One more stats of the weird to close out the Pittsburgh Steelers’ season. Thanks to everyone who followed these quirky articles throughout the year. Always one of my favorite to write.
These stats, though, aren’t going to be fun to read.
Let’s get straight into the ugly. Over the Steelers’ last five playoff games, all losses:
– Pittsburgh has been outscored 66-0 in the first quarter.
– They’ve been outscored 122-47 in the first half (minus-75 differential).
– And outscored 202-134 total (minus-68 differential).
– Over that span, Pittsburgh has turned the ball over 12 times and forced just two takeaways. That’s a minus-10 turnover differential in five games. To put that in perspective, only five NFL teams this year finished with a worse turnover ratio across their 17-game regular season. And Pittsburgh has finished with a positive ratio in each of the last five regular seasons, last being negative in 2018 (minus-11). Somehow, this team just completely falls apart in the playoffs.
– The Steelers have allowed 30-plus points in five-straight playoff games, the longest streak in NFL history. No other team has even done it four times. And only five times in history has a team done it three in a row.
– As our Matthew Marczi pointed out, the Steelers have lost five straight playoff games, tied for the second-longest active streak in the NFL. The Washington Commanders also have five while the Miami Dolphins hold the “lead” with six. The Detroit Lions snapped a nine-game skid with their win over the Los Angeles Rams Sunday night.
– Pittsburgh now has failed to win a playoff game in seven consecutive years, which remains its longest post-merger drought.
– The combined stats of the five quarterbacks the Steelers have lost to: Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Baker Mayfield, Blake Bortles, and Tom Brady:
118 completions
171 attempts
69 percent completion rate
1,468 yards
15 touchdowns
1 interception
And a resulting QB rating of: 122.2.
That rating is nine points higher than the top mark of 2023, Brock Purdy’s 113.0. It would make for the second-highest QB rating over a season in NFL history (minimum 150 attempts), only behind Aaron Rodgers’ 122.5 in 2011.
In other words, the Steelers’ pass defense becomes a total disaster in the playoffs.
– Pittsburgh allowed nine touchdowns to opposing tight ends this season. Eight of those came over its final nine games, including two given up to Buffalo yesterday.
– In his postseason career, K Chris Boswell is now a perfect 17-of-17 on field goals. Only two kickers in NFL history are 100 percent with more makes than Boswell. Cincinnati’s Evan McPherson (19-of-19) and longtime kicker Robbie Gould (29-of-29), who retired after the 2022 season.
– The Steelers are 2-5 in their seven road playoff games since 2005, the year they ran the table as a six seed and won Super Bowl XL.
– Finally, Mike Tomlin now has a career playoff record of 8-10, a .444 winning percentage, the 13th coach in NFL history with double-digit postseason losses. Of that group, only Chuck Knox (.389) and Marty Schottenheimer (.278) have a worse winning percentage than Tomlin.
