 1994, as far back as the data is reliably tracked.
— Pittsburgh has allowed 135 or more yards rushing in three of its first four games of the season. That hasn’t happened since Weeks Two-Four of the 1976 season, a different era where teams focused on the ground game. In all three of those contests, the Steelers’ opponent rushed the ball at least 36 times.
