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.
58
That’s the expected high temperature for Sunday’s game between Pittsburgh and Arizona. For Yinzers, 58 in early December is a warm day. But the Cardinals have lost their last four games when playing outdoors when the weather is 58 degrees or colder, including three times this season (at Cleveland, at Seattle, at San Francisco). Their last win in that kind of outdoor weather came in 2021 when they beat the Chicago Bears on a 34-degree day in December.
5’9
That’s the height of the tallest Cardinals starting receiver now that rookie Michael Wilson (6-foot-2) is out of Sunday’s game with a shoulder injury. Hollywood Brown stood in at 5093 at his Oklahoma Pro Day and is the big man in that room. Other WRs playing Sunday include Rondale Moore (5070) and Greg Dortch (5071) as the other two primary receivers.
16.9
The average points per game scored between the Steelers and Cardinals. That would rank 25th in the league this season. Arizona is slightly outscoring the Steelers, but neither team is putting up points. Neither time has reached even 29 points in a single game this season. We’ll see if either side can break that barrier this weekend.
Four
The number of career field goals Cardinals kicker Matt Prater has from 60-plus yards. That’s an NFL record, more than even the three Justin Tucker has. Prater has a seemingly limitless range, and it can alter how the Cardinals approach their end-of-half choices. They ran the ball to under 20 seconds left at the end of the half last week against the Los Angeles Rams to attempt a 55-yard field goal (which Prater made, though it was wiped out by a holding call).
Of course, Prater will be on the road and away from sunny Arizona but still, the dude is still booming kicks at 39 years old. If this game ends up close, his leg could play a real factor.
9, 25
The number of fourth downs the Steelers and Cardinals, respectively, have attempted. Pittsburgh’s nine ranks tied for second-least in football, only behind the San Francisco 49ers’ seven, while the Cardinals 25 are third-most in the league, only trailing the Carolina Panthers and Detroit Lions. Of course, when you’re 2-10 like the Cardinals, you’re in situations when you have to go for it, but it’s something to note. But even in the first half, the Cardinals’ eight fourth down attempts are the fourth-most in football. The Steelers have just two such attempts.
